Do I REALLY Have To Tell You....? Well, Apparently, At Least Once More!

Ladies & Gentlemen,

I'm always amazed at the incredible stupidity of people.
Not ALL people, of course. But the number of imbeciles per capita is rising at an alarming rate and the ratio of people who could find their hindquarters with both hands and a flashlight to those who couldn't is dwindling dangerously.

My personal pet peeves have got to be...well...people -  although I'm sure it seems to you that I have more peeves (both pet- and otherwise) than anyone on earth!
I do tend to go on and on but only in hopes that the situations will somehow change for the better.
So far? No such luck.

Here's a rather abridged listing of suggestions by which I've been plagued in only the last few days:

1. The overture is part of the performance.......when the lights go down and the music starts STOP TALKING.
2. A library, a church, a synagogue, a museum. All these places are designed for quiet contemplation, worship or learning. When you enter these hallowed halls STOP TALKING.
3. Planes, trains and buses are meant for the use of many individuals at once. Most of these people that you'll meet on these conveyances are strangers to you (unless you happen to be traveling in a group) and being strangers, are not interested in sharing every little detail of your day, be it in the form of your personal conversation or your phone call. STOP TALKING; at the very least STOP TALKING so loudly.
4. There are many things which amaze me (in a bad way) these days. One of which is the fact that I have a hearing loss in my right ear from a childhood infection and I STILL keep my voice steady and at a public decibel level that would not make an acid rocker weep in pain. When in a public place - ANY public place - keep it down. Your companions are RIGHT NEXT TO YOU. Why scream? 
5. Jae and I only half jokingly talk about someday coming into a windfall of money and investing in hearing aid research. It seems to us that all these kids who are playing their ipods, car radios and sound systems SO loudly are all going to be young to middle-aged deaf people who are going to want tiny, cool looking hearing aids and we could be on the ground floor for making a fortune! Playing your music in public is for your enjoyment only. TURN IT DOWN at least enough so I can't hear every single (and I use this term loosely) lyric and bass beat. It can't be doing your ears any good at all.
6. When I was in college I had a job singing in the choir of the First Methodist Church of DeKalb, Illinois. The reason I mention this is that I was in awe of the church planners for building a sound proofed room with windows looking into the sanctuary and rocking chairs and other seats and speakers piping in the service so that the mothers with crying babies could attend the service without their child's distress interrupting other people's worship.  If your child is crying and will not stop TAKE HIM OUT OF THE ROOM, the theater, the doctor's office, the - whatever - until you can calm them down.

These things are not terribly difficult and you don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure them out. Just be open to the thought that you (or yours) could be responsible for annoyances that are easily remedied. PAY ATTENTION to those around you and your environment.

- SSG