Life's Little Aggravations

Life’s Little Aggravations

We all, at times, I suspect have some irritations that trouble us during the day. And I imagine that every now and then I am the origin of some incidents that may aggravate others. But let’s leave that for another column. Today I want to discuss some activities that have perplexed me lately.

Have you ever been driving the speed limit on a residential street and have someone come up on your rear bumper because he or she is late for work or is taking a tardy child to school? The inclination may be for you to speed up but for me I continue the speed limit. My reason is that I don’t want to receive a ticket for speeding and then try to explain to the officer that I was trying to elude someone who was speeding and was on my rear bumper. Not a good excuse! So if that irritates the person behind me, so be it! Just get up earlier and you won’t be late for work and your youngster won’t be tardy for school!

Lately I have noticed that the cost of soft drinks at restaurants has escalated to $3 per drink! Just the other day we had a coupon for pizza for two and two salads for $12. It was a great lunch! The pizza was tasty and had four different toppings and we had a choice of a Caesar or house salad. It was an enjoyable lunch until the check arrived which was for $18! Yes, the soft drinks were $3 apiece and thus the drinks were half the cost of the meal! Now I realize that refills are complimentary and one can even request a “to-go” beverage but $3 per drink seems a bit over the top. As we looked around the restaurant, I noticed that a lot of the patrons were drinking water. Maybe a good choice based on the price of soft drinks these days and frankly it is a lot healthier!

Speaking of coupons how many times have you traveled to a store with a coupon that advertises “50% off” or “Buy one get one free” and then discover that it does not cover items that are on sale or special merchandise such as Nike that is not eligible for the discount? Talk about an aggravation!

This is not an aggravation but something that is a bit troubling for which I have no answer. Say you are seated in a doctor’s office and a friend enters and asks, “What are you doing here?” Should you reveal your most secret ailment or just state that you are there for a check-up? For me, I like to have some fun with the encounter and explain that during a full moon I have been growing an excessive amount of hair on my hands and the doctors want to perform a blood test to make sure I am not a werewolf! That always gets a quizzical look from everyone in the waiting room.

So there you have it. Perhaps some of you have experienced these same aggravations. Finally, keep in mind that should you encounter me sometime down the road I will not be speeding up to compensate for your being late! And if you see me in a doctor’s office don’t query me about my ailment unless you are prepared to be shocked!