Ink Out Loud: You know what really grinds my gears?
By Mandy Feder —
Peter gained instant fame when his complaints and rants landed him a television editorial commentary segment called, “You Know What Really Grinds My Gears?” on an episode of the animated television series, Family Guy.
After learning of my longtime friend”s teenage daughter”s death in a rollover crash, I was driving down Highway 20.
I was feeling pretty somber, remembering the time I taught her to turn her eyelids inside-out and how I used to turn her upside-down and pretend to mop the floor with her long blond hair while her infectious laugh filled the room.
I recalled the many sleepover parties she attended at my home and could see vividly, her 5-year-old grin, absent four teeth, in my head like it was yesterday. I can”t believe she”s gone.
I was driving the speed limit. However, the woman in front of me was vacillating between speeds of 40 and 70 mph. When I attempted to pass her, she speeded up and then slowed far below the limit in areas where it wasn”t possible to pass.
The woman turned off of the road and a long trail of irate drivers passed by her. She was laughing. The highway is no place to play games, I thought.
That kind of behavior really grinds my gears.
Road construction halted traffic for about 20 minutes just after that. I put my car in park and began dusting my dashboard. A man got out of his truck behind me and paced as her complained aloud to himself. He was going to be late to somewhere. He was sure it was the fault of the road crew. I thought of the expression, “Your lack of planning does not constitute an emergency for me.”
Leave earlier, man.
I supposed and imagined that he was the same guy who constantly complained about the terrible conditions of the roads and how they need to be fixed. When the traffic began to move, he gunned his engine in protest and sneered with disgust at the person holding the sign.
Rude, self-important people really grind my gears, too.
I arrived at work and found a letter to the editor in my email from a college professor who venomously attacked a Lake County official for poor grammar and punctuation.
She not only spelled the word grammar incorrectly, her punctuation was abhorrent.
I do not care for people who hurl rocks from inside glass houses.
Listen here, college professor, before you teach another course, bone up on the English language yourself.
For Pete”s sake, clean your own house, before you poke your broom into someone else”s kitchen. Yep, that really grinds my gears, too.
My friend Terry Knight said he sees red when patrons berate cashiers, waitresses or other service people unjustly. After all, most of the people taking the abuse make minimum wage and work really hard. I agree with Terry.
I had a friend who took on a second job at night at a gas station to put herself through school. She was also raising a toddler. When gas prices escalated, people would yell at her all day. She said she wanted to point out her rusted, rickety, more-than-quarter-century year-old car to those people to let them know she wasn”t benefiting from the price hikes at all.
People who shoot the messenger really grind my gears, also.
I lack tolerance with people who are racist, sexist, elitist and hypocritical.
An accumulation of annoyances and injustices that can occur in one day sometimes make me feel like Michael Douglas” character in the movie Falling Down. But I digress. In the same movie Robert Duvall faces the similar challenges, but in the end his actions are honorable, empathetic and patient. I”d rather mirror Duvall.
I wrote this rambling rant and now I feel better. I thank all who read it for being patient with me. Now I can focus on what matters and count my blessings.
We all need an outlet. If you”re so inclined, take a minute and jot down a list of what grinds your gears.
Mandy Feder is the Record-Bee managing editor. She can be reached at mandyfeder@yahoo.com or 263-5636 ext. 32.
