Whistle While You Irk
I'm going to combine a couple different thoughts complaints here into one post about pet peeves.
First is the less egregious complaint, which is that Samuel has been learning how to whistle lately. And it's really getting on my nerves. He's just getting to the point where he can start to hit a few different notes, and it's pretty constant every evening and all weekend long. Sometimes I'm about to lie down to sleep and I hear the whistles drifting up through the vent, and I cringe. I can't say exactly why it's so irritating, but it is. I don't want to discourage him, though, so I'm not going to say anything.
Now on to the much more serious complaint. I don't think of myself as a "pet peeves" person, but I guess this is #1 on my list. It's simply this: saying you'll do something and not doing it.
There are so many examples of this. I depend on some people at work for a weekly task, and I have told them multiple times that I need their stuff at a certain time, or they can let me know if it'll be a problem. One person in particular is always late, and will even say "It's coming in a few minutes" only to send it three hours later. This would be less of a problem if they would just let me know.
I texted a friend about for help with something. He said he would call me in the evening. He didn't. I texted the next day, and he said he'd call after he ate. That was five days ago. I fully acknowledge that I was asking him for a favor that he is in no way obligated to provide. But he shouldn't say he will call and then not call.
There are many, many examples of this. And I'm sure it happens to all of us once in a while. One Saturday morning I was out running, and suddenly I remembered I had an assignment to clean the church in 20 minutes. I was 5 miles away from home, in the middle of nowhere.
I started making calls as I ran, to at least let people know what was happening and that I'd be there as soon as I could.
The point is not so much the failure to do the thing itself, but not letting people know. It seems like the simplest courtesy to give someone a heads-up when you can't keep a commitment.
First is the less egregious complaint, which is that Samuel has been learning how to whistle lately. And it's really getting on my nerves. He's just getting to the point where he can start to hit a few different notes, and it's pretty constant every evening and all weekend long. Sometimes I'm about to lie down to sleep and I hear the whistles drifting up through the vent, and I cringe. I can't say exactly why it's so irritating, but it is. I don't want to discourage him, though, so I'm not going to say anything.
Now on to the much more serious complaint. I don't think of myself as a "pet peeves" person, but I guess this is #1 on my list. It's simply this: saying you'll do something and not doing it.
There are so many examples of this. I depend on some people at work for a weekly task, and I have told them multiple times that I need their stuff at a certain time, or they can let me know if it'll be a problem. One person in particular is always late, and will even say "It's coming in a few minutes" only to send it three hours later. This would be less of a problem if they would just let me know.
I texted a friend about for help with something. He said he would call me in the evening. He didn't. I texted the next day, and he said he'd call after he ate. That was five days ago. I fully acknowledge that I was asking him for a favor that he is in no way obligated to provide. But he shouldn't say he will call and then not call.
There are many, many examples of this. And I'm sure it happens to all of us once in a while. One Saturday morning I was out running, and suddenly I remembered I had an assignment to clean the church in 20 minutes. I was 5 miles away from home, in the middle of nowhere.
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| Seriously. |
The point is not so much the failure to do the thing itself, but not letting people know. It seems like the simplest courtesy to give someone a heads-up when you can't keep a commitment.
Comments
And i also understand about people not following through with what they say. I too like to always make sure that i follow through or let the person know otherwise. Words don't mean a lot without action!
The irresponsibility thing is soooo exactly right. I don't understand it. My parents taught me that if we say we're going to do something, WE'D BETTER DO IT. And if we can't, then let someone know, like you did. It's a lesson that echoes often in my brain. I've been discovering this more and more lately and I don't know if it's me getting older and more crotchety or if something's happening with people and it's getting worse. Let's just blame it on phones and social media, somehow. But really, i wonder if being able to hide behind your phone extends to your lack of taking responsibility for things. It's so easy to just "say" things. One day, words will have zero value and we'll adopt newspeak and nothing will matter. Because that is what happens, right? The more accountability we reject, the more our words mean nothing. NOTHING. Anyway, good one.