So, it’s 2023 and we get a fresh start, right? Well, maybe just a fresh opportunity to get things off our chests.

Let’s talk about pet peeves. Everyone has them. Something that really bugs the stuffing out of you. Is it never being able to locate the television remote? Is it finding that someone in the family always leave the car with only a half-ounce of gas? Is it wet towels left to grow mold on the bathroom floor?

Do you have someone in your house that consistently leaves doors open? It can be a front door, back door, a garage door, a refrigerator door or even a cabinet door. It can be a door that is simply left ajar, maybe a half inch...just enough for you to bang into it in the dark or painfully slam into it when you’re quickly rounding a corner.

Well, that is my pet peeve. It absolutely drives me crazy when doors or drawers are not closed properly. Not only are people leaving open the opportunity for all sorts of vermin to come creeping inside if it’s an outside door (I’m talking flies roaches, snakes, etc.) they may also be inadvertently offering an invitation to unwanted strangers who see an opportunity to invade my privacy.

When I was growing up, my dad’s constant question was-Do you think we’re cooling the entire outside of the house? Close the %&* door! He was also keen about the refrigerator door. If it stayed open for more time then he determined to be long enough for you to get what you needed for your sandwich, you had to close it, or he did it for you, maybe with your hand still inside.

He was also this way with lights. You were strongly spoken to when you were caught leaving the room with the lights still on. It was okay if there was someone else in the room, but if it was empty…those lights had better be out.

I guess I had that ingrained in my psyche to the point that I now find myself, some 55 years later, bellowing out the same commands.

Unfortunately, my poor husband, Ted, was not raised in this environment. He never met a door of any kind, in any house, that he closed properly. I seem to follow him around closing everything from the microwave door, to the dresser drawers. When going for the mail at the end of the driveway, he even leaves the mailbox door open.

He’s just as bad with lights. God love him, I get hoarse reminding him to cut the lights off when he leaves a room empty. Especially the kitchen. Whenever I do say anything he responds with, “I’m going right back in there.” It’s one of his favorite rooms...he spends a lot of time there.

Now, I know this has the appearance of being petty, and it does seem to be his only major fault, but it has seemingly fallen into the range of things that trigger my OCD. I find myself looking into every room at least once a day to make sure all of the doors and drawers are closed and the lights are all off.

Since we can agreed that everyone has something that bothers them beyond sense and becomes the proverbial straw that breaks the camel’s back, let’s see if you can find yourself on the following list of common pet peeves.

People who are constantly late. Every time this happens I say we should just start without them. But we don’t. Screaming children and bad parents. People who interrupt when you are talking. It would appear that they are more interested in what they are going to say next rather than what you are saying now.

How about upsetting the social equilibrium by spitting on the sidewalk, or talking with your mouth full?

Another one I’m sure you can get on board with is not replacing the toilet paper. Okay, I have to confess, this is one of my own bad habits. But I don’t constantly crack my knuckles or pick my nose in public. The toilet paper issue is safely within the confines of my own bathroom.

How about people who repeatedly click their pen or pop their gum? Does that make you want to pop something else?

Does it seriously annoy you when someone you are with takes a call in the middle of your sentence? Who has priority here? I think it is the person currently speaking, not the one wanting to speak.

And do you feel ignored or worse yet, totally insignificant when your lunch partner texts someone else continuously during your meal? Why you could get up, take your plate and go to another table to eat with someone else and never be missed.

So, y’all, I know this has got to bring back some memories from times past or even from yesterday at the office. So, all I want is for you to let me know if you have found a way to overcome these annoyances and just chill. I need to know so I can chill naturally and not from the cold air of the open door of the refrigerator.