Thursday Thirteen: Pet Peeves

I've been testy lately. I attribute that to a hormone surge and the fact that we aren't adjusted to the routine of the school year yet. In an effort to get it all out of my system, I'm posting a list of thirteen pet peeves.

1. Mouth noises: breathing, chewing, smacking, even certain sneezes.

2. Talking with one's mouth full: this is technically a mouth noise but it's so entirely gross that I have to list it separately (plus, I work with a bunch of people who do this all. the. time.).

3. Parents that smile dumbly at me instead of helping me wrangle their child onto the exam table.

4. People that invade my personal space; seriously, the 18 inches surrounding me in all directions should not be entered unless we share DNA or you have been expressly invited.

5. DJs talking over each other or music. Yes, I know you get paid to talk, but you don't get paid by the word, so chill.

6. Laziness. Pure and simple. I hate it.

7. Waste. Another simple one.

8. Parents who get more worked up about their kid's shots than the kid does.

9. After care program workers who can't explain to me the payment rate for my children and why my statement reads that I have a $60 credit but insist that I have to fork over another check for $112 for next week.

10. Kindergarten homework instructions that take too long to decipher so I end up doing whatever I think the kindergartner needs to do for homework. Come on, it's kindergarten. Does he really need to know the subject, verb and object parts of a sentence yet?

11. Cashiers who act like it's a huge chore to load up my reusable shopping bags as opposed to their cheap, wasteful plastic bags.

12. Parents who think that everything their kid does is cute, including grabbing at expensive medical equipment, slamming drawers and ripping table paper to shreds.

13. Whining. Oh, how I hate whining.

Well now, that's that. I'll take a deep breath and sleep better now. I hope.

Generalizations Are Not Your Friends

Generalizations irk me. They don't fit, they're judgemental and when a person uses them they come off looking uneducated and irrational. Yeah, that's a generalization there. Sue me.

I get particularly peeved when generalizations are used with regards to poverty, race, health, culture and family size. These particular issues bother me for several reasons: I am a mother to biracial children, daughter to parents of 8 children, a nurse and my most desired career is in public service to the poverty-stricken. So yeah, it bugs me. Sue me again.

This week I had a hard time remaining civil at work. I was dealing with a difficult mother and her large family. To be fair, she was being unreasonable and causing a lot of extra work for me, my supervising doctor and another provider. But she is not the reason I became so angry.

Another nurse saw fit to butt in and say, "Oh, they're Medicaid - lazy." I looked her straight in the eye and said, "My children have Medicaid," and added silently, "And I work 10 times harder than you do any day of the week." She stuttered and back-pedaled. An uncomfortable pause ensued. I guess she thought she could lighten the situation so she ate her foot again. "How can somebody even have that many kids? And still be sane?" I took a deep breath, looked at her again and said, "My parents have 8 children and are quite sane." She shut up then.

I will be the first to admit that I get more than frustrated with people who are difficult or irrational. But I pride myself on being very particular about my frustration. I'm not irritated with someone because of their medical coverage, their family planning choices, their choice of names for their children or anything else unrelated.

Jerks come in all shapes, sizes, colors and socio-economic divisions. Trying to pinpoint their origins is close-minded and useless.