Pet peeves

I saw an article yesterday about "corporate speak" that I think all us who work for a living are sick of. The article talked about "thinking outside of the box" and one of the commenters wrote back and said, "If I hear that phrase one more time, I'm going to ask the person if they first ever thought inside the box."

I thought it was a good response, because I for one have thought the same thing. There's an old game called bingo that can be changed to "corporate speak" bingo. Instead of having numbers on a card, you replace the numbers with words such as: scenario, robust, synergies, core competencies, value added, maximizing shareholder value, etc. Then when you hear your business experts speaking at the next conference, you start marking off the words until you can stand up and yell "BINGO."

One of my biggest pet peeves is having someone at a brainstorming session pounce on your idea with this gem, "That dog won't hunt." Hey, if you are trying to brainstorm, then every idea has merit...later you can judge the good from the bad.

Another one I'm quickly getting tired of is "being thrown under the bus."

Maybe it's too graphic, I don't know. But I'm also tired of it because it's said much too often.

But it's not just words that bother me. I went shopping last night, and there were a few people at the grocery store who were starting to get on my nerves. Like the lady on her cell phone who was maneuvering her cart between me and the milk...while I was trying to reach and get a couple cartons of 2 percent. When I caught her eye, she looked at me with an "I didn't see you there" expression on her face. I was about ready to heave one of the cartons of milk at her to see if she saw that coming!

Then there were two old ladies in the parking lot who first looked like they were trying to hit me with their car when I was putting my cart in the "cart corral" but later I figured out they were both blind as they parked their car at a "jaunty angle" taking up the better parts of two parking spaces.

But the coup de gras came at home when I tried to open up the screen door while packing six bags. I managed to jam my left ring finger into something metallic that didn't give but managed to raise my finger nail about six inches. Nothing like seeing blood spurt into your grocery sacks.

But I must end on a high note...so let me tell you about lunch today. A young man at KFC gave Dad and I both a senior citizens discount for the buffet. So instead of paying $8 a head, we only paid $7. Now is that a compliment to get a dollar off, or is it a smear to be thought of as a senior citizen while I'm still in my forties. Or maybe 49 is when old age occurs?

Oh well....what are your pet peeves?