The Brighton Jotter

"Instructions for living a life: Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it." – Mary Oliver

List #9: Some more Pet Peeves

  1. People who don’t pick the dog’s poo. I know I’m not alone in this. On our walk this morning, there was a cardboard sign stuck into the grass on the nature strip next to a big pile of dog poo—”You give dogs a bad reputation.”
  2. People who dump their rubbish in or next to charity bins. Zero F**S given that the charities have to pay to dump their garbage.
  3. The neon scooters left in the middle of the bike path. Those people can’t even be bothered moving the scooter 50 cm so it’s off the path and out of the way.
  4. While I’m on the subject of bike paths, we have many shared walking/bike paths in Melbourne, but the stretch of coastal paths near us has bikes and walkers separated. Does that stop walkers going for a slow amble in a group along the bike path? Of course not.
  5. Empty toilet paper rolls left on the vanity. It’s not that far to put it in our recycle bin people!

Over to you. The comment section is open for complaints!

Comments

18 responses to “List #9: Some more Pet Peeves”

  1. Nicole MacPherson Avatar
    Nicole MacPherson

    Oh, I get so mad when people don’t pick up after their dogs. I can understand the occasional mistake, but really.
    Our walking path is also shared with bikers and walkers, and generally it works fine. Sometimes though there will be groups just taking up the whole path and it’s very annoying.

    Reply
    1. Melissa Avatar
      Melissa

      I’ve called out to people walking ahead of their dogs to let them know that their dog is pooping. Some have at least acted grateful to be told, most of them are deliberately ignoring though and give me a dirty look.

      Reply
  2. Elisabeth Avatar
    Elisabeth

    Ditto to all of these things.
    What really frustrates me is when people bag their dog poop and then LEAVE THE BAG JUST SITTING ON THE SIDEWALK. If you took the time to pick up the poop, couldn’t you take the bag home and throw it out.
    To be fair, I also wish our town had more garbage along the sidewalks. There are not very many trash bins at all and I think that does make the issue worse.

    Reply
    1. Melissa Avatar
      Melissa

      Yes to this, often I think they just drop them by accident, but I have also seen dog poo bags flung into the middle of the fenced off revegetation areas, which is terrible.

      Reply
  3. J Avatar
    J

    I agree with all of these. I also dislike people who blow through stop signs on their bicycles, and people who hog up the entire shared walking/riding path (usually walkers do this). People who leave their dog poop, of course. People who put their broken furniture out by our shared trash bin, so someone else can break it apart and put it in for them. People who don’t use their turn signal when they drive. People who drive at unsafe speeds on the freeway, weaving in and out of traffic. Really, I just hate people. I mean, not you guys. But IRL people suck.

    Reply
    1. Melissa Avatar
      Melissa

      Why are some speople so entitled? Makes me angry too.

      Reply
  4. NGS Avatar
    NGS

    Okay, this in unpopular, but I hate the signs that warn dog owners about no pooping. I HATE THEM. For the majority of dog owners who do pick up the poop, it’s just rude.

    Also, to Elisabeth’s point, I have occasionally dropped a poop bag while walking without noticing. This happens particularly when it’s super hot and my hands are sweaty and I just don’t notice and it happens when I’m wearing gloves in the winter. I do try to find those bags, but sometimes it happens. *sigh*

    Also, to J’s point, I frequently run through stop signs on my bicycle because otherwise drivers get upset with me because I take so long to accelerate and they’ll buzz me. It’s literally safer for me to go through the signs without stopping. I mean, of course I’ll look to make sure there’s no cross traffic first.

    It’s me, I’m learning from this post. I’m the asshole.

    Reply
    1. Melissa Avatar
      Melissa

      We don’t have owners putting up general no pooping signs, just the council puts the pick up after your dog signs in the public open spaces. We have council by-laws where you can be fined $200 for not picking up after your dog and even for not carrying poop bags with you. They also provide bags and bins in all the dog parks and along the beach path.

      Reply
  5. Daria Avatar
    Daria

    Hoooo boy, how much time you have, Melissa??? LOL You know I’m having a bad week so I am ALL for complaining 😉
    1. Complaining parents of *some* of my students. Let the student come to me to meet/resolve the issue. They are in high school.
    2. T turning the heat on because it’s 60 degrees outside. It’s still AUGUST.
    3. My kids being ungrateful “It’s not fair that [insert whatever]. Gah. I’ll show you unfair.
    4. Stuff left in a place it doesn’t belong in. Example: piles on the counter, shoes strewn by the front door. Put your shit away. Thank you and thank you.
    5. Dishes sitting in the sink
    6. Our cat pooping on the rug.

    Reply
    1. Melissa Avatar
      Melissa

      Yes, some parents are ridiculous. I think they would be the worst part of being a teacher. My daughter works for a school photography company and gets the most ridiculous and at times aggressive phone calls from parents. I mean, they’re just school photos! G likes to have more heating and more cooling than I am happy with, but I’m slowly training him. And yeah, the cat pooping on the rug is not cool.

      Reply
  6. Diane Avatar
    Diane

    My sister in law, who spent a year living in Japan, said that her Japanese host family always brought along newspaper when they walked the dog, and when they saw their dog getting ready to poop, they slide the newspaper under their dog so the poop ends up on the newspaper. I thought this was brilliant and I’ve started doing it whenever I walk my friend’s dog. I don’t catch the poop 100% of the time, but most of the time I do. And once I started doing this, I thought about all the dog poop that might be in the grass where my kids play and wonder why this isn’t more common practice… Or maybe I should just make peace that poop will come into our lives regardless.
    Today’s pet peeve is when people honk at me. There might be well intentioned honking – I’ve definitely spaced out at a stoplight before so a gentle reminder isn’t a bad thing – but to me it’s just loud and aggressive.

    Reply
    1. Melissa Avatar
      Melissa

      That newspaper idea is so good, but we don’t get the print newspapaer anymore.

      Reply
  7. Jenny Avatar
    Jenny

    Yes to all these, especially the toilet paper rolls. AND, everyone in my family (other than me) does this: takes the last of something- a protein bar, cracker, ice cream sandwich from the freezer- BUT LEAVES THE BOX SITTING THERE. People- how am I supposed to know when we’re out of something??? I’ll go to grab a protein bar or whatever and realize it’s just an empty box. GRR.

    Reply
    1. Melissa Avatar
      Melissa

      That is so frustrating. Generally in our house the person who finishes will leave the empty box on the bench to make sure everyone knows it is gone, although now that G is home now he is more likely to go to the supermarket than me.

      Reply
  8. Tobia | craftaliciousme Avatar
    Tobia | craftaliciousme

    All of them! And I include off leash dogs when its explicitly declared leash area. And don’t even think about doing it out…

    people standing in the middle of an aisle in the super market… on streets… on escalators. I’ve got places to go. Move.

    Reply
    1. Melissa Avatar
      Melissa

      We always have our dog on lead when he is supposed to be. I try to be patient with people loitering in thorough fares, but it’s hard sometimes.

      Reply
  9. San Avatar
    San

    Pet peeves posts are my favorite. I have so many (especially related to running because OMG people are so inconsiderate of runners). I guess this is one of my main pet peeves in general: INCONSIDERATE people that don’t seem to turn on their brains when they leave the house.

    Reply
    1. Melissa Avatar
      Melissa

      I think most of mine come under the inconsiderate people heading as well

      Reply

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