Pet peeves and/or hates.

Hey, wanna know more about me? Of course you do, why else would you be here, in my specific space reserved for painfully pouring out my entire life?

Well, I've decided it's time to share with you all a few of my pet peeves - which, on reflection, are really more like pet hates...I'll try and separate the two. 

(Photo: Erin Veness)

• Loud hand dryers.
  (pet peeve)
  
  Yeah, so I'm starting with what I know may be a weird one. I will often use public toilets and then, after washing my hands, avoid using the automatic dryers in favour of moistening my jumper or jeans with my wet hands. Why? Because I genuinely jump out of my inky skin when a loud gust of air hits my hands and howls in my ears.
  
  
  
• 'I'll have whatever you're having.'
  (pet peeve)
  
  
  I literally just heard a woman say this to her partner when he went up to order at the counter in my friends' cafe. And I almost physically recoiled in my seat. Because it blows my mind that a) someone could 100% trust another person to pick something good off the menu board above the bar and b) they somehow don't have a specific set of requirements in mind when they order hot drinks and cake? I don't know, maybe it's just my being single for a while, but I personally would never say something that outrageous to my partner. Whenever my lovely ex would go up and order our drinks, he'd kindly check with me first - 'black americano? Blueberry muffin?' but really I could have just sent him to order because, as was a requirement for him being my boyfriend, he knew my coffee preferences off by heart.

• Unnecessary meat/dairy ingredients.
  (pet hate)
  
  Not gonna lie, this particular point is mostly referring to those hideous (and many) brands that put milk in their salt and vinegar crisps. I mean, WHY!?? 
  
  Also, just the other day an angelic friend of mine texted, super upset, saying she'd eaten a very popular brand yoghurt only to realise it had gelatine in. For those of you who don't know, gelatine is not suitable for vegetarians or vegans - it is made 'by the prolonged boiling of skin, cartilage, and bones from animals. It's made primarily from what meat industries have left over - e.g. pork skins, horns, cattle bones'...grim as f*ck, no?! Why on earth do we have that sh*t in our food!? And how can people eat it...?

• Objects blowing in the wind.
  (pet peeve)
  
  Having to see, or worse, hang onto balloons and umbrellas in the wind makes me cry. Genuinely, it is so distressing to me. And people letting balloons/lanterns fly away into the sky, whether it's in memory of someone who's died (spoiler: they don't get to heaven, they usually wash up on shores along the coastline having strangled innocent sea creatures) or just for the bantz...that sh*t upsets me like you wouldn't believe. Actually, the wind in general makes me anxious, especially when it's that extra-gusty wind that whips you in the face and makes it hard to breathe. Nopenopenope. Wait... is this actually a phobia? How did this get in here??

• All toilets are unisex.
  (pet hate - and frequent ranting topic)
  
  
  I mean, unless they have a anatomically specific hose of some kind for penises to pee through, any human can use any toilet. I once had a vicious drunken argument with a man standing (and pre-pee dancing) outside the men's toilet at a bar, because the ladies' WC was free and yet he wasn't diving in there to relieve himself. When I outright asked 'why don't you go in there?' He made a face and shrugged, as if to say 'y'know, I can't can I?' I then exasperatedly pointed out that my friend (a cis female) was actually in the men's toilet at that point because we both needed to go at the same time and didn't care where. Eventually the man rolled his eyes and sheepishly shuffled into the 'women's', and it was only once he was in there that my friend emerged from the 'men's', grinning and saying 'I stayed in there longer so he'd have to use the ladies'' and we high-fived.

• When nail polish or lipstick or face powders are advertised in magazines deliberately (and very artistically) smashed or spilled all over a plain surface.
  (pet peeve)
  
  
  It doesn't make me want to buy it. Full stop. But more importantly, what a waste!? It's the same with perfume or champagne - what is this obsession with everything being spilled or smashed or leaking lamely on magazine pages or in TV ads? Surely they can pay a model to wear these lovely lipsticks or drink the fabulous champers? That would make everyone happier, I think.

• People not crediting photographers, companies or other influencers when they repost/regram something on social media. 
  (pet hate)
  
  
  Dear lord, this drives me nuts. Whenever someone reposts something I put on my personal Insta or my work account and doesn't tag me or the person I got it from, I see red. It may seem silly, and I know many people may think 'geezzz, does it matter?' but...yeah. It does. Artists, authors and photographers put so much into their work and to have it just splashed on others' social platforms with no shout-out to them, the creators, that sucks hard. 

• Bus stops.
  (pet peeve)
  
  Not like, bus shelters along a main road, though. I mean a bus stopping. Okay, confession time: I get weirdly scared on buses. I love trains and am happy to drive almost anywhere, but buses freak me out quite a bit. This is mostly because when I'm sitting on one, especially going through busy central London, I never feel sure I'm on the right route and then I strain my ears trying to hear announcements or see a screen somewhere on board...ughh, stressful as heck. I'd rather walk everywhere in London, to be honest. Which is totally possible in most cases...but that's a rant for another time...

Okay. That's it. Judge away - or maybe comment below/tweet me and tell me how normal I am (or how similarly weird or spiteful you are)? Ta.