Tags left on clothes, doors left open, texting and talking during movies — pet peeves take all sorts of forms. While many people have pet peeves, some may not know how to deal with these little annoyances.

For sophomore Dominic Mendoza, irritation occurs when teachers believe that kids in the front of the class are more knowledgeable than the rest of the students.

“Teachers get on my nerves when they assume the kids that sit in the front of the class are ‘A’ students,” Mendoza said. “Just because I sit in the back does not make me any less smarter [sic].”

While some pet peeves are temporary, others can be long-standing and have greater effects. When junior Chandler Vargas went out to eat at a fast-food restaurant, the hygiene habits of one worker inhibited him from returning for two months.

“One time, I was at Carl’s Jr. leaving the men’s restroom when a lady in the women’s restroom facility left without even washing her hands,” Vargas said. “Then she walked into the kitchen area and continued to make hamburgers for the customers. That really grossed me out.”

In addition to the habits and actions of others, pet peeves can be as simple as strong fragrances, wrinkled clothing or repetition of words. Junior Emily Daniels claims that her biggest pet peeve is when others reiterate the phrases she says moments after she says them.

“One of my worst pet peeves is when people repeat my sentences,” Daniels said. “Like for instance, one day I was at home with my brother, and my dad was driving in, and I said, ‘Oh look, Dad is home,’ and then seconds later my brother said the exact same thing. That really irritated me.”

In addition to simply annoying people, senior Emily Schoettler says that pet peeves can affect personal experiences.

“One time I went on a date with this one guy; we went to a restaurant and he seemed to be really nice,” Schoettler said. “I went to go kiss him and, after he smiled, I noticed he had nasty stuff in between his teeth. And on top of that, he had really bad breath. I said, ‘No way, not gonna work out [sic].'”

However, though pet peeves are often bothersome to those that have them, students can learn to overcome the irritations. Senior Kelsey Hart, who used to hate the sound of people chewing gum around her, learned to deal with this pet peeve by realizing that she cannot control others’ actions.

“Chewing gum in my ear used to annoy me, but sooner or later I learned that I can’t control peoples’ actions,” Hart said. “I can only try to stop the problem I have with it.”

Like Hart, senior Kory Thompson has been able to get over her annoyance with interruptions.

“I hate when people talk over me or others,” Thompson said. “If you are talking, no one else should be trying to interrupt you or talk over you. But I have learned to keep my mouth quiet when the person interrupts and let the other person speak. Then the person will ask me if I had something to say, and I can say it.”

Since many students seem to have a pet peeve that serves as a continual irritation, online resources such as TheBridgeMaker.com can help individuals with overcoming pet peeves through an eight-step process to turn common frustrations into nonissues.

For more information on pet peeves, read the Feb. 1, 2008, article, Pet peeves press patience.

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