Delano Herald Journal

Serving the communities of Delano, Loretto, Montrose, MN, and the surrounding area

Denise Rosenau Column, 10/22/2001



Pet peeves and little quirks ­ we all seem to have
them. Some of them are pretty standard, others are, shall we say, a little
on the strange side.

Most people can’t stand the sound of fingernails on a chalkboard
or teeth scraping on a fork. Many can’t take certain smells, like the smell
of gasoline.

I know someone who can only eat M&M candies of the
same color together. She has a really hard time mixing the colors. I wonder
what she would do with a batch of M&M cookies, since the colors are
always all mixed together?

My husband thinks we should bring her some cookies, just
for the sole purpose of seeing what she does. I’d hate to be the cause of
any trauma in her cookie-eating experience.

So, it seems, that what makes us individuals can also make
us downright strange.

I have my own little quirk that some find a little unusual,
although it seems perfectly logical to me. I can’t stand to touch unfinished
wood.

I know it sounds strange, but I just can’t do it. One of
the biggest hurdles with this pet peeves is dealing with Popsicle sticks.
I have to wrap the paper around the stick and only eat part of it, leaving
the little bit left on the stick, so as to not take the chance of getting
a sliver on my tongue.

Maybe at one time I had gotten a bad sliver, which still
spills into my subconscience. I don’t know, but I just can’t seem to shake
my unconscious fear.

I do know, however, that I could live perfectly well without
ever carrying a sheet of plywood, or walking barefoot on an unfinished wooden
patio.

If I have to have a weird pet peeve, I’m glad this is it,
since I don’t come in contact daily with unfinished wood, and if I do need
to, I can wear shoes or gloves. It still makes my friends think I’m strange,
though.

As I write, I am trying to remember some of the odd pet
peeves that I’ve heard people complain of, and for the life of me, I can’t
seem to remember them right now.

That is a pet peeve in itself ­ not remembering something
that I know is right in the front of my memory. I’m sure if I wasn’t sitting
in front of my computer now, I would be able to think of dozens. Pet peeves
and quirks are sometimes more annoying than anything.

There are the little things that all of us hate, which
are easy enough to remember. Things like not being able to find the TV remote
when you want to turn down the volume. Or, what about a telemarketing call
while you are in the shower?

Why do the kids only seem to spill the red juice within
hours of scrubbing the kitchen floor or carpeting?

Or, why is it when you buy something that you feel will
really help you do a job, you can’t find it when the time comes to use it?

Some questions have no answer, and most pet peeves can’t
be fixed or solved, which makes it difficult for the “problem fixers”
of the world. We just have to chalk it up to one of life’s idiosyncrasies
that we’ll just have to live with.

Perhaps, more so, it’s that we are just too easily annoyed.
Either that or that darn Murphy, who made up all of Murphy’s Laws, jinxed
us.

Some things we may never know.

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