What annoys you about someone that has no effect on you whatsoever but still irritates the hell out of you.

[gettingolderandgrumpier]

a colleague will not put her phone on silent ( in case of emergency) but will leave in her bag and every times it rings and it’s often a cold call she will leap in the air in panic to turn the phone off .
I’ve said leave it on vibrate , leave it on your desk so you can turn it off quicker but no . She never answers it and grumbles that it’s cold calls .
I’m not bothered about the phone ringing but this leaping up in panic and a mad scramble for her phone makes me want to hit her with her daft phone .
why not leave on your desk or stop panicking every time it rings I don’t get it .
i know it has no effect on my life but I’m worried she may have a panic induced heart attack ( I’m joking ) .
share with me lighthearted irritations that you have.

@LightDrizzle

Many years ago baby DD2 spent long periods in hospital. I don’t expect Doctors on a ward round to know or remember parents’ names but WTF is wrong with the vocative “you”? “And how are you?”. I found “How’s mum?” patronising and dehumanising. I always wanted to reply “I’m fine thank you, how’s doctor?”

Hell yes Light Drizzle. I hear you and I feel your pain. I can't stand it.

I have to say that in my experience it tends not to be senior doctors that do this - it's more nurses/support staff/junior medical staff/midwives. Although that maybe an age thing and when I say senior doctors I'm really saying older consultants.

I can't stand it and I don't understand why more people don't object to it or maybe everyone is seething inside.

People who take the time to reverse into a parking space in a car park. Why? Just drive straight into it.
Anyone who has the keypad tones on on their phone. I hate you.
Anyone who has any sound on their phone. I hate you too. Vibrate is enough.

My DH will be glued to the TV watching something I'm not interested in, so I'll be silently reading, doing a crossword, crocheting, etc. However, every damn time there's an advert break, his attachment to the TV stops instantly & his attention has to go somewhere else. So he'll start talking to me, breaking my concentration. Then, the moment his film or whatever starts again he's back on it; & I'm forgotten & left to amuse myself without him.

This reminds me of something one of my friends once lamented:

"If [husband] wants to read and I want to talk, it's my fault. But if I want to read and he wants to talk, it's STILL my fault!"

"Lush". I'm on a food group on Facebook and the main reason I like it is I've only seen about two posts referring to meals as being "lush". If it was a regular thing I'd have to get off it forever.

One that really doesn't affect me but drives me mad is when I see women with completely fake lips - usually then covered in super shiny lipstick/gloss. I'm never sure if it's just because they've just had them done and they're swollen or if that's what they want, but I get completely irrationally annoyed by it. And while I've never had any treatments of this sort, I'm not actually anti them at all. It's JUST the massive, crazily fake lips that drive me made.

People who take the time to reverse into a parking space in a car park. Why? Just drive straight into it.

Because it's much easier - and safer - to be able to drive forwards out of the parking space when you leave.

People who take a humorous thread on Mumsnet personally and respond seriously and often in high dudgeon.

another one I've thought of prompted by "People who refer to their spouse/partner as their best friend."

Couples where they can't say anything without checking with the other one. This type of thing:

Normal human: So did you enjoy Paris?
Mrs A: Oh yes we had a great time didn't we? [Minor irritation of verbal checking with Mr A] [and then doubled down with an anxious glance at Mr A to check that was an acceptable thing to say = DON'T YOU HAVE YOUR OWN FUCKING OPINION?]
Normal human: You were looking forward to going to the Musée de l'Orangerie Mrs A - how was it?
Mrs A: Oh we did like it didn't we Dave? [accompanied by more checking glancing]
Normal Human: [internally I WAS ASKING YOU AND YOU ALONE MRS A.]

It's amazing how many people do this about really trivial stuff and 9/10 it is women not men. It really annoys me because I always think it demonstrates a deeply unfortunate submissiveness and makes me think there must be an element of power misogyny in the relationship.

People who stop in the middle of an aisle in the supermarket and have a full on gossip/conversation, while shoppers try to manoeuvre around them.
Similarly, people who randomly stop the car in the middle of the road to chat to someone in another car/on the footpath.
Anyone who uses the phrase 'full time mummy'.

