Grumpy Meme

Despite it being a little different from my usual writing, I have been tagged by Julie at The Sardine Tin to list 7 things that make me grumpy. Don't be surprised if I list myself on a couple of them.....

1. Lack of manners.
Nothing irritates me more than a lack of manners. I like to think I hold open doors for people, allow people past with their cars and shopping trolleys, and the lack of a thank you or a nod or a raise of the hand in recognition makes me grumpy. Very. I will often shout a sarcastic "thank you" as they go past, just to let them know what I thought.

2. Repetitive questions to my kids
"What do you want for breakfast?"
"What do you want for breakfast?"
"For the last time (as he stands in front of the telly) what do you want for breakfast?"
This is the usual morning routine as they sit transfixed to the endlessly repeated episodes of "Suite Life" on Disney Channel. Only by standing in front of the telly do I ever get an answer.

3. Accept responsibility
This mostly applies to on-road activities but can also be in the workplace. If you do something wrong, like cut someone up whilst driving and they sound their horn at you, don't start swearing and making hand gestures - you were in the wrong, accept the blame, raise your hand to say sorry and it's over. Sorry goes a very long way. Those that curse or pass the buck really annoy me.

4. Me - the completer/finisher
I am not one of these. I am the generating-ideas-setting-the-wheels-in-motion kind of guy. I am not the one to ask to cross the last t and dot the last i. I make myself grumpy when I leave little ends dangling on unfinished projects. I should do so much better.

5. Allergy warnings on food products
This is getting out of hand. As 50% of my little family are allergic to some ingredients, shopping is a careful check and double check of products. Companies, in the ever-increasing attempt to cover their backs, have now started to add the "may contain traces of nuts" on just about everything. I've seen plain yoghurt carrying this warning. Pretty soon there won't be anything I can eat. There will come a point where we'll just start ignoring the warning, potentially to our peril.

6. My first name / surname conundrum
For some it is simply too much to understand. My surname is also a female first name so on email or written communication, I'm often mistaken for a woman (though not when they actually see me). This can even apply to people who have met me and then later still drop me in the wrong gender group. It's not that hard, people.

7. Favoured players
This relates to my sport, rugby union. There are some players, and even some international teams that have a certain tendancy to ...... well, cheat. And because the referees seldom admonish them for doing so, they continue to play that way. It annoys the pants off me to watch these players and teams, not least because they are so very good they have no need to cheat. They should play to their strengths, or may be they already are .......

So there's my 7. And I'm more than happy to be tagged on whatever subject