Post Your General Pet Peeves Here

Highway etiquette!

Few things cause me to get annoyed more than having to disengage my cruise control and slow down because somebody decides they want to go slow in the fast lane. Or when two people are going the same speed on a 2 lane highway next to each other.

People have this misconception that the fast lane is for those who are going the speed limit and those under the speed limit are in the slow lane. NO. The fast lane is for people who are going 5 over the speed limit minimum. Every time I drive on the interstate I set the cruise control to 5 over and go. I only go in the fast lane when passing people then quickly move back to the slow lane. If I am going 5 over and somebody behind me wants to go faster then I quickly get out of their way by moving to the slow lane.

I get it, not everybody is in a hurry many people are enjoying the ride. That is perfectly fine. Just don't leisurely cruise in the fast lane. MOVE. Or if it's a single lane road and you want to go slow then thats perfectly fine, pull off a bit so that people can pass you. My father always does that he is one of those people who drives slower than most. But when he sees somebody coming up behind him he will wave his hand out the window signalling them to go by. If the road is too curvy to where it would be dangerous for someone to pass he will pull off to the side and let people go by. That's called road etiquette.

The worst part is when the guy doing 60 in a 75 in the fast lane holding up traffic finally gets passed and you look at him he gives you a mean look as if you were wrong for being mad.

Here's a rule of thumb. If a semi truck on the highway has to move to the slow lane to pass you then you are going way too damn slow to be in the fast lane. On my recent cross country road trip I literally saw a semi truck driver wind his window down and start yelling at a car in the fast lane because he had to get in the slow lane to pass him by. I was cheering him on. I pull up next to the truck and gave him a thumbs up. He gave me one of those hand gestures and shook his head as to say "Stupid mother F'ers".

 

Here's another pet peeve of mine. Places that don't sell beer in the damn gas station!

I went to visit my mother in Baltimore and I went to the gas station to grab a six pack. I looked around for awhile dumbfounded and finally went to the counter and asked the lady where the beer was hiding. She gave me this shocked look and said "Beer? Sir this is a convenience store not a liquor store..." Im like what the hell? It's in the name "convenience" store which means its here so I can buy things I need conveniently....like beer. What kind of place doesn't sell beer at the gas station where the hell am I supposed to go? She says "The liquor store Sir thats where they sell liquor..."

I was dumbfounded. In the South we sell beer, ammo, and diapers in the convenience store. Up there she was telling me they don't? That right there pretty much solidified my belief that everything above Virginia sucks lol.

 

I'm not a truck driver...When I say "my truck" Im talking about a Ford not a Semi...

Many interstates have only 2 lanes and not 3. The particular interstate that I was on last week had only 2 lanes and no rules about trucks not passing people in the left lane because there are only 2.

All Im saying is that people need to have common courtesy. Don't get in the left lane if you aren't going the speed limit. If you blatantly see somebody coming up behind you in the rear view mirror then get out of the way and move to the right lane. The main cause of traffic jams on 2 lane interstates are from people going like 10 miles below the speed limit in the right lane and semi trucks have to pass them. But semi trucks can't accelerate very fast so its a long slow painful process of them inching by slow drivers until they can pass them and get back in the right lane. That holds up everybody behind them.

Driving through Virginia was the worst due to this exact reason. It was a constant yo yo effect of semi trucks trying to pass slow drivers on the 2 lane road. I know interstates have a minimum speed but damn that doesn't mean people should go that slow. All that does is cause traffic jams. If you want to only drive 50mph then take the backroads.

 

Oh my mistake, I must have misread.

If Im not mistaken I believe many truckers are paid by the delivery so they try to get to their destination as quickly as possible. That's why they sometimes blow off the fast lane law and try to pass people or get out of the congested areas. It can be very dangerous though. I saw a semi acting like a sports car weaving in and out of traffic trying to pass everybody on my recent road trip. I was cruising at 75mph like I always do and he was going at least a good 10mph faster than me. I believe that was the first time I have ever had to move out of the way of a trucker trying to pass me.

