Saturday 3 December 2011

My Automatic 'Dislike' List

** WARNING. This post may contain humour that is not to everyone's liking. If you are easily offended or have no sense of humour, it is recommended that you do not read on **
Many people fall into my automatic dislike list. I mean the people that I automatically judge simply by one fatal flaw that I don't like. You know the ones. They could be perfectly reasonable people if you knew them personally, but our snap judgements place them instantly into the dislike list.

People with 'My Family' stickers on the window of their cars

Nobody cares that you have four kids two dogs and a cat. We can tell from the people-mover you drive and your general ignorance of all people around you. I can't understand why people are creating a helpful guide for all thieves, serial killers and pedophiles to profile your family without even trying. It's this 'me culture' our society all plagued with. Good on you for wanting to celebrate your family, but keep it in the photo album.

Probably lovely people. But I want to ram your car. Personally, I prefer these. At least they're honest.

Charity street workers

Oh, she's not going to say something bad about charities, is she? Yes, I am. Well no, I have no problem with charities and I have a great deal of respect for people working for their cause. What I don't appreciate is being solicited in the street by people that won't take "No, thank you" as an answer. Or when I'm silly enough to hang around to listen to their spiel, they tell me that the charity I currently donate to monthly isn't as worthy as their own (true story). Whatever happened to the charity buckets where they collect cash on the spot? These days they need your credit card or bank account details and have you sign up to a monthly plan. You feel like you're entering into some never-ending scheme. Take my cash and loose change, but please don't take my credit card!

Probably lovely people. But I can't fund every charity that approaches me.

People who insult the English language

"Oh yeah, I seen that movie last week". No. No. No! How many years of school did you miss? Do you realise that language is one of the only things that separates us from chimps? If you speak this way, you may as well be swinging in the trees. I'm happy to forgive the odd typo and auto correct can make some interesting mistakes, but basic spelling, grammar and sentence structure is important. You have been privileged to grow up in a country that provides a high level of education for all.

Probably lovely people, but stop hurting my eyes and ears with your spelling errors and bad pronunciation.

Smokers

This is a serious one (although the picture doesn't suggest it).

I'm sorry, but the instant I see people smoke, I know I'm not going to spend much time with them. There are people in hospitals terminally ill that would give anything to have more time on this Earth, while they're sucking away at those cancer sticks. Annoyingly, this smoke tends to be shared with everyone surrounding them. Short of running in the opposite direction to every smoker on the street, passive smoking can't be avoided.

Probably lovely people. But have some respect for your life and the life of others.

Ok everyone, what is on your automatic dislike list? Who do you narrow your eyes at?

10 comments:

  1. I hate anyone with those 'unit' or 'loose kid' stickers on their car, you know the ones. Bogan! Trust me, my job was to custom make those types of stickers for people. I hated every single gangsta wannabe bogan that ordered one. Pull your god damn pants up!

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  2. Great blog Kate! I also shudder everytime I see a "My Family" sticker... personally, I hate the subliminal way each one promotes a certain car for a certain lifestyle. You're not promoting a love of family or lifestyle, you're helping sell cars. STOP IT!

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  3. In no particular order:
    -People who smoke in a home/vehicle (particularly vehicle) when children are present. Don't think I need to explain this one any more.

    -People who can't seem to get their car parked in one spot. Seriously if you can't park it in one spot either consider driving something smaller or not driving.

    -Parents of morbidly obese children.

    -"Baby on Board" stickers hanging from the window of a car. You may as well just say "I have an infant in my car that I invite you to kidnap."

    -Leeches on society who live off of welfare. I'm not talking about those who have been impacted by the recession who have to rely on welfare temporarily until they can get back on their feet (i.e., those who once had a good paying job but lost it due to economic factors). I'm talking about those who haven't held meaningful employment (and have no drive whatsoever to gain employment) in years but still receive food stamps, cash assistance, housing assistance, a medical card, gifts for their kids at Christmas, etc.

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  4. Oh, I just thought of one more:
    -People who think pets are expendable. Maybe you should have planned it out a little bit better so that you don't need to turn your pet's world upside down by giving them to the first person who responds to your craigslist free ad.

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  5. Ooooh, Kinsey, parents of obese children is a big one for me too.

    Kate, poor grammar drives me crazy too. I don't expect everyone to speak or write perfectly, but it's gotten really bad lately. I hate reading discussion forums where someone will post but not use any punctuation or capital letters! Do they not realize how difficult it is for others to read that? Language is the one thing that can instantly make you sound either intelligent or extremely stupid.

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  6. Grammer, totally a hot button. I understand using text speak in a text, but outside of that, please follow the rules (as I say that I remember all my problems with commas in school...so follow the rules as best you can ;) ).

    My dislike list...people who wear blue tooth headsets inside the store. Really? Unless you are driving put it away.

    People who assume they can shorten/change your name afer they meet you once. I introduced myself as Kate, please do not call me Katie.

    I'll see what others I think of as the night goes on! :)

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  7. Oh man, I forgot about the people with the bluetooth headsets! We had a manager at work who used to walk around the office talking into them. It was so obvious he was just showing off, but he had no idea that everyone thought he looked like a twit.

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  8. Bad grammar and mis-spelling kills me.

    SMOKING is a big no-no. I've lost way too many people...

    Whoa, obese kids' parents is good, Kins. I mean really, people, these kids don't shop and cook for themselves.

    And I also take issue with pet-surrender-ers. (Being in rescue and all)

    The family stickers don't bother me ...

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  9. I think when it comes to my family stickers, whatever floats your boat. I'm not into them, but is it that big of a deal that other people like them, really? It's like personalised plates really, I guess for some it's a way of personalising their car. Some people get Playboy or frangipani seat covers, some hang dream catchers or dice from their rear view mirror, some put stickers about their family or their favourite drink on their car, or wrangler bull horns. They're all the same thing aren't they? They are all tacky to someone who has different taste. If you don't like them don't get them but who cares if someone else does? I hate having to walk my kids through the plume of smoke coming from the pack of teenagers sitting at the doorway of the shopping centre swearing and doing their best to look cool but failing big time especially when security show up to move them on. I also hate being accused of not caring about the environment because I don't want to stop and put my six bags of shopping down and let go of my fierce grip on my toddler who is bound to run on the road whilst I sign a petition. And charities these days are something you need a second job for, it is a shame there is no such thing as donating your spare change anymore. Surprising they don't carry wireless eftpos machines really. I wil agree I get really irritated with bad grammer and spelling, but the thing which irritates me most is those who have an excuse why they can't return to work after having kids. I have secured jobs whilst pregnant, so yes you can find a job when you are pregnant. I have been a stay at home mum and not raked in cash from pensions, I went without and my husband's income (barely) supported us. I work full time, pay ridiculous amounts of money (nmore than I actually earn each fortnight) to put my kids into day care, and I am studying uni full time plus extra to try and finish it early. So it really bugs me when people moan about why they can't afford to work, or why they can't study to improve their future and their family's future. If you are lazy and don't want to work, just say so. Stop wasting time trying to figure out how much of your hard earned centrelink money will be cut if you take a job and go out and earn it instead and set a good example for your children to follow. Don't make stupid excuses cos those of us who do put effort into our lives can see straight through it.

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  10. Push presents.. Presents for women who have babies.
    Hello.... the gift is the life you are now holding in your arms. Not the 1 carrat on your finger.

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