Its-It's (and no, I don't mean the brand of delicious ice cream sandwich)

The following spelling/grammar/usage mistakes drive me NUTS. When I was a teacher I drilled the rules into my students. I suspect teachers everywhere are drilling these rules into the young, formative minds of their students. And yet I encounter people making these mistakes multiple times, every day. And I'm not talking accidental typos because you're typing too fast. I'm talking people really honestly don't know the rules. ARRRGGHH! (There are many more common errors, but the list below are among the more ubiquitous and egregious.)

THEIR-THEY'RE-THERE

"Their" is a possessive pronoun, as in "That is THEIR house." Note the spelling t-h-e-i-r and not t-h-i-e-r.

"They're" is a contraction, as in the shortened form of "they are," as in "They're going to come over soon."

"There" is for all other uses. "Put it over there." "There is a person at the door."

IT'S-ITS

"It's" is a contraction, as in "it is," as in "It's raining."

"Its" is a possessive pronoun, as in "The dog chased its tail."

GOOD and WELL

When you perform satisfactorily, you say you "did WELL." You do not say you "did GOOD." You can say you "did a good job," using "good" as an adjective. But you do not use "good" as an adverb.

LOSE and LOOSE

If you do not have control of something, you LOSE it, as in "I will hold this tightly so that I do not LOSE it." Or if you do not win, you LOSE. You do not LOOSE a game.

If something is not tight, it is LOOSE, as in "I have to tie up my dog so it does not run LOOSE."

I'm sure I'll think of more...if you think of any, let me know!

Service Industry Employees Who Hate Their Jobs

I used to be a waitress. Over the course of about 5 years, I worked at 3 different restaurants. I encountered really obnoxious customers who made lame jokes, and people who complained no matter what I did, and large parties who came in 10 minutes before closing and kept me there for hours on my $2/hour salary. But I did what I was paid to do...I smiled, I was friendly, I served them. Because it was my JOB. Sure, I had days where I was exhausted, or was having a terrible day. But it wasn't THEIR problem. My job was to serve them, and that is what I did.

Some people in the service industry so clearly HATE what they are doing that they are unable to hide their contempt and do their job. They act annoyed when you are seated in their section. They roll their eyes when you ask questions about the menu. They throw the bill at you and try to push you out of there. As though your existence in the restaurant is somehow a HUGE personal inconvenience to them. Recently I went to breakfast and was seated and smiled and said good morning to my waitress. She frowned and started complaining that she had too many tables. Yeah...not my fault. And now I'm uncomfortable and can't enjoy my meal. And it doesn't help that I'm a people pleaser who fears confrontation. All this drama and I just wanted pancakes and coffee.

Last I checked, restaurants are places where you go to order food and get it served to you. You even pay for this luxury, and if you're served well, you tip. So I don't need the attitude from my server when I am being polite and simply ordering a meal. I don't need to be made to feel uncomfortable or guilty that I am ruining my server's life. This is true for anyone whose job it is to serve: people who work at coffee shops, ice cream places, retail stores, etc. It is their JOB to help the customer. So why be a hater when a customer comes in and simply request that you perform the duties you are being paid to do??

Sometimes customers or patrons are pretty rude, I'll admit that. And if pushed, it is not entirely unreasonable for a service person to stand up for themselves rather than just sit there and take it. But there is something to the adage, "the customer is always right," especially when the customer hasn't done anything to make you mad.

If you hate serving people, then DON'T WORK IN THE SERVICE INDUSTRY. If you can't take the heat, then don't have a job where you have to go back and forth from the kitchen. Go work somewhere where you don't have to interact with people and you can be as miserable as you want in your backroom or your cubicle. Or do what I did...go into the big walk-in freezer and swear really loudly before going back to your annoying table with a smile. I felt better, and my customers never knew how much I loathed them.

