Shhhhhh!

Libraries are, as far as I know, supposed to be quiet places where people can read and work. So why are some people so loud in libraries? Why are cell phones allowed? Why are some libraries even building cafes where patrons can eat and chat? I guess libraries want to be accommodating, since fewer people go there these days, but a library, in my opinion, is not a place for socializing or loud talking. So please let your fellow library-patrons read or work in peace. Shhh!

--Curly

RSVP

Granted, Prunella is not the most social animal. But every once in a rare while she does host gatherings--parties, even.

She puts a lot of thought into her guest lists. And it saddens--nay, it peeves her--when les invités fail to observe the ever-courteous RSVP included with their invitations.

Which part of répondez, s'il vous plaît do they not understand?

Respond, please.

Please?

--Prunella

Pray to the Lilac Bush

I have several peeves about religious people and I'm sure at some point I'll be posting on more of them, but for now I'll mention a basic one: the feeling that everyone has to believe in some sort of higher power. That is simply not true, but many people seem to have trouble reflecting on a godless existence (because to them, such a life is without meaning, hope, knowledge, happiness, and morals, an idea, I might point out, that is completely erroneous).

A couple of weeks ago, I was having a discussion with someone about the role of god in some of the difficulties she has been encountering in her life over the past year or so. She said how helpful it was to her to feel there was a higher power looking out for her and supporting her. I accept that she feels that way and I am happy she feels she has this support. However, she said to me, "I don't care what religion you are, everyone believes in a god. It can be the traditional Christian or Jewish god, Buddha, Muhammad, or...or..." She paused as she struggled to find more examples and then she looked outside the window. "Or a tree or a lilac bush!"

A lilac bush is a higher power?

She knows I am an atheist, but the idea doesn't make any sense to her. She again insisted, "Everyone believes in something. Everyone believes in a power greater than themselves." Well, yes, I never said that I thought I was the greatest power in the universe or that I knew everything. That is not what it means to be an atheist, but so many people are confused about what an atheist really is that they end up insisting that atheism is just not possible or sensible.

Let me state for the record that I don't believe in any higher power, whether it is a god or a lilac bush!

--Curly

What Do You Want? Information!

Recently, I was a "prisoner" on a long bus ride. The bus was delayed by quite a bit. I guess this was because of the rainy weather, but I had no way of knowing for sure, because the bus driver didn't see fit to tell the passengers what was causing the delay or when he thought we would reach the destination.

I mentioned this to someone I know, who then told me how she was at a concert a couple of months ago and the singer was over an hour late. The restless audience was kept waiting, but was not given any information about where the singer was and when she might appear. A similar story was repeated by others of my acquaintance, whether they were waiting for concerts, doctors' appointments, or meetings.

It would only take a moment to give people information, and often it would be very helpful. It can be stressful for those who need to make a connecting journey or are waiting to see someone to not know what is happening and when they can expect to arrive (or for others to arrive). A little information can go a long way!

--Curly

One Space or Two?

I can't say this peeve ranks too highly on my own list of rant-worthy items, but according to The Renegade Writer blog, at least one editor is driven to distraction by a writerly faux pas: inserting two spaces after periods. Read all about it here.

--Prunella

Try and Learn Better English

It is a constant source of annoyance to this grammar geek how people write or say “try and…” It doesn’t make any sense to say “I’m going to try and finish that project today” or “She said she’d try and come to the party.” It should be “try to,” as in “I’m going to try to finish that project today” or “She said she’d try to come to the party.” When the “and” replaces the “to” it makes the meaning of the sentence “she is going to try” and “she is going to come to the party.” But what is it that she going to try?

I understand (to some extent) if this is part of colloquial spoken language. However, I see this usage more frequently in novels and articles today, and arguably, writers should know better.

So, please, try and improve!

--Curly

Another Weather-Related Peeve

Curly's most recent, winter weather-related post got me thinking. I'm sure we'll have plenty of warm-weather rants when the season arrives, but right now, as I type, the skin on one of my fingers has cracked open once again.

That's right--it's time for Prunella's seasonal skin disorder. It's bad enough that all my skin is even drier and itchier in the winter than at any other time of year. It's worse that the skin on one of my fingers routinely splits open and bleeds, leaving a lovely, semipermanent red fissure conveniently located across one knuckle.

During a period in my life when I was living in Paris, a local pharmacist took one look and cleared her throat knowingly. "Une crevasse," she told me, and quickly dispensed a magic soothing ointment.

Which helped. Trouble is, I didn't stock up before I left France, and at this point, with the same section of the same finger cracking open once again, the pitiful lotions I have here don't do the job. It's not serious enough (yet) to warrant a doctor's visit. (A trip to Paris, on the other hand....) Anyone have any home remedy suggestions?

--Prunella

If On a Winter’s Peeve a Shoveler

Winters where I live are rainy and chilly, but nothing like the cold, snowy winters I grew up with. In my current city, people get excited if there is even a quarter of an inch of snow. In my hometown, people would be happy if there was only a quarter of an inch of snow.

So one of the loyal readers of this blog, who lives in my hometown, has asked me to post a winter peeve -- people not shoveling their walkways. If you don’t shovel, the piles of thick snow make it difficult for others to walk past your property. Not only that, if temperatures drop below freezing, as can often happen, the snow may turn to ice, creating a dangerously slippery path for pedestrians or cyclists.

Yes, shoveling takes some time and effort. But it is quite unneighborly not to do so, and it can even endanger people’s well-being.

--Curly

Good Birds Gone Bad

This peeve will undoubtedly reveal me as the true curmudgeon that I am, in case that wasn’t clear before. Here, I am actually complaining about birds and their sweet little chirping.

When I was a toddler, my parents claim that I would wake up bright and early and say cheerfully, “The birds are singing to me!”

Well, Curly isn’t quite the eager morning person anymore, but I have no problem with birds singing in the morning or during the day. However, the birds who live outside my bedroom window chirp at odd times, namely in the middle of the night.

When you’re trying to sleep and it is dark outside, the loud, joyful noises that the birds make can suddenly seem creepy, menacing, and very, very annoying. At two or three in the morning, you do not feel that these birds are singing to you. On the contrary, you feel they are deliberately taunting you with their happiness, knowingly keeping you awake.
Half-asleep, you start to imagine that you are in a bad remake of a Hitchcock film.

What are these birds doing during the witching hours? Why are they singing when all respectable little birds should be in bed? Why have these good birds gone bad?

--Curly

Holiday Travel Etiquette

For your reading pleasure: a timely rant disguised as helpful hints on holiday air travel, courtesy of M. LeBlanc over on Bitch, Ph.D.

--Prunella