New Year’s Pet Peeves

Instead of new year’s resolutions, how about a list of pet peeves?

1) Mailings from politicians for my birthday, christmas, independence day, etc.

Just whose money are they spending to send me these shameless self-promotional greetings?

2) Telemarketers trying to get me to buy more stuff I don’t need.

I pity the poor folks paid to make the calls, in need of a job, too, but I hate the constant barrage of these phone calls, junk e-mails, and anonymous text messages urging me to take immediate action on whatever purchase or financial investment or timeshare opportunity they believe i cannot live without.

3) Scammers sending me junk texts or emails saying they have a “summer job” for me. . .No way.

4) Rich presidents (note plural here) who have never shopped for groceries to feed a household themselves, trying to tell me prices are not as bad as i think they are. How could they be so out of touch with the lives of their voters?

5) Print too small to read on bills sent to me by local (or far away) people I am trying my best to write a check to. Why would they not make it as easy as possible to send them my money?

6) Having to listen to a television set turned on too loud in the doctor’s office while I am waiting for my appointment: I’m trying to read my book, for goodness sake. After all, they’re about to take my blood pressure: shouldn’t I be relaxed instead of alarmed by a new disease the ad wants me to be wary of?

7) Not being able to read my book at all while sitting in my ophthalmologist’s front waiting room because the light is too dim. My eyes are not dilated yet, people.

8) An income tax code that gets ever more complicated with every new set of tax legislation passed by congress. Why can’t someone simplify it for once in my lifetime? (Better hurry to make that change, ‘cause I won’t live forever.)

Your own list is even longer, right? The best we can do, dear readers, is have a glass of wine or a beer or a cocktail and drown our sorrows. The next best thing we can do is be vocal in setting people straight on what we need. One of my dad’s sayings was “if someone doesn’t know how to do something, you’ve got to tell them.” And he did.

So speak out to your government officials and representatives, to the businesses you patronize, to the caregivers who look after you: let them know what would make your life better.

And of course, you can always write a letter to the editor, if you want to try to change the world.

Happy new year, dear readers.