Here’s a pet peeve: when I forget what day it is. Since I work every day of the week and most evenings and no longer have anyone living with me in this huge house, I frequently lose track. Today was an example.
Steven Mintz, “the Ethics Sage,” has a post on his blog listing his “pet peeves.” Boy, he isn’t annoyed by nearly as many things as I am, and all most none of them are particularly momentous. Here’s his list:
10. Leaving the toilet seat up [a shout out to women].
9. Turning without signaling. [what’s the turn signal for?].
8. Walking up a flight of stairs while using one’s cell phones; being oblivious to others [this can cause them to run into us].
7. Talking during movies or using one’s cell phones. [even though there is a message from the theater not to do so].
6. Looking at one’s cell phone while someone is talking [inconsiderate].
5. Cutting people off while driving [stupid; you can cause a serious accident],
4. Failing to share the arm rest on an airplane [thoughtless]. Taking one’s shoes (and socks!) off in an airplane [yuck].
3. Taking one’s shoe’s (and socks!) off in an airplane.
2. Being interrupted by another person while talking [rude! rude! behavior].
1. Using the catchphrase “with all due respect” [a subtle disrespect].
He writes in part, “I’ve been thinking a lot about them lately because I have experienced that increasingly people are inconsiderate; they don’t seem to be cognizant that even the little things can annoy others. I decided to write a blog on this subject because of my commitment to ethical behavior in our personal as well as professional lives. Being considerate of others is an ethical value because it shows caring and concern for the well-being of others. It moves us away from the constant pursuit of self-interest regardless of how it affects others.”
I can top that list with ease, including his #1: My least favorite catch phrase is a tie between “Everything happens for a reason” and “There are no coincidences.”
Another pet peeve is not getting many contribution to the open forums, but I can hardly complain when I open one 8 hours late.
Ethics Alarms 
My pet peeve is not putting the toilet seat up after you sit on it. Not really but it strikes me as silly that someone cannot adjust the seat for their own needs. Are some fingers too delicate?
Actually, my biggest pet peeve is when these educated persons who claim to be so sophisticated because they are so educated incorrectly use the word less when fewer is the correct term. The other is using the word lay when lie is the right term.
Other than that, I’m good. Life is too short to let others piss you off on a daily basis.
Fewer vs less gets my hackles up also.
Also- unnecessary use of the present continuous verb form.
“I am wanting a sandwich”
No, it’s “I want a sandwich”
“I’m feeling like I’m sleepy”
No, it’s “I feel sleepy”
My late wife was obsessed with people who say “that” when they mean who or whom, as in “the man that came to my door…”
I agree with her. The man is a person and not a thing.
That man is a person!
Touche!
I forgot to include those who use the word conversate instead of converse as in I will conversate with you instead of I will converse with you.
Caramel is a sweet additive found in many dessert recipes!
Carmel is where the YHWH demonstrated through Elijah His existence versus the man-made god of the Canaanites by consuming Elijah’s water-soaked sacrifice and altar with fire so intensely it consumed even the equally saturated ground around the altar!
Come on guys, keep it straight.
There’s a Dairy Queen or some such TV commercial that explicitly refers to “carmel” flavored ice cream or treats. Repeatedly. Insane.
Relevent to the water situation in California, “climate change” claims, etc.
The “snail darter” fish that helped drive the overuse of the Endangered Species Act, EPA regulations and such leftist efforts, has been revealed to not actually exist.
^^^^^
Stupid link didn’t take. https://jonathanturley.org/2025/01/09/snail-darter-rip-the-species-that-shut-down-the-tellico-dam-may-not-actually-exist/
“4. Failing to share the arm rest on an airplane [thoughtless]. Taking one’s shoes (and socks!) off in an airplane [yuck].“
Convention is, in row of three center seat gets two arm rests, aisle seat gets left, window seat gets right. Two seats together, or two in center of row of four just have to fight it out.
Taking off shoes is OK, especially on a long flight (and if socks aren’t stinky). Socks, not unless there’s some good reason. Going to the toilet without shoes just means you’re an idiot. Putting your feet where they impinge at all on the persons in front of you is a no.
If you want a real argument about air travel, bring up the question of seat reclining.
My pet peeve is people who spell whoa, woah. I almost never see it spelled correctly any more. In fact, if you look it up it’s been spelled wrong so much the “alternate” spelling is now accepted.
One of my pet peeves is alternate spellings AND pronunciations that become accepted.
I am impressed with people who have few pet peeves. My pet peeves could be put into categories, because they are so numerous.
A few here:
Driving: People who cut into a lane at the last minute when merging, after passing everyone who has been more or less patiently waiting in line.
Conversation: When someone responds to me before I’ve even finished speaking, especially when they assume what I’m about to say. Usually, they are wrong.
Hotels: Hotels that go “cashless” but have self-service laundry facilities that require change. Perhaps I’m out of the norm, but I don’t carry around a bunch of quarters and the front desk can’t / won’t make change because they are “cashless”.