The majority of the trucks I see tend to just cruise in the right lane going a little slower than the speed limit though. Thats why I said my general rule of thumb is if a semi truck is trying to pass you then you are probably going too slow and you need to move.

 

Here's another pet peeve of mine (luckily she doesn't read these forums she hates politics). My girlfriend and her car...

She is 110% absolutely convinced that her car is a POS. I get a phone call about once a week of her saying something is wrong with her car and how she HAS to get a new car because hers is going to blow up. Here is how these conversations always go.

Her: "Hey, my stupid car smells funny like its on fire or something what is wrong with it?"
Me: "When is the last time you changed your oil?"
Her: "Um, I dunno like last year, my friend did it for me"
Me: "Pop the hood, grab the yellow dipstick handle and look at it"
Her: "Yeah I already did that like 3 times it's fine the stick is dry it's not leaking oil"
Me: "*Sigh*..."

or

Her: "Hey, my stupid car steering wheel is hard to turn and its making a loud noise"
Me: "Pop the hood, look on the right, there is a reservoir labeled power steering fluid do you see it?"
Her: "Yeah is there supposed to be something in there?"
Me: "*Sigh*..."

or

Her: "Hey, the little temp gauge thing in my stupid car is on H. It's not even hot outside today I need a new temp gauge"
Me: "Pop the hood, on the left is a huge reservoir, its the biggest one in there do you see it?"
Her: "Yeah"
Me: "Is there anything in there?"
Her: "No..is there supposed to be?"
Me: "Yes..."
Her: "Oh ok, whats that have to do with my temp gauge being broken?"
Me: "Thats not a temp gauge for the outside temperature telling you its hot outside its the temp gauge for your engine"
Her: "Um Im pretty sure its for the outside, it's been slowly creeping up to the H ever since it started slowly getting hotter outside"
Me: "It started getting hot outside like 2 months ago..."
Her: "My point exactly"
Me: "*Sigh...*"

She is pretty much convinced that all she ever has to do is put gas in the car forever. She is hell bent on not going to a real autoshop because she thinks they always try to lie and get her to do things she doesn't need to for the car. So she goes to friends of friends for car maintenance. And since I am usually not in town I can't just do everything to fix her car for her.

So I get phone calls like that once a week lol

 

Maybe because its a half truck thats pulling a big cargo box behind it thats not technically part of the truck?

 

Driving the speed limit in the passing lane causes traffic jams and holds up everybody behind you. People are allowed to drive 5 over the speed limit. There are even signs posted everywhere that say "Slower traffic keep right". It Florida it's actually the law.

Anyone is free to drive as slow as they please. Well unless there is a minimum speed limit like on most major highways. All I'm asking is that people do that in the right lane.It's not against the law for me to go 5 over the speed limit. But in some places it's against the law for you to not get out of my way and move to the right lane if I'm going 5 over the speed limit. And thats how it should be.

 

Here's another one of mine. People who throw money on the counter when paying for things.

That irritates me to no end and I see it as being blatantly rude. Put the money in their hand. I stood in line behind a guy the other day who was digging in his pocket for change and throwing the coins on the counter. The cashier is sitting there trying to catch the coins before they fell off the counter. Then he has the nerve to stick his hand out for the cashier to put his change and receipt in his hand.

I hate that.

 

I have a friend like that. You can be talking about something and he will just flat out interrupt you in mid sentence and start talking about something else. It's usually something completely different too. I'll be sitting there talking to him about work then in mid sentence he'll just cut in and say something like "Man did you see the game last night?"

He has gotten a lot better now I think people have mentioned it to him before. I know I did. Now its sort of funny because when talking to him you can see him start to interrupt then he'll catch himself.

I know what you mean about the checkbook thing. I manage to get stuck behind those people almost every single time I ever go to Wal Mart. Happened to me the other day when I was buying stuff. Both people in front of me did that and they had carts full of groceries. It was literally in line for 25 minutes behind those two waiting.