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Pet peeves

I want to share a few pet peeves with you. • People who don’t know how to use a doorbell, or knock on a door, properly.
I want to share a few pet peeves with you.

• People who don’t know how to use a doorbell, or knock on a door, properly.

Your asking yourself "What is he talking about? How hard can it be to use a doorbell," right?

I’ve had both children and adults come to the door — perhaps selling candy or seeking pledges for a fund-raiser — and ring the bell. Not once, or even twice, but incessantly, like they’re trying to warn me that the house is on fire!

Ding-dong-ding dong-ding dong-ding dong-ding-dong!

A similar thing happens sometimes with knocking where, instead of a nice, polite "knock-knock-knock" they rap on the door like a woodpecker on speed. There are also those who employ both techniques, who ring the doorbell a dozen or so times and then switch to knocking.

Please, ring (or knock) once and wait about 30 seconds to see if I come to the door. First, I probably wasn’t expecting you and I may be more than a few steps from the door. Second, I’m not so desperate for company that I will sprint to the door.

• Horrendously loud "personal music players."

There are days when I miss the 80s, when some people carried "boom boxes" on their shoulders and blasted their favourite music at the world at a volume slightly lower than that of a jet engine. What was good about that was that while they did not appreciate being told to turn their music down, it was socially acceptable to point out to them how intrusive and inconsiderate their behaviour was.

Today people listen to i-Pods and MP3 players using earbuds and headphones. Supposedly this contains the sound within their skull and auditory organs, thereby reducing the inconvenience to others nearby. At least, that’s the theory.

In reality, however, this is often not the case. I have been on the bus, sitting near the front, and could clearly hear the sound emanating from another rider's earphones, even though that person was sitting at the very back of the bus. The sound carried over the whine of the tires, the roar of the engine, the rattle of the windows and the whirring of the heater fan.

The problem here is that, since they are using personal music players it is socially awkward to ask them to turn the volume down.

There is a part of me that wants to fight back, loading an MP3 with highlights from Rigoletto or Madame Butterfly, or perhaps some of Wagner’s Ring Cycle. But there’s no way that I, personally, could have the volume so loud as to bother anyone nearby.

Folks, if you want to destroy your hearing — and sound at that volume will — that’s your choice. And neither am I passing judgment on your taste in music, but the idea behind wearing earbuds or headphones is, as I’ve already stated, that you aren’t forcing others to listen, too.

• Inconsiderate smokers.

I don’t want to re-hash the whole smoking issue. I used to smoke many years ago, and I quit. Three times. I have sympathy for people who are addicted and I don’t begrudge you your right to smoke, but I do ask that you respect those areas that have been designated as ‘No Smoking.’

Yes, these restrictions that may not seem fair, and are certainly inconvenient for you. I will admit that most smokers, however much they may not like these restrictions, are considerate enough to abide by them.

My problem is with those smokers who don’t give a rat’s ass about anyone but themselves, and continue to smoke wherever they damn-well feel like.

At the bus terminal recently a woman walked up stood about a metre from me, next to a ‘No Smoking’ sign, and lit a cigarette. I very politely told her that smoking was not allowed in that area, but she completely ignored me. When I told her a second time she scowled at me and said "I don’t have to listen to you!"

Now, it isn’t like smoking is prohibited on the entire property. There is quite an extensive area there where smoking is permitted and that most smokers use.

When I encounter people like this, I often wonder what they would say if I pulled a can of air freshener from my backpack and began spraying the air around them. After all, if they can blow cigarette smoke in my face, I should be able to spray some "Island Breeze" Glade at them, shouldn’t I?

But, that’s just my opinion.

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