Car rentals: Having to take whatever vehicle is left over if I have a flight that arrives very late (after 11:00), even though I reserved a specific type of car. Sadly, I haven’t used a rental car place yet that will reliably keep my “reserved” car even when I’ve said that my flight will be getting in late.
I think that my blood pressure would be lower if I had fewer pet peeves, but I haven’t been able to whittle them down so far.
I’d hate to be responsible for worsening Jack’s peeves by not adding a few of my own.
People who don’t use turn signals in situations where their use is obviously warranted.
People who ignore merge signs and try to cut in at the last second and those who don’t understand what merging onto a highway means.
Mispronunciation or misuse of commonly used words.
Not breaking the first paper towel loose from the glue binding the new roll together when a new roll is put out for use.
As an introvert, dealing with extroverts who think that we should be more outgoing and chatty to please their need to talk about nothing at all.
Not sure where, but there have to be ethics breaches aplenty, here: Gavin Newsom BUYS $9.1M Bay Area Mansion, Keeps $3.7M Sacramento Hovel.
The kicker? All this on a ~$174K/year salary.
Forever sacrificing for the underserved, am I right?
It gets better.
Newsom’s 10 year plan to end San Francisco homelessness Turns 20!
PWS
Did anyone other than me watch the “hush money” “sentencing?” Jonathan Turley was a star on Fox. He basically said the entire New York City and State legal and judicial establishment has turned itself into a laughingstock. Boy, the guy who spoke for the prosecution and that creepy acting judge were absolutely insufferable. They acted as if Trump had been convicted of mass murder and then said letting him off was the proper sentence. What a bunch of jerks. At some point recently, someone said there is a distinct subset of Democrats: New York Democrats. They really are uniquely Trump deranged, and have been for probably ever since The Donald came on the scene forty or more years ago. That guy Merchan, what a prig.
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My current peeviest pet peeve? (And I’m sorry if I am starting something unintended.) Religious people who say or write, regarding whoever/whatever they consider to be God, divinity, the numinous, that they “know.” As Jack knows, I am a believer, but that’s the whole point of the words “belief” and “faith,” right? If you have faith, you CAN’T know. There is no “knowing” in faith. It doesn’t matter what denomination, when someone says that they KNOW, they’re at least misusing the word. But I hear that “We know x, y, or z” in sermons all the time.
I’ve begun watching a new guilty pleasure online: The Line, which is a call-in show hosted by 2 atheists who debate callers who try to change their minds. Pretty much every one of the callers state at one point or another that they “know.” As a believer, I find this hilarious.
OK, since we’re doing peeves, I’ll toss in a couple:
1) People saying (and this is just an example of the form) “That needs fixed” instead of “That needs fixing” or “That needs to be fixed“. Looking it up, I find it’s a “double modal” construction error…
2) Using the term “begs the question” when “raises the question” is meant. Even TV newscasters do it, and you’d think maybe they’d have been taught better. (Though evidence would suggest many “journalists”, politicians, and other talking heads have never taken a course in logic.)
The compound comparative or super superlative makes me crazy: “The more/most better/best . . .”
jvb
My pet peeve – improper use of the word ‘myself’. Maybe grammar rules have changed since I was in the 8th grade in 1972 but…
Example 1: John and myself went to the track. NO, it should be – John and I went to the track ( the teste I was taught is to take the individuals out and and see if the sentences makes sense. e.g. John went to the track. or- I went to the track, NOT myself went to the track.
Example 2: A surprise party was held for my wife and myself. NO. Should be- A surprise party was held for my wife and me.
Again, since EVERYBODY but me seems to use myself in the wrong way, maybe I’m the one who has been out of touch with grammar rules for the past 50 years.
A similar peeve of mine: using “any more” without a negative. The usage was always “He doesn’t do this any more” but now I hear “everybody” using the phase in sentences like, “I always do this any more.” Drives me crazy.
I use “with all due respect” exactly as described here, and make no apologies for it. When someone has communicated something so mind-numbingly stupid that it shakes my faith in humanity, “with all due respect” is a much more kind and respectful way of communicating my thoughts on their position that my actual thoughts.
I have a pet peeve in people changing lyrics to well-known tunes because the original lyrics were not sufficiently politically correct. For example, in Hark The Harold, changing “Born to raise the sons of earth” to “Born to raise us from the earth”, or in Aladdin’s opening song, changing “Where they cut off your ear if they don’t like your face” to “where the sands are immense and the heat is intense”.
But I have a question to pose to the group, and maybe we’ve discussed this before. If so, I’m sorry for the repetition.
What is the ethics of having a job posted where the preferred candidate is going to get the job regardless of any other applicants? I know some companies are not permitted to hire for a position without advertising the position and getting multiple applications, but if the choice has already been made internally, isn’t it unethical to advertise for the position, giving other candidates false hope? On the other hand, isn’t it unethical to buck company policy and give the job to the anointed without opening the position up for applicants?
What is the ethics of having a job posted where the preferred candidate is going to get the job regardless of any other applicants?
It’s unethical. Unfortunately its an unethical law that mandates it.
Exactly. The company is merely following the letter of the law.
jvb