It seem as though certain segments of the world are going out of their way to annoy me lately. It's as if some natural order to things is breaking down. I'm not sure what bothers me more, the chaos or the fact that stuff I can't control is getting to me.
Let's start with driving. People here in Seattle suck at it. They don't go the speed limit. They don't take their turn at 4-ways. They pull out in front of you. Most annoying though is that they do stupid things without thinking about how it affects the traffic around them. For example, they'll come to an uber-gradual stop at an intersection, not taking into account that there is a stack of cars trying to quickly and efficiently get off an off-ramp. Or the other day, some jackass at the mall double parks near a pick-up area, blocking traffic entirely. Then when I honk at the guy he gets out of the car and throws his hands up in the air as if he doesn't know what to do. Seriously?
The thing that really gets me riled up lately is how impossible it seems to get what you actually pay for. It's not even about the money. If I was that worried about the money, I wouldn't spend it. It's the fact that there's a contract involved when you spend money: You get something for it. The movers did a total shit job. We had to pack stuff in our car because their truck was too small. It took three guys a half-hour to assemble our bed, using my tools. They packed like morons. They broke stuff, mostly not important, but including a custom framed photo my dad gave me. If that weren't bad enough, I've been going around with them now for three weeks, and they're finally giving me some money back. I can generally accept that shit happens, but if it happens when I'm paying you for something, own up to it and make it right.
Then there are completely simple things that shouldn't be failures. For example, the Home Depot near us has an automated LP gas cylinder exchange. Swipe your card, door opens, swap your tank for another. Only the tank I got was empty. Oh, and the machine didn't give me a receipt either. So now I have to go back there, with a printed copy of my bank activity, and get a new tank. It's not the money, it's the inconvenience, and the fact that I couldn't use my grill.
I'm going to take the bus tomorrow.
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