The Bug List

THE BUG LIST

My biggest pet peeve is traffic, road rules, traffic lights, etc. therefore close to half of my list will be highlighting why I think the road ways are terrible. :)

1.     Traffic lights. I live in a small town where there is stop lights at all 4 ways which are very simple. There is a green, yellow, and red sign. In the left turning lane you can go on green when only your lanes green arrow is on, in addition you can go when the other lights are green and no one is coming. When I come to Gainesville for class I always end up running a RED arrow because of the different arrow/light system.

a.     This bug exists because in bigger cities/cities with a lot of distracted college students, it can help prevent accidents. But for someone who is used to blinking caution lights these light systems are a pain in the butt and very hard to get used too.

2.     My second bug is drivers that are very old. 99% of the time a driver over 75 will either be going 15 mph under the speed limit, or will merge into your lane and into the side of your vehicle. Also, if you park in a virtually empty side of a parking lot expect an elderly man to cream the rear end of your car and speed away (past experience.)

a.     This problem exists because elderly people aren’t taken care of like children as they should be. Children and elderly people alike, either can’t drive until X years old or get to a point when they can no longer drive. So why not drive elderly people around just like you would your son or daughter until they’re old enough to legally get their license.   I believe this problem could be virtually eliminated if a driving test along with a cognizance test was required every 5 years after a person’s 70^th birthday.

3.     This doesn’t have to do with the road but I just thought of this one, Microwaves, they’re crazy! You can cook something say a frozen hot pocket for a minute and 30 seconds well the middle of the hot pocket will be frozen solid, and the sides are warm about eating temperature. Well when you cook it 2 minutes the middle is eating temperature and the sides are so hot if you take a bite into it you may get second degree burns on the inside of your mouth.

a.     This problem exists solely on the fact that as soon as the buzzer goes off on the microwave, I am ready to eat and don’t let my food cool down. I could change the burning and steam coming out of my mouth if I would just be a little patient.

4.     Another thing that bugs me is the price of quality clothing. Everything no matter what it looks like, is designer pricing. Jeans that have nothing special such as Levis can be as much as $50.00 a pair. It’s just insane how high clothing is especially since it’s illegal to go nude.

a.     I don’t really know why I have such a problem with this since all I wear are designer jeans, Adidas shoes, and shirts that are generally upwards of $30.00. I guess I just reason with people who can’t afford nicer things and think there should be an affordable but still quality version of things. Companies are steadily increasing pricing so they can profit more and keep up with competition.

5.     Back to the road. I absolutely hate when someone cuts me off in traffic. What makes it even worse is when they get in front of me and then decide to slow down.

a.     I believe this problem exist because of the lack of respect people have for others. I was raised to respect everyone, their opinions, their property, etc. so to have someone not respect me really irks my nerves.

6.     Movies that end in dramatic moments leading me to believe that they are going to have a sequel. Unless I know there will be another movie, it drives me nuts when they end a movie with a cliffhanger. I can’t think of one off the top of my head but when it happens you should leave me alone for approximately 24 hours because I may cut your head off.

a.     I am a very straight to the point person and I like to know what happens as soon as possible. Making me wait 2 years until another movie comes out is almost like chopping off one of my fingers. The worst part is when the new movie comes out, sometimes you don’t even remember what you wanted to find out from the first movie. I believe this bug exist so the movie makers can make more money if the release a second movie.

7.     Cars with windows missing, being replaced by trash bags and tape. You know the ones I’m talking about bags flapping in the wind just to try to keep some rain out.

a.     This bothers me so much because my vehicle has to generally be spotless or I freak out. I am a total perfectionist when it comes to my truck. I know sometimes people don’t have the financial means to replace the broken glass but it really gets on my nerves. I think they do that as a temporary fix to help protect their car but it seems as though there are so many cars with broken glass.

8.     When someone leaves a half empty bottle of water, Gatorade, etc. in the fridge for more than 3 days and wont confess to who it is. I’ve been guilty of this heinous crime a few times but generally I am the enforcer.

a.     When someone does this it’s just such a waste of water, of plastic, even of trash space that the bottle has to go into with water still in it. After all there are hungry and thirsty children everywhere that would have loved that bottle of water. I sound like my parents… I believe people do this because they forget that a bottle of water is theirs, an honest mistake.

