General things that I feel like I’m one of the only people reacting to; some are good, some are bad, some are neutral:
– when someone is scolding their child or pet unreasonably harshly in public, it drives me nuts. It seems that some bystanders can just continue these tirades/conversations as though nothing is happening, though. I tend to live through the child or the pet, thinking about the eventual effects of such treatment, and it’s not pretty.
– when someone drops a little bit of tin foil or plastic wrapper on the ground, or if they reach in their pocket to take out a cell phone and a napkin falls out. And then doesn’t notice and/or doesn’t care.
– when I’m in the shower and someone else uses the toilets, I notice distinctly when the person does or does not wash his/her hands. It troubles me greatly in the rare event that the latter occurs.
– when people in lab touch an object with their bare hands, hours later touch it with their gloves, then touch a pipette with those gloves, then hit the inside of a bottle with that pipette, etc. Things like that – I track “unsanitary particles” very closely, and I feel like no one has sterile practice – just some people think they do because they can’t follow the particles for hours as they travel about.
– when I hear the pitches of a particular subway door ringing out, and hearing the resolution of a seventh to its proper sixth
– when people write a paper or whatnot, and the same construction/phrasing or same unique descriptor (eg, “thirty souls” instead of “thirty people” in my Early Music textbook) pops up twice on a page.
– when people dress up, but just one thing is incongruous, such as a shirt that is ill-fitting, mascara that is too thick, faces that are too oily, hair that is pulled too taut, awkwardly angled feet due to heels, underwear that pokes out, or, incidentally, personality traits (eg, cursing a lot while dressed up) – I tend to pick up on these a lot, generally when a person seems like she/he thinks she/he is pretty. I seem to pick up on color clashes less, though.
– when someone mentions on a blog being really excited about something, and then being down about the same thing a few days later.
– when someone is doing something on the laptop, then someone else comes by, and the first person shuts the computer cover quickly. Alas, I already know what was on the screen =). You gotta have faster reflexes than that … just because I’m not approaching you at the moment doesn’t mean I can’t see what’s on your wide-open screen.
Things that might bother me about people that they might not know bothers me because I don’t tend to mention these to anyone but myself (in the sense of actually making me uneasy or disturbed on a personal level):
– when people mention off-hand that they want to do something or will do something, and then don’t, without ever mentioning to me that they no longer can do it (I forget many things, but generally, “floating promises” are held constantly in my RAM). I’m guilty of this, too, so this isn’t an indictment. But it affects me, a lot. I mean, just tell me so I don’t keep waiting! Don’t expect that I will just forget about it ……
– when people ask me for a favor in a class three times in a short span, and I know they are asking because they skipped class. People skipping class in general bothers me a tiny bit, but it annoys me when a person who has never done anything for me asks for this kind of favor repeatedly.
– when people have that hesitation while inventing an excuse as to why they will not come to something I’m inviting them to; this applies especially to concerts. Just say you don’t like classical music, or that you’re not interested! You don’t have to invent something that will make you busy at that time … . I can definitely tell when something like this is said insincerely.
– when people are too proud of things they produce or can do – people who show off, people who write really involved descriptions of art that isn’t worth those words, and people who do not feel like they have things to improve in the things they produce. I like humble, self-depreciating people, generally … ^^;;.
– when people drink or talk to me while drunk.
– when people take things without asking, just because ownership is unknown. This happens a lot when dealing with things in “common spaces.”