Filled-to-the-Rim Coffee Cups

Last night I went to a cafe. I asked for a small coffee. The cafe lady asked, "would you like room for cream?" I said, "yes, please." She gave me a cup of coffee filled to the rim.

This ALWAYS happens. Rarely, if ever, does any coffee pourer give you enough room for cream. They maybe give you room for like, a drop or two, IF you want to fill it to the point of spilling. And if that is their default position on an acceptable fill line, then fine, so be it. But if you bother to ASK me, "would you like room for cream," then why don't you actually leave me room for cream???

Recently I tried a new approach. I answered, "yes, please, lots." I thought the addition of "lots" might get me another centimeter or two of room. Nope. Still filled to the rim.

Perhaps these coffee-pouring renegades figure it is better to give me too much instead of not enough. And to be fair, I'm sure there are a bunch of people who complain if their coffee cup isn't sufficiently full. But if you ASK me if I want room, I am giving you license to in fact, give me room. And I will take responsibility for my own disappointment if I don't get enough. Otherwise, I end up dumping some of it into a nearby bus bucket, or if none if available, then into the trash. That makes me feel badly for the person who has to empty the trash. And it generally makes me feel bad to waste an inch of coffee every time I order. Sigh.

One last point on the topic...usually I am ordering coffee because I have not yet had coffee that day. My roommate and boyfriend can attest, you don't want to mess with me before I've had my first cup of the day. So fair warning to you barristas out there...if you ask me if I want room and then don't give it to me, I may not be responsible for my subsequent actions.

Sick People Unnecessarily Out in Public

I am in the middle of studying for the bar. It is obviously stressful, and I am aware that the stress is making me even more prone to irritation than usual. But today I was studying at a coffee shop, and the girl sitting next to me was hacking up a lung and loudly blowing her nose...repeatedly. She was clearly quite sick. And yet, here she was out in public instead of in bed, coughing and blowing away.

WHY do sick people go out into public when they don't NEED to? This girl was with a friend and they were chit-chatting the whole time (quite loudly, but that's beside the point), so obviously she wasn't under some pressing deadline to get something done. So what gives? Last semester during finals the same thing happened...this girl was in the cafe at the law school reading a book, and she had the most horrific sounding cough. I could not figure out WHY was she in a crowded cafe??

Okay, maybe you have work to do. But you are in a CAFE...it is not quiet and there are many distractions. So study at home! Or if for some reason home is even more distracting and/or impossible to work in, then go somewhere less crowded. Otherwise, you're exposing everyone in your vicinity to your infectious germs. Not only is it distracting to have to hear these people coughing, sneezing, and blowing their nose incessantly, but it actually puts the rest of us at risk of getting sick. How unbelievably selfish is that? I understand if you have a final that you can't reschedule, or you can't miss a day of work, or you have a necessary appointment, or you need to go to a store for something...but studying in a crowded, busy place does not strike me as particularly necessary, given the risks to the innocent bystanders around you.

As a related note, I also don't understand the super-loud, honking nose blow. I can blow my nose quite effectively most of the time without sounding like a tortured goose. And if I can't, I excuse myself to the restroom. I believe that's what is known as common courteousy.

So in conclusion, if you are sick and you must be out in public because you will get fired or fail out of school or some other catastrophe will ensue, then you are exempt from these criticisms. But if you are sick and you could be home but you decided to come to a crowded place anyway and spread your disease...then shame on you, you big selfish jerk. You owe me a bottle of Nyquil.

Crotch Rockets

I was walking home today, and some guy sped by on a crotch rocket going quite fast. It was SOOOOOO loud that it actually hurt my ears. Is there really a need to drive your motorcycle in such a way as to inflict physical pain on others? Jackass.

I could go on, but I feel the obnoxiousness of the crotch rocket is so obvious that it needs no further explanation.