9.     When someone uses all the hot water. Have you ever jumped in the shower after 4 other people have showered in the same home in the last 15 minutes? If so your normal 10-minute shower will be reduced to 3 once you realize how cold water coming straight from a well can actually be.

a.     Generally, this problem comes from people taking too long of a shower and wasting time and water. I love my hot shower before I go somewhere and when someone ruins that for me it really ticks me off.

10.  Monetary awards to people that did the right thing, such as: turning in a criminal. When people get awards for doing things that should be done it reduces incentive to do the right thing even more if there’s no award. If you give a dog a treat for laying around will he want to sit or speak if he knows he will get a treat for laying on the couch?

a.     This bug exists because in today’s society so many people think doing the right thing “isn’t cool.” But I guess the rewards could help if maybe the cops were looking for someone you knew and didn’t want to rat out.

11.  Another bug for me is when someone sings and they can’t hold a tune, and can’t keep on beat. I am no world class singer but it doesn’t seem that I bust the windows when I try either. Some people on the other hand are just terrible.

a.     I think this bug exists because people think that they can sing, and people have told them that they can when they just can’t.

12.  When I am starving it seems I can never find food in my house, no leftovers, nothing I can throw in the microwave and have ready in a few minutes.

a.     It seems this bug exists because there isn’t anything fast in the fridge from time to time because all of the leftovers have been eaten or thrown out. It also exists from me not going to the grocery store for a while.

13.  When you’re driving through a school zone and someone goes speeding past more than double the speed limit.

a.     This exists because of people not respecting laws, and being ignorant and not caring for the wellbeing of others, especially children.

14.  One thing that literally will drive me insane is when I am out to eat and I have to sit with an empty drink for more than 5 minutes. Most times a waiter/waitress will never let your drink get empty but I don’t usually get angry unless it takes them more than 5 minutes to come around and fill up my glass.

a.     This bug exists mainly because sometimes waiters may get busy and not be able to get back around all the time. Other times waiters may just be lazy or not even care about their job.

15.  Have you ever gone into the grocery store for 3 specific things then try to use the “10 items or less lane?’ 9 times out of 10 the so called express lane is full of people with buggies FULL of groceries. I believe this is in my top 5 bugs.

a.     I think this happens because when the other lines are full many people come to the express line in hopes they will get out quicker causing people with a scarce number of things to wait an eternity. I have even heard cashiers at express lanes call others in other lanes over if there is no one at their register.

16.  One of the worst feelings is walking into somewhere and there being a line backed out to the door. Then after waiting in the long line you talk to the person and they cant help you with what you needed.

a.     This is usually a communication error on where someone may have told you to go to get help, or you just thought you could get help at that location and where wrong.

17.  I just went to a burger place yesterday for lunch and asked for no tomatoes and there on my cheeseburger was a soggy, soft, gross tomato. After sending the burger back all I could think about was how this place always gets my order wrong and upsets me.

a.     I believe that these things happen from just lack of caring about the customer. When it happens a lot from the same place it really starts to make you angry.

18.  When you walk into a 2-hour class sit down and look at the clock every 3 minutes it feels like you are sitting in that room for 20 hours. Time always seems to drag by when at work or at school. As soon as Saturday comes and you’re out on the river with your friends it seems like the 12 hours of sunlight takes 12 minutes to pass by.

a.     This is because when you are out having fun you don’t count the minutes until it’s over. You want to prolong the length of fun things and shorten the boring things.

19.  When I go out with friends it seems like there is always that one person that tries and tries to keep the time schedule perfect, and if you’re a minute late they will have a heart attack. More times than not the person freaks out for no reason because whatever we are doing is generally not very important.

a.     Some people are just very time conscious and don’t like to be late for anything. On the other hand, those people can help you be on time for other things that actually are important to be on time to such as: weddings, concerts, etc.

20.  Back when I was in high school there wasn’t a thing I hated more than when a female peer would be sitting in front of me and toss their hair back onto my desk.

a.     I don’t know why they did it, I guess so they wouldn’t be sitting on their hair, but it drove me nuts. I never said anything much to them about it looking back I probably should have.

Reflection:

I found this assignment very challenging. It took me approx. 3 days to come up with my original rough list before I could begin explaining, and explaining "why." I believe that all students at some point during their senior year of high school should have to do this list. Not only for a grade, but to help them figure out more about theirselves than they realize.