Today, after a truly exhausting conversation with a customer service representative at AT&T, I thought all the things that really irritate. This blog is about things I hate. I don't necessarily mean "hate" in the strongest sense of the word but these things really do irritate me to no end.
1. FEDEX. I just don't understand how a company can claim to be in the business of package delivery, yet fail to knock on the door of the person for whom they have a package; then tell that person that they (FEDEX) aren't required to knock on the door. I received an apologetic letter from corporate but I still hate FEDEX and try my best not to do business with businesses that use them for shipping.
2. AT&T. I'm still trying to figure out why I would place an order to unorder a service I never had in the first place.
3. First Community Bank (in Wal-Mart). I want to know how they manage to skip through the sea of white people at my local Wal-Mart and manage to find brown people to try to market their bank to.
4. Tea Baggers. How are people who (I'm sure) have/have had at one time student loans, are on Medicare/Medicaid or social security, food stamps, TANF and whatever else the government hands out going to say they are against socialism? Better yet, how are you worried about wealth redistribution with a net worth of $25?
5. Highly religious people. So the Buddhist/Muslim/Hindu believer or homosexual person or avid wine drinker who has as strong a connection to their Creator as you should (but don't) is going to hell, but you, with a totally impotent grasp of the dogma you embrace, is going to heaven? Mmmmkay.
6. Denial. Just be honest with yourself because whatever it is, we all know it. We know.
7. People who sit at green lights. Water and fertilizer won't make it any greener so you may as well go ahead and drive the damn car.
8. People who say Pit Bulls are not dangerous. Just stop it already.
9. People who make completely benighted statements. One day on Amazon, I was reading the comments for a DVD and it went like this, "Cleopatra wasn't Black, she was Greek." Black is a race. Greek is a nationality. Those are two totally separate things. Someone can be Greek AND Black just like someone can be South African AND white. You'd think that as much as people walk around talking about how America is so great, they'd understand the difference between race, nationality and ethnicity. Guess not. ***For those of you that will come in and want to get into a history debate, please note that the main idea of this paragraph is people making benighted statements-not the race, nationality or ethnicity of Cleopatra.
10. People who cut me off while I'm walking in the store or mall. I'm 5'11 and brown. Surely you saw me. Surely you didn't think walking out in front of me and turning sharply when I'm less than 2 ft. away from you was the right choice to make.
11. People who assume others are doormen. If I hold the door open for you because you're leaving behind me, that does not mean you walk through it and go on about your business while I stand there holding it. I find it highly arrogant, assumptive and it shows a refusal to acknowledge personhood; especially since the only people who have EVER done that to me were white people. I'm just saying. Just in case your mom and dad never taught you, when that happens, you are to thank the person and catch the door with YOUR OWN HAND. ***Do not leave me a bunch of comments about how you are white and don't do that. If you feel the urge to do so, re-read and reconsider.
12. People who tell others that they didn't experience what they experienced. If a midget/little person tells you that average height people discriminate against them, how dare you try to tell them that it's all a figment of their imagination and you're 5'8"? This has been going on for decades, especially since the Civil Rights era ended. Refer back to #6 if you still want to act like you don't understand this one.
13. Using words that you don't know the meaning of. I was on Yahoo! and someone commented that Tyler Perry's "For Colored Girls" was "racist." I'm no Tyler Perry fan (and I didn't see the movie) but I encouraged that person to look up "racist" in the dictionary. Second example: while I was studying for my master's, a classmate asserted that police officers can't be terrorists because terrorism is "using the media to scare people." It doesn't matter what the word is, know what it means before you arbitrarily apply it to people and/or situations; likewise don't be afraid to apply a word to a person/situation if it is truly appropriate.