Automatic Toilets/Faucets/Hand Dryers

I hate automatic things in the bathroom. They seem to always do the exact opposite of what you want them to. The toilet, for instance, likes to flush while I am sitting on it. And yet, when I stand up and actually want it to flush, it does not. How disgusting for the toilet to flush while you are on it, as you inevitability get splashed with some toilet water that is composed of part water and part GOD KNOWS what else. EW. And how disgusting to leave a toilet unflushed. See? Automatic toilet is crap (pun intended). Give us the manual flusher back and we'll continue to flush it with our foot and everyone's happy.

Same with the automatic faucet. You sit there and wave your hand under it. Nothing happens. You keep waving. Nothing. And there is no alternative method of initiating water flow. So you sit there and keep waving like an idiot and hope that you can engage in sanitary hygiene practices like washing your hands after using a stupid toilet that flushed on you.

If you are lucky enough to be able to wash your hands, then you are faced with the automatic dryer, or the new-fangled automatic paper towel dispenser. You wave and wave and no hot air starts blowing or no paper towel comes out. And now you're waving with wet hands, which start dripping all down your arms and soaking your sleeves. Often you give up and just wipe your hands on your pants. Now those are wet, too.

So let's recap: You just wanted to use the facilities. Now you've had nasty toilet water spewed on you, you may not have been able to wash your hands, and your sleeves and/or pants are all wet. All of this courtesy of a technology that is supposed to enable us to not have to touch anything in the bathroom. Hmmm...

P.S. These automatic annoyances are further evidence that machines are evil and intentionally mess with us. See previous post on (Evil) Automated Phone Operators.

Being Lax with the Laundry Room

First of all, I apologize for the long delay in posting. Graduation was super busy, and then I got to unwind in Santa Barbara for a week. But I'm back, with many more things that drive me nuts.

Okay...so I live in an apartment building with one washing machine and one dryer. Though there are only seven units, there is a perpetual battle to get laundry done. In my busy schedule, I often find myself with a very small window of time to clean my clothes, and so when I bag it all up and carry it down to the basement, I'm hoping for the best. When the machine is going, then all's fair, someone got there first, I have to wait. But what is INTOLERABLE is when the machine is off and you're psyched, but when you open the washer or dryer, someone's clothes are just sitting there.

Now, I'm not saying anyone should have to sit down there and transfer their clothes the moment the machine stops. There is a grace period. But if you leave your crap down there for more than 20 minutes, you're a real pain in the butt. I'll leave and wait 15 minutes and come back. Stuff still there. Leave and come back, leave and come back...stuff still there. Where did the person go?? And are they EVER coming back? Do they think they are the only person who needs to clean their clothes? They're all, "I'll just throw my clothes in here and then go on vacation for a week." Jerks.

I think it's fair game to take someone's stuff out of the wash and stick it in the dryer if they don't show after 20 minutes. But then you know they'll show up at the last minute and start the dryer the second you're ready for it. So you have to wait AGAIN. If they don't show up, then you have to haul their crap back into the washer. It sucks.

And all the while, it's just awkward. I don't exactly like touching other people's clothes. And I'm sure they don't like me touching their clothes. I also live in fear of the moment that ensues when they show up in the middle of me moving their crap. AWKWARD. You're all, "hi...here's your underwear." Taking stuff out of the dryer is even trickier. It's okay to leave wet clothes in a pile in the dryer...but I don't want to leave someone's dry, clean clothes in a heap. So am I supposed to fold their stuff? It seems polite...but it takes forever and makes it even more likely that they will walk in while I'm handling their delicates. And why should they get nicely folded laundry? That's rewarding inconsiderate behavior. It's just a bad situation.

I long for the day when I have my own washer and dryer. When I don't have to wonder what kind of funky stuff someone is sticking in there, when I don't have to clean out a stranger's lint trap, and when I don't have to hoard quarters like they're gold. Alas, for now I must continue to rely on other people's laundry etiquette...and hold my breath while I handle my neighbors' unmentionables.