Pet Peeves

Karen: Usually we try to keep things positive around here. After all, the whole point of this blog is to talk about those things that make us happy -comics, films, music, and so on that have brought us pleasure since we were youngins. Sometimes we review books that aren't so good, but we still try to find something nice to say. But today's post is a chance to vent a bit about those little things that just drive you crazy -pet peeves. They don't have to be connected to our usual topics, it can be anything that gets under your skin. Here's a few of mine:

• Vanity license plates that simply reiterate the  make or model of the car. I can see you are driving a Mustang, and I assume the car is yours, so why waste your money buying a plate that says "MyStang"? Or how about "momsvan"? Saw that too.  The absolute worst, though, was one I saw just last week on a BMW 325I. I snapped a quick pic of it on my phone. In case you can't tell, the plate said, I kid you not, "325IBMW". Really? You spent $50 or however much it is to tell me that? Like I couldn't tell what kind of car you were driving?! If you're going to have a personalized plate, for Pete's sake, express yourself! Say something about who you are!
• Waiting 30, 40, 45 or more minutes after my scheduled doctor's appointment before I actually see the doctor. I'm on time, why can't they be?
•  People who call Star Trek "Star Track."
• People who cough or sneeze and make no effort to cover it up. Thanks for the germs buddy!
• DJs who talk over the beginning of the song - like it's OK to talk because it's "just" music, no singing yet, and we'd rather hear their brilliant commentary! How many great intros have been ruined by these inconsiderate jerks?

Doug:  Karen offered me a chance to get in on this.  How about...?

• Visiting the Department of Motor Vehicles?  Rude, slow, inefficient, expensive, rude, and did I mention slow?  Being a civil servant myself, these folks give state employees a bad name.  There's a guy at our local office who is sort of my idol and tax-sucking nemesis all rolled into one.  Seriously -- he comes back from his break, walks the length of the counter as if he's looking for something, talks to two of the workers who are helping people (interrupting the customers conversation), comes back down the counter, helps one person, walks back down the line, returns to his place, fidgets around, and then goes to the bathroom.  It's a monument to non-productivity.  Dire Straits sang about Money for Nothing...
• When I go home from school, I use a neighborhood street that comes out to a main thoroughfare, but only about 1/2 a block away from a stoplight.  When I'm on my way home, the folks who work the 7 am shift are now on their way home, too, and traffic is very heavy.  Inevitably, I get behind some doofus trying to turn left onto the main road.  Traffic is so heavy, even when that light turns red, you then get the people from the opposite road making their right-on-red turn into the path I'd love to get on.  Left hand turn from the guy in front of me?  No chance...  So I sit, fuming.
• When I coached youth sports, the kid who wanted to show everyone how good he is (which basically boiled down to mimicking some awful fundamentals he'd seen from a pro athlete on television) absolutely drove me nuts.  Just play the game, son.  And be a good teammate!
• And of course, one we can all relate to:  reading issue #X, of course with a cliffhanger ending, and the next issue in the series that we found was naturally issue #Z.  Where o' where did issue #Y go??  No idea.
• I think we can close this one out with one more "little" nitpick about modern comic art, and that's the Image-era and post-Image-era depiction of women in comics.  If you'd wondered about Kara's breast-reduction surgery, you are sadly mistaken; there's no way she could even see Supergirl...