Yes, folks, I’m quiet for an age and then come back with a rant. But really, this rant has been building for a while.
I’m aggravated. Mostly at a particular person, but really it’s not his/her fault. After all, can you really be to blame for your general existence? Okay, that makes it sound worse than it is. I’m in personality conflict with someone who shall remain nameless, yet who is a semi-required part in several facets of my life right now, thanks to common interests and mutual friends.
Basically, I have my share (and perhaps more than that) of pet peeves, and there is a particular person who checks ‘yes’ on several of them:
*clueless and obnoxious about it
*mangles metaphors
*mangles words in general
The clueless and obnoxious bit I define as when someone is new to something or trying something for the first time and instead of asking a few questions and learning quietly they are all ‘hee hee, I’m new and I don’t know what I’m doing, so look at me, and hold my hand, and explain everything five zillion times and praise me even though I suck and, oh, hee hee, I can’t do this at all but tell me I can and let me monopolize your time so much that you don’t have time to work yourself but hand-hold me, and look at me, I did this piece of shite and I expect everyone to praise me for it and tell me how wonderful it is because, hee hee, I’m new and the world tells me that I’m great even though I’m clueless’
You know people like this, I know you do. They suck all the attention from a room, make themselves a magnet for empty praise, leech onto talented people by association, and are generally giggly and happy and bouncy when they should just sit their asses down and learn without disrupting everyone else. Don’t be the lowest common denominator, don’t be the time suck. Do some of the homework yourself and bring something to the table. Gah!
Oh, and they also tend not to get it that when they do make an honest mistake they should fix it with a certain calm and rationality rather than make the faux pas more noticeable by loudly exclaiming ‘oops! I didn’t realize I had no business being/doing place/thing a when I was supposed to be/do place/thing b, let me fix this with great show and circumstance’ It’s embarrassing to be associated with people like this.
The mangling words and metaphors is more obvious. Please, people, take the time to think about or read carefully the word you’re trying to say, then let your brain transmit the entire thing to your mouth before you start. And by all that is holy, know the metaphor or cliche you attempt to say is correct, not only in its entirety but for the situation.
Yes, folks, I’m a bitch, I know this. Perhaps I should have waited until I was like 50 or 60 before getting all mean and intolerant of stupidity, but hey, I’m ahead of the curve, deal. Yes, I’m an elitist. No, I don’t suffer fools at all much less gracefully. And maybe I put on airs sometimes, but I was not raised white trash–we were poor, but not trash, and I know they way things *should* be and strive to get them there. For those that truly know me, you know that I’m not mean or heartless, I just have a low tolerance for stupidity. For those that don’t truly know me, well, you may not ever esp. if you fall into the above category (and wow that’s such a small smattering of my pet peeves) because while I’ll be perfectly polite and all to you directly (I am a Southern belle after all, we don’t openly cut you to your face, at least not where most would be able to tell), I won’t share my deepest self with your ignorance.
*grumble grumble grumble*