Pet Peeves

Yesterday, I was loading my groceries in the trunk of my car when I noticed - in my periphery - a pickup truck with its left signal indicating that he/she was intent on getting into my space after I vacated it. I thought this was odd because when I parked initially, there were tons of available spots in the Stop and Shop lot. I looked up and around, and sure enough, there were empty spaces aplenty. Some even closer to the entrance of the store. Why put pressure on me, then? Who does this sort of thing?

I'll tell you who. A person like the cashier I had just had the pleasure of checking out with. There were no plastic dividers at the register, so I was sure to leave a good 2 feet of empty space between my stuff and that of the person in front me. Was it enough to clue the cashier into the fact that it wasn't mine? No. Before I could stop her, she had already started scanning my stuff. Come on.

I go into Dunkin Donuts every morning for my large hazelnut (milk, 1 sugar). And, inevitably, there's some ding dong ordering donuts for everyone working in the John Hancock building. And they don't make things convenient for the poor person behind the counter, either. Rather than doing random assortments, they have to select each and every donut themselves, and usually with much ambivalence. Just when you think they're done ... more stuff. Complicated stuff. Sandwiches on croissants, A myriad of coffee selections. I notice that customers like this avoid eye contact with other customers. They know. Last week, some lady and her boyfriend had placed one of these impossible orders and I walked in just in time for the "something got messed up" portion of their transaction. When it's my turn, I always saddle up alongside the person or persons causing the major bottleneck and order my very simple and straightforward large hazelnut coffee. I follow it up with "Yep, that's it." while looking directly at the burden-causer.

And don't get me started on the Jeremy Kapstein rumors. You don't do the music at Fenway in Dubly, you know.