pet peeves

It's that time of the month again. Well, I guess it's always kind of that time of the month for me, what with the perimenopausal crawl to eventual relief. I told my darling husband that I was going to be a bitch for only about ten more years. Maybe eight if we're lucky!

Anyway, I started thinking today in the car about things that happen in the world that drive me nuts. Besides George Bush. I can't even go there. No, these are things that are out of my control that other people do. Like driving in my blind spot for over a mile when I'm trying to change lanes. Or using bad grammar. (Not just the occasional grammatical faux pas, like beginning a sentence with "Or", but people who say things like "So I goes" or "ain't" all the time). It grates at me like nails on a chalk board. I know that my writing is full of it, and I apologize profoundly if I'm causing you to tear out your hair. If it makes you feel any better, it makes me crazy too.

The thing that really gets in my craw though, and makes me actually want to open my mouth and say something instead of just keeping my mouth in a firm Lutheran line, is people who smoke around kids. I. Hate. It.

Now, I had parents who both smoked, and my sister, who I love to bits and pieces has smoked since I was in second grade. I have begged her to stop since I was SEVEN, to no avail. She stopped briefly when she was pregnant with her son, and to her credit, she doesn't smoke anywhere near others or in her home. It makes me so sad to be resigned to losing her sooner than I want to. She is, however, respectful of others and aware of the effect her smoking has on others, and she goes to great lengths to damage only her own lungs. It's people who smoke in crowded outdoor areas and think just because they are outside they aren't affecting others make me a little nuts. That's my air too, and I'd rather not take your nicotine into my lungs thank you very much. Usually, though, I just move out of the way if I can. And that's just it. I can. Because I'm a grown up and can use my legs to walk away. Those folks who smoke with children in a stroller, or God forbid, while they are being held by the smoker, well it makes me want to just take that baby away until they are finished with their cigarette, then give them a good talking to. Or use my powers of Lutheran Guilt to make them change the error of their ways. I don't though, because I don't want to be arrested, and I don't want everyone at my son's school talking about how his mommy is just nuts. But honestly, go ahead and kill yourSELF, if you are so inclined, but do you know the damage you are doing your children? Do you care? It makes me NUTS.

What are your pet peeves? Perimenopausal Judgemental Lutherans? Let me know...