September 25, 2009 – The Paper of Montgomery County (Indiana)
| Hyphenated names: Now that’s annoying |
| By Tony Thomas Guest Columnist All of us have our pet peeves. You know, the annoying, irritating habits that drive a sane person completely mad. Like empty ice cube trays your kid puts back in the freezer, or the grape jelly residue that’s left in the peanut butter, or the 1-ounce of milk that the Budget Nazi refuses to pour out. My majors in college were English and Bible, but my real education took place at home and “Annoyance” was my major. It required no homework, no memorization and no last-second cramming. If my dad was irritable, he hid it well. However, he hated messy rooms. He woke me every morning with the same tune: “Blue sock; mate missing.” Naturally, it wasn’t always blue, but somehow he always spotted the one item that failed to make it to the laundry chute. “That’s So Annoying” is Cynthia Lett’s new book. Lett is an etiquette expert on the world’s most irritating habits, including this brief list: ▶ People who smoke in public, leave the toilet seat up and drink out of milk cartons (page 4). ▶ The person who hogs or hides the TV remote (page 15) ▶ Kids who don’t write thank you notes (page 28). ▶ The know it all (page 29). ▶ Dysfunction commercials (list any body part you wish, page 30). ▶ Diners who use toothpicks in public (page 37). ▶ Waiters who hover as if a member of your party (page 39). ▶ Cashiers who talk on their cell phone while checking you out (page 82). ▶ Spitting on sidewalks (page 124). ▶ Lit cigarettes thrown out of the car (page 130). ▶ Healthy people who use designated handicap spaces (page 140). ▶ Waitresses who refer to customers as “honey,” “baby,” or “sweetheart” (page 152). Pastors who preach too long failed to make Letts’ list (thank you, God). Neither did using a car key to clean out your earwax, or slow golfers, or cell phones that ring during communion. That’s my list. The author has a solution for every problem, but they are a bit simplistic. Lett assumes the reader is dealing with a rational person. If we were dealing with a rational person, her book wouldn’t be necessary. The Bible offers some free advice for dealing with annoying people: “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone” (Romans 12:18, NIV). I was talking with a friend the other day about annoying people and she shared one of hers: Women who use hyphenated names, like Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Hillary Rodham-Clinton and Farrah Fawcett-Majors. Me? As the father of three daughters, I’m all for it. It’s the only way I’ll ever perpetuate my name. Yes, we all have pet peeves – and all of us have annoying habits. My secretary once said: “You’re probably one of those guys who leaves the lid up.” When I asked how she knew, she replied, “Because you leave the lid up on the copy machine, too.” Touché! And I plead guilty, in the first degree.
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