An epic annoyance

Pet peeves.  I don’t want to have them, they are an irritation that creep into my activities of daily living.  After perusing the internet to discover the origin of the phrase, I find that it dates back to the 1920’s.

Wikipedia, the site with which many grains of salt must be taken ,says:

“…first usage was around 1919. The term is a back-formation from the 14th-century word peevish, meaning “ornery or ill-tempered”.  Pet peeves often involve specific behaviours of someone close, such as a spouse or significant other.

Sounds very British to me, they can make words like detritus (garbage) sound appealing.  I think most pet-peeves are perpetrated by people we don’t know.  It is much easier to wax indignant at those we have no interest or investment in than those we do.

I would have to say my biggest pet peeve is perpetrated by those people who do not put the shopping carts back into the cart-corral after unloading said cart.  They just leave the cart out in the parking lot, or my favorite, they hang it up on a curb that is two feet away from the corral.  My perspective: it is the ultimate definition of narcissism.

Perhaps a bit harsh?  Maybe.  However, the self-centered, self-obsessed, self-absorbed, egotistical, my-time-is-too-valuable behavior exhibited in such a simple activity as NOT returning a cart to where it belongs smacks of disrespect.  Disrespect for other peoples property, disrespect for those whose job it is to gather randomly placed carts, and disrespect for shopping cart-etiquette.  And the decline  of courtesy.

There is a  bigger picture to those pet peeves that are a result of discourteousness.  I think I just made up a new word.  I believe courtesy is  a gene present at birth and cultivated by family and friends through example and opportunity.  As in, following someone’s example and finding opportunites to practice the act of courteousness. The practice of courtesy is becoming convoluted, but not yet extinct.  There can be a revival of courteousness.  “Courtesy Matters”.   “Give Courtsey a Chance”.   The possibilities are endless.  But it starts with Nike Therapy, just do it.

At the end of the day (literally),  more courteousness equals fewer pet peeves. Fewer pet peeves equals a more tranquil life.  I think I may have the key to solving some major world problems.  Courtesy, the antidote to annoyance.

So, let’s review the rules of shopping cart-etiquette.  Very simply the rules are: return it to the corral when you are done with it.  Simple.  I guess it is just one rule.  Even better.