People who stop someone talking so they can tell the story themselves. We have a neighbour that does this to his wife.
People that do not accept there may be two sides to an argument and consistently insist they are right. Some will resort to name calling.
People who interrupt and change the conversation, even if the conversation is flowing

People who take the time to reverse into a parking space in a car park. Why?

@usernother I can answer this. after I passed my test many years ago, I did one of those advanced lessons. I was taught that you should always reverse into a car park space for three reasons

the car is easier to control in reverse when the engine is warm (as opposed to when you return to the car and its cold).

you approach the space with 360 degree full visibility so it is safer to reverse in than it is to reverse out when you have very limited visibility

whatever the situation when you park the car, things change - others come and go and can park closer, or make the exit more difficult than when you arrived - so it makes sense to leave your car in a way that makes your exit easier rather than harder.

This one really is irrational! Because in most cases, reverse parking is easier and doesn't involve a 76 point turn. Front wheel drives mean that you have a better turning function when reversing.

It can also make coming out of a parking space safer.

Although it has to be said, my dad agrees. He can't understand why people reverse park! Which is ironic seeing as he is the one who taught me to do it!

Neighbors son comes to visit regularly, nice man generally but I feel murderous towards him as he drives away. The car horn tooting and endless shouts of bye, bye, bye really wind me up. You'd think he was leaving for a round the world tour not just going home about a mile away

This is a bit less of just an annoyance maybe, but pseudoscience. Flakes who think certain foods virtually have superpowers, believe in 'detox' (and they don't mean from drugs) etc etc.

It's so infuriating, I have to stop myself screaming 'being in a relationship doesn't stop you being a full person'.
I have a friend who will just turn to her dh and wait for him to answer. In 8 years I haven't heard her actually speak unless it's repeating what her dh said.

I'm sorry but that made me lol. Great description 🤣.

Bill paying faffery in restaurants.
Bill arrives. Rummage in bag for readers. Rummage for cloth to polish readers. Read Bill at arms length. Announce amount.
Pass bill round so everyone else can read it, announce amount, and declare that its not too bad, is it? Not for what we've had. And it was nice.
15 minutes of deciding who had what and what each person's share is. 15 minutes of arguing over who will just get it this time.
Decision made to split bill equally, despite Brian having the Seabass and Katie being vegan, and her falafel only costing £10.99. They don't mind.
Debate over whether to leave a tip, and that surely the service charge means you don't have to? But they do work hard.
Rummage for cash for tip. Because that way it goes to the waiter not the resturant, doesn't it? But no one carries real money since covid...But there's a few pound coins they keep for the carpark. That will have to do.
Leave cash on little saucer, but what if someone walks off with it? Best go and find him to tell him we've left it there.
Which one was he again....?

Hubster
Hubby
Wifey
The better half
The other half
Her indoors
Old Man
Baby

One of my sisters does this but it's my mother she keeps calling on to back her up, over the most trivial of stuff.

And it's not as if anyone is saying oh no that's not what happened. I mostly nod along to whatever she is saying and she STILL does it.

Or going above and beyond lol 😆 arghhhhh.

Ok everyone who is giving perfectly valid reasons for reverse parking. I hate it if I'm behind people doing it and I have to wait whilst they do it. And also, I cannot do it. I have terrible trouble reversing anywhere. My spatial awareness is dreadful. Maybe I'm jealous. Who knows.

I agree about the phone, but it's much safer to reverse into a space and drive out. It's often easier as well.

@Calistan Merailing! I have learnt a new word 😂 brilliant and so appropriate!

MIL when ever asked about her distant family and where they are from, says 'Liverpool' in a fake scouse accent...she's never been out of Berkshire!

Couples where they can't say anything without checking with the other one

I've not really noticed this, but my mum was talking about it the other weekend when I was visiting her - she was saying her neighbours do it and she finds it really annoying!

@5128gap I love it!

I was in a cafe recently where two women were trying to pay for each other and telling the guy at the till 'no I'll get it' and so on. I'm guessing he was thinking just pay and get out of my sight.
It was a bit like the scene in Father Ted with Mrs Doyle and her friend. 😁