Point Pleasant Writers Guild members share their pet peeves

At a recent meeting of the Point Pleasant Writers’ Guild, members shared each other’s pet peeves and noted which ones were common to most of them. For instance, Marilyn Clarke hates to see how certain misused words have found their way into social acceptance; i.e., using ‘loose’ as ‘lose’ or vice versa. Carol Newberry’s pet peeve pertained to cement blocks still being called cinder blocks, even though cinder hasn’t been used for such blocks since coal-driven trains were replaced with diesel. Carol also doesn’t understand why people, who complain after being corrected for their use of wrong words, would rather remain unenlightened. Several pet peeves common among the members included: (1) The nuisance, scam, and robo calls we all receive via phone and emails; (2) Being an unwilling audience to other people’s cell phone conversations in waiting rooms, restaurants, grocery lines, and even restrooms; and (3) Sharing the highway with inconsiderate, inebriated, sometimes hostile, drivers and people who should never have received a driver’s license in the first place. Dislike of tailgaters were mentioned by Bob Watterson and April Pyles. One person said his pet peeve was the state of the world, which struck a chord with most everyone. Another member’s pet peeve is the dismissive attitude so many men have toward women, propagated two millennia ago by writer, Tertullian, and before that, by Adam who passed the buck to Eve following their fall from Grace in the Garden of Eden. It was suggested that men should use Jesus as their model as He treated the women in his life as equals. Kris Moore gets upset when a shopper parks her buggy on one side of the aisle while looking for products on the other side, effectively blocking other shoppers from both directions. April Pyles’ biggest pet peeve is the OVER-development of former open farm lands, scenic mountains, and ocean-front properties, which results in too much traffic, too much noise, too much concrete, and too much pollution, not to mention the loss of animal habitations and drastic ecological changes to the environment. William Jeffers shared his essay on fashion changes over the years. In his opinion, young boys and girls view themselves as good looking or popular the more they expose themselves or by wearing clothes that sport profane pictures or words. A lot of this negative self-image is picked up from the movies and tv programs they watch. He worries about the impression they will make on future employers once they start going on job interviews. Parents, instead of permitting their children to go against social norms of modesty and decency, should encourage them to avoid looking like gangsters, hood rats, or porn stars. by April Pyles