In no particular order:
• Dentists that insist on asking you questions after they've stuck the most equipment and dental tools in your mouth.
- "What do you do?" "So how have you been?" "When was the last time you had your teeth cleaned?"
Sometimes I just want to look at them with that "Are you kidding me?" look.
• The term "Free" being used in advertising.
- When you purchase something, anything, the word "free" should not be used in conjunction with receiving a so-called additional option or device. The computer industry abuses the word "free" the most. "Get a free CD-Rom burner with your computer!" or "Get a free monitor!" etc.
Bottom line is that you're paying for it one way or another so using the word "free" when money is involved is insulting to my intelligence.
• The encore routine at a live performance of a band/musical artist.
- A performer puts on a show and at the end the audience applauds and somehow this makes the performer walk off stage then back on again to perform some more.
This is perhaps one of the most forced things in life besides death and taxes. You live, you die and in between you pay taxes. But you also must endure those moments when you applaud for a musical artist at a show and they pretend that they somehow weren't expecting it? Hence, they return to the stage after walking off to perform some more. No doubt it's also a forced moment for the musician. "Oh no you shouldn't have...ok I'll play some more because you're applauding." Maybe I just don't understand(or respect) the tradition at live performances of musicians. Encores seem so cliche. Just for once I want to see the audience applaud at the end and the musicians don't actually return to the stage for an encore. End of the show, folks. Thanks for coming now go home.
• Paying for air and water at gas stations.
- It used to be that you were able to get free(there's that word again) air for your tires and water for your radiator(or whatever else) at gas stations. Now, I don't recall exactly when, maybe in the early 90's, but at some point gas stations started charging for these things. First it was 25 cents but now it looms around 50 cents for air and water. That's a bit much isn't it? I mean we're not talking bottled water and the air is electrically generated if I'm not mistaken. It's getting out of hand.
• Turning airplanes into flying gift shops.
- The flight attendant notifies passengers that they'll be walking down the aisles selling items featured in their airline magazine. When did the practice of trying to sell items aboard an airplane during flight begin? It could have been the 50's or 60's for all I know but I seem to have only noticed it in the new millennium. And perhaps it's just on long, overseas flights because I didn't notice this during domestic flights.
Looks it's fine to turn airports into malls that include a surprising number of bars. There's freedom of movement and little-to-no pressure. But to try to sell things to people who are essentially confined to a large flying metal pipe by flight attendants feels awkward. And forced(there's that word again). No I don't want to buy the cologne or the travel clock or the pen that can also tell time. Just let me try and enjoy this moment in the sky in which I'm in close proximity with many other people that perhaps haven't bathed recently or cough on my airplane food.
• Advertising or claiming an item is below a certain price when in reality it's either 1 penny or 5 cents below that price.
- The salesman on the commercial pitches his item as being under 100 dollars. Guess how much it really is? That's right: 99 dollars and 99 cents.
"Get all this and more for under 20 dollars!" The item costs $19.99 so technically, yes, it is under 20 dollars. But that's like your doctor telling you that you're dying even though you have no serious health issues. Sure technically we're all moving towards the grave one way or another but.. ok perhaps that was the wrong analogy, a bit extreme. Here perhaps is a better one: you get married and your wife or husband tells you that you're getting sex for free.
I'm sure there are more things that bother me but I'll have to post them when I can remember exactly what they are.
• Dentists that insist on asking you questions after they've stuck the most equipment and dental tools in your mouth.
- "What do you do?" "So how have you been?" "When was the last time you had your teeth cleaned?"
Sometimes I just want to look at them with that "Are you kidding me?" look.
• The term "Free" being used in advertising.
- When you purchase something, anything, the word "free" should not be used in conjunction with receiving a so-called additional option or device. The computer industry abuses the word "free" the most. "Get a free CD-Rom burner with your computer!" or "Get a free monitor!" etc.
Bottom line is that you're paying for it one way or another so using the word "free" when money is involved is insulting to my intelligence.
• The encore routine at a live performance of a band/musical artist.
- A performer puts on a show and at the end the audience applauds and somehow this makes the performer walk off stage then back on again to perform some more.
This is perhaps one of the most forced things in life besides death and taxes. You live, you die and in between you pay taxes. But you also must endure those moments when you applaud for a musical artist at a show and they pretend that they somehow weren't expecting it? Hence, they return to the stage after walking off to perform some more. No doubt it's also a forced moment for the musician. "Oh no you shouldn't have...ok I'll play some more because you're applauding." Maybe I just don't understand(or respect) the tradition at live performances of musicians. Encores seem so cliche. Just for once I want to see the audience applaud at the end and the musicians don't actually return to the stage for an encore. End of the show, folks. Thanks for coming now go home.
• Paying for air and water at gas stations.
- It used to be that you were able to get free(there's that word again) air for your tires and water for your radiator(or whatever else) at gas stations. Now, I don't recall exactly when, maybe in the early 90's, but at some point gas stations started charging for these things. First it was 25 cents but now it looms around 50 cents for air and water. That's a bit much isn't it? I mean we're not talking bottled water and the air is electrically generated if I'm not mistaken. It's getting out of hand.
• Turning airplanes into flying gift shops.
- The flight attendant notifies passengers that they'll be walking down the aisles selling items featured in their airline magazine. When did the practice of trying to sell items aboard an airplane during flight begin? It could have been the 50's or 60's for all I know but I seem to have only noticed it in the new millennium. And perhaps it's just on long, overseas flights because I didn't notice this during domestic flights.
Looks it's fine to turn airports into malls that include a surprising number of bars. There's freedom of movement and little-to-no pressure. But to try to sell things to people who are essentially confined to a large flying metal pipe by flight attendants feels awkward. And forced(there's that word again). No I don't want to buy the cologne or the travel clock or the pen that can also tell time. Just let me try and enjoy this moment in the sky in which I'm in close proximity with many other people that perhaps haven't bathed recently or cough on my airplane food.
• Advertising or claiming an item is below a certain price when in reality it's either 1 penny or 5 cents below that price.
- The salesman on the commercial pitches his item as being under 100 dollars. Guess how much it really is? That's right: 99 dollars and 99 cents.
"Get all this and more for under 20 dollars!" The item costs $19.99 so technically, yes, it is under 20 dollars. But that's like your doctor telling you that you're dying even though you have no serious health issues. Sure technically we're all moving towards the grave one way or another but.. ok perhaps that was the wrong analogy, a bit extreme. Here perhaps is a better one: you get married and your wife or husband tells you that you're getting sex for free.
I'm sure there are more things that bother me but I'll have to post them when I can remember exactly what they are.
