I will be sincere when answering this question myself. It is not Putin or something even more abstract or out-of-this-earth.
What annoys me most? It is my wife Ira always being late. For God’s sake, anytime, anywhere. You must know what the word “always” means.
I’m not usually mad about it, but as years pass, I understand: nobody’s perfect. I am a 100% imperfection myself.
Let me give you some cut-throat examples.
March 2011. We had just started to date several months before. On that day, we were going someplace; I don’t remember now, it doesn’t matter. I left her rented apartment in the north of Moscow, Izmaylovo district. I sat in my old Cherokee and started the engine. Before I closed the door, she had said she would be “soon”.
Her “soon” was thirty minutes. Boy, I was mad! I didn’t know back then that it was her built-in feature. She was doing her make-up, dressing up, whatever women do when going out. Thirty minutes: think about it because I thought she was almost ready to go when I left the apartment.
Second, it was a month later, in April 2011. I was driving Ira to Sheremetyevo airport. My future wife was going to see her best friend, who lived in California. It was her second visit to the States. Well, we almost didn’t make it on time to the airport. We got there right at Delta’s last call moments. It was nervous; this happened because she was late even though she knew it and what was at stake. I wasn’t mad: I was concerned about what to do if we were late — the ticket cancellation, plans to re-schedule, etc.
Finally, 2012. We’re going to our friend’s wedding. They’re still our friends. They are a lovely couple with kids. My wife was the bridesmaid. The bride, by the way, was Ira’s second best friend. Sure, we were late for the ceremony. For the reason you now know. In his song “Far Away Eyes”, Mick Jagger said: ‘You know what kind of eyes she got!’
Years later, as of 2023, everything has stayed the same. The word ‘always’ still works fine. She’s still being late.
It doesn’t make me mad like in the past. But, yes, it annoys me the most.
What annoys me most?
It’s a good job that we have that last word in the title, otherwise this would be one hell of a long blog.
So much annoys me, from aggressive drivers, to flat-earthers, moon-landing-deniers, and fanatical religious morons. Flaky internet, lazy work colleagues, arrogant and ignorant people, and narcissists, (and we all know at least one), are all annoying to me. (And nagging wives, but I better not put that one in.)
So, what tops my extensive list? Surprisingly, none of them.
The most annoying factor in my life happens when I want to watch, read about or listen to a sporting event that has already concluded, without knowing the final outcome. Another words, experiencing the occasion as if it were live. It’s important to me. If you already know the final score, all that tension, excitement, anticipation, elation or despondency that is so much part of following sport, is at once destroyed, as you already know what the end product is.
You would be amazed at how difficult it is sometimes to not find out the result. People can be truly annoying. Even if you ask them not to tell you, because you will be watching a recording later in the night, so often they give the game away with some innocuous, to them, remark.
Take the BBC Sport website. (It’s brilliant, by the way.) They have, for all major sporting events, a minute-by-minute text guide telling you what happens in real time, but as soon as you get to the home page, the result is plastered all over it! I don’t want the bloody result, yet! Give me a break.
I might be watching the evening T.V. news with Mrs B, before going into my den to watch the highlights of the day’s cricket. Then you hear the newsreader say: “England have beaten Australia…..” Ahhhhhh, noooooooo. Evening totally ruined.
And that’s so annoying.
What annoys me most….
I suppose I should say right up-front that I become annoyed but almost never show it. In American slang, there’s the word crotchety; I don’t know if the UK has that word too. But basically, it means that at a certain age we are easily annoyed and quick to say something. That’s not me, if I say something is annoying me, I’m most likely pissed-off. And not the British slang version of the word (drunk).
The temptation is to trot out the old, worn tropes, like how I get annoyed with slow drivers but I guess everyone does (except slow drivers). A couple months ago we talked about our major turn offs. These are things which annoy me to no end. You can read that article here.
So, I wanted to come with a new fist-full of annoyances.
A psychology major would say that I’m a minimizer; I tend not to let things bother me. I’ve always found it strange that people lay in bed at night and worry about this or that. I let it go. This is both good and bad. Good in that I’m not easily annoyed and bad in that it means I often don’t deal with problems right away. So, it’s been hot as hell but am I really annoyed by the heat? I guess… maybe? Not really.
Old age sucks, does that count? Some old dude broke into my house and keeps using my mirror. I don’t really recognize him. I would tell you that I’m annoyed and will lay in bed and fret over it… naw. OK, this article is starting to annoy me because I ain’t got nothin’. Never mind, I’ll just close the lid on my laptop.
Problem solved.