Story 112: More pet peeves

 While I am generally a positive person, there are some things that piss me off, or just confuse the hell out of me.  I don't know if these trends apply around the world.  Maybe someone could let me know.  Here are five additional pet peeves.

1) Car bumper protectors.  I have two cars both of which aren't brand new or fancy, but I would never put a "Bumper Badger" on my car even if it was brand new.  I am always amazed when I see people driving on the highway with bumper protectors. Especially when they are just everyday cars like Hyundai's. They look ridiculous.  God forbid you get the bumper of your Hyundai scratched. Do you ever see a Mercedes Benz with a bumper protector? Enough said.

2) People who walk their child/children on a leash.  I don't know how it is outside the United States, but I have seen some parents with their young children on a leash.  I understand restraint when it comes to dogs, and in fact sometimes you wish their dog was on a leash. I even saw a woman in New York City walking her pet rabbit.  As it was running forward she yelled out "Slow down. Slow down." As if it could understand her. Dogs at least seem to have some word comprehension.

When it comes to kids, I suppose some of them do have a tendency to run amok, but we need to teach them how to behave, not to heel.  On the other hand, I remember when I was living in Queens seeing some Korean parents letting their pre-school children walk at least one block ahead of them, and getting dangerously close to traffic. Where is the awareness?  I guess it important to strike a balance like a government and it's people.  It's the difference between laissez faire and just being plain lazy.

3) Bad cellphone etiquette.  Why can't we stop talking on the phone?  I like my phone, but I have my limits, and I like to think that I have some awareness of the people around me.

I was in Panera bread the other day and two people irritated me immensely in the span of the time it took to eat my bagel.  One woman was waiting for customer service for  her computer, and had her phone on speaker.  Another man (Who was not a senior citizen) was talking loudly into his phone so all the restaurant could hear his business.  Do our phones make us deaf to the people around us? or just unaware.

How about people who talk on their phones at weird times.  Like on the toilet or while urinating, or who sleep with their phones below their pillows.   Do you really want to risk brain cancer?

Another time I saw four teenagers sitting down for a meal of fast food. All of them were looking at their phones, and not one of them was talking.  We are walking down a slippery slope when it comes to our phones.  Have you ever called someone, and then they never return your call, but only text you back. It seems we are also quickly losing the capacity to communicate. I understand the desire to not talk too long to someone who is very boring, long winded,  or even your mother-in-law, but let's give the lines of communication open. Literally.

On the other hand, there are times when we simply should not check or talk on our phones at all.  Like at a broadway show or at movie and while driving. I've even heard of someone checking the phones or texting during a job interview, and you don't have to be Alec Baldwin to know that talking on the phone during flight safety instructions is just plain wrong.  Also, people who walk and look down at their phones and often get close to walking into things.  Wake up people. Look up, put the phone down, and really listen to the people around you.  If you don't stop life can often pass you by, and you might be so preoccupied that you miss it completely.

4) Global Warning Naysayers    : It's in the eighties in New York today.  Quite warm for mid September, and yet global-warning opponents are probably quite adamant that global warning doesn't exist.  What will it take before they and other countries and the unconvinced blink and take notice?

People have said that global warning is untrue.  Tell that to the polar bears when they have to do a long swim, or to the fisherman who are finding dead coral reefs.  Or those who live near the coast like New Orleans and Texas and are experiencing flooding.  Remember the hurricane Sandy and Katrina survivors? It's clear that our weather is changing, and as sea levels rise the seas are getting more prone to flooding.

I've heard people say that cows are to blame because of their gas,   but what about people who chop down the rain forests or polluters like China who have to close 100 factories temporarily when the world is visiting so their air is breathable.  My question is what will it take for the world to believe and to care enough to make changes.

I'm not saying it's going to be like the movie The Day After Tomorrow right away, but you never know.  What if I'm right and we do nothing?  If I'm wrong than were just spending a lot of time  and money for a cleaner greener planet, but if I'm right and we do nothing then we can look forward to moving to mars or the moon. Maybe even like the film Interstellar orbiting in space or perhaps underground like the movie The Matrix.  We already have some underground bunkers, but I don't want it to be Wall E either. Where we are all fat riding around on mechanical devices, and our planet is a wasteland. Literally.  We still have time to make a change.  If only the world will listen.  Listen carefully because it's getting hot out there and I don't want to live like they do in the Silo Series either.  Underground and unable to go outside.


We need to stop burning fossil fuels, and polluting our world.  We need to go green.  Because the cost of not doing anything is that our world will quickly become like a lawn with not enough water. Brown, and ultimately dead.  With coral reefs that are broken and the trees on fire. The temperature will become so hot that if we don't do anything America's Death Valley will become a reality for  the entire planet.

5) Buying a car: Why is buying a car for a fair price so hard in America?  If you have good credit, it's actually pretty easy to get a car.  The thing is why isn't the car industry better regulated?  They can lie and charge different people different rates, and basically rip you off. Why can't there be one standard?  I haven't bought a new car yet, but someday I might.  It just always seems like horse trading.  I wish something could be done.  Two of my friends got ripped off on leases.  It's often been said that you get what you pay for.  I just wish when it comes to cars, someday that could be true too.

Life Lesson 112: Someone once said ,"Viva su vida, no lo mia." Live your life not mine, but never forget to think of the other guy too and our planet as well.