by Joe Paradis

Created on: December 10, 2008

Pet Peeves

In a fit of truthfulness, I bet we'd all admit that we have pet peeves. Those little things others do that really annoy us. Some even have the propensity to get us so wound up, so ready to snap, that we usually have to block our eyes or ears, or just walk away, to avoid a scene about something that, in the grand scheme of things, is really rather petty.

Like people who constantly crack their knuckles. Does that drive anyone besides me crazy? My kids do it all the time and I lash right out with a stern "stop it". And they will listen. Sometimes. But knuckle cracking is apparently best performed in groups of eight or ten, depending upon whether or not you crack the thumbs. And I've found that if my kids still have a couple of cracks to go to finish the cycle, they'll fire those last few off quickly, even after my warning. Because they know all I'll do is just stare at them for three seconds more. Guess it's worth the momentary discomfort of the hairy eyeball' to complete the cycle.

Guys wearing hats inside is another peeve of mine. It's particularly grating if the guy is in a restaurant, sitting at a table. As kids, we were raised to believe that it's poor form for a man to wear a hat inside, and practically a sin if he does so while seated at the table. It's tantamount to burping or passing gas while you eat. Falls into the Bad Manners category. Emily Post's great grandmother probably concocted the "no hat" rule, but it's such a tradition, I'd really like to see it remain intact. I'm saddened when I see first and second generation hat wearers at the same table in a restaurant. I try to sit far away from them. Because they may not know that burping and passing gas at the table are poor manners too.

In the generation gap category, I'm just not persuaded that the fashion of boys wearing their pants down past their hips is really all that attractive to girls. Someone needs to convince me that girls find it fashionable to see six inches of a boy's boxer underwear above his pants, with the crotch of his jeans dangling around his knees as he walks on four inches of his pants cuffs. I may be old-fashioned, but I was raised to wear this thing called a belt, specifically to avoid that situation. My grandfather would have worn suspenders. His grandfather, probably a tunic. But I can only hope that this fashion fades before someone dies tripping on his pants cuffs.

Fashion beyond clothing does present its own set of pet peeves. I wouldn't deny anyone the right to

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