With no vacation in a while and being a bit overworked, I have entered what I call an “angry phase.” This phase is where my patience is pretty well gone and I no longer have the ability to swallow hard and go about my day after being annoyed by something. Normally some of the peeves on my list will bother me for a second and then I get over it and move on. Recently I’ve begun to have a boiling over of such annoyances and cannot keep my anger inside! Luckily my vacation (which hopefully will be a refreshing time for me!) is only 2 weeks away, but I have to get through the next 2 weeks…
Some days I do fairly well, like today where I kept my patience until about 3pm when I encountered a crazy-haired hippie lady who sucked away a bulk of my afternoon. Wednesday I only made it until about lunchtime and then became a crazy bitch by about 5:30pm. I still hadn’t recovered my patience by Thursday, so the morning drive was interesting to say the least!
For demonstration purposes I will create a list of my most commonly encountered pet peeves. One or two in a row test me a bit, but when I get to 3 or 4 I start to slowly go insane! I hope this entertains you folks, as you can see it would be mostly impossible to get through a day without a lot of these things happening.
-A vehicle driving in the fast lane when there is nobody in the slow lane for miles. Bonus points for if I come up behind them and they don’t move, making me pass them on the right.
-People who are hippies when it comes to animal care. Avoiding necessary surgery or antibiotics, calling flea/heartworm preventative “poison”, or trying to make an animal a vegetarian.
-Politics at work. Especially when the people know you don’t agree with them and they keep trying to suck you into an argument.
-People who complain non-stop about not having money, but then go outside and light up a cigarette…or eat out for lunch every day…or have fancy cell phones/computers/cars/clothes all the time. Perhaps they should stop complaining and start budgeting. Bonus points for if this is a client who then cannot afford something and tries to blame it on us being “too expensive” or saying “are you just going to let my animal die?”
-The use of your/you’re incorrectly. This one gets really blow out of proportion in my head when I’m already mad, but it REALLY bugs me.
-A client asking how old I am. Or telling me I look too young to be a doctor. I can no longer respond to these questions/statements in a nice way. Even if I hold my anger in, I am mentally checked out on the appointment.
-Any demand in a not-so-nice-manner. Whether it is a client saying I AM bringing my animal in tonight (10 minutes before we close) or someone telling me I have to/will be/must be doing something. Asking nicely really goes a long way. Because if anyone really knows me, they know I can’t say no…but I will say no if asked not nicely.
-Clients that watch an animal be sick for a few days and then come in on the weekend…then get mad they have to pay urgent care or are mad we have limited hours. Or people that watch their animal be sick all day and then come in 10 minutes before we close…and then get mad they have to pay urgent care.
-People who block stuff with their carts in the grocery store and don’t move even when you say excuse me.
-Loud cell phone talking in public. Bonus points if it is in the exam room while I am trying to examine a pet. Extra bonus points if I am examining a pet and then the client answers their phone in the middle of the appointment and doesn’t immediately say the only five words I really want to hear (”can I call you back?”).
-People in big trucks that pull out in front of me when there is nobody other than me on the road. Usually they proceed to go 5-10 miles less than the speed limit. Bonus points if the truck smells like gasoline and/or has a picture of a guy peeing on a Ford/Chevy/sports team emblem.
-Seeing somebody wearing University of Michigan clothing in excess (as in more than one article at once), knowing full well that the person did not attend Michigan nor do they have any real affiliation with the school whatsoever.
There are so many more, but I thought I’d share a little taste. Hopefully I’ll get through this angry phase soon and get back to being a normal human being. In the meantime, I’m glad that my fridge is stocked with beer and I have a few key people (plus this blog!) to vent to…