Beech Tree News Network

As I’ve gotten older, I have tried not to let little things annoy me. When I encounter irritating situations, I try to hide my immediate, natural reaction. Since we are all different, those bothersome, annoying things may differ from person to person. A few of the things that tend to annoy me are listed below in no special order. 

-Leaving a grocery cart behind to take up a parking space. When I see a cart left behind in a parking space, I usually tell myself that the person who left it might have been disabled or ill. But I also remember a friend who has been very ill for the last couple of years who likes to leave any space she occupies in better shape than she found it. 

-Car blinkers in use that have clearly been forgotten. Many of us have likely been guilty of this at least once while driving. However, the use of unnecessary blinkers is confusing for other drivers. 

-Realizing that I allowed fresh produce to ruin in my refrigerator. I hate to waste things. I put that food into the refrigerator with a plan for its use, but sometimes plans fail or change. When I do this, I want to kick myself for being wasteful.

-Technology that fails to work, resulting in my calling a help center. Do I need to explain this? I am polite, but no one enjoys calling for help with technology. Those calls can be lengthy. And if I can’t easily understand the person giving me directions, I wonder if they understand my Kentucky dialect.

-Poor grammar choices. For me, the worst is hearing the incorrect use of I or me. I want to correct the person, the song, etc. Misusing verbs also catches my attention. Yet, I make grammar mistakes, too. If I notice my error, I restate what I said with correct grammar (so I won’t develop a habit). Because I had asked for correction, my late husband used to correct my grammar, and he was helpful. Nonetheless, mistakes happen.

-Forgetting to put the trash can out on trash pick-up days. Yes, I have forgotten this. Most of us put out the garbage on a certain day every week. When we don’t set it out, the next week’s garbage will have doubled. And the person collecting the garbage probably will not remember that we did not put garbage out the week before. I tell myself that stuff happens, it’s garbage, and it can wait one more week, trying to lower my guilt level.

An unknown author said: “Today I refuse to stress myself out about things I cannot control or change.” Like the song by Idina Menzel (Queen Elsa) from Disney’s Frozen movie, we should just “Let It Go.” Yet, the situations mentioned above are still a bit annoying.