Monday, March 03, 2008

Pet Peeve Coincidence

There are pet peeves that are minor, having to do with things that are annoying but of little consequence. There are pet peeves that are major, having to do with things that can have significant impact. In reading I've done over the last 2 days I have coincidentally come across descriptions of my biggest minor pet peeve and my biggest major pet peeve. They are so well written that I am going to post them, and I'll leave them in the words of others who put them so well.
The minor pet peeve showed up in the letters to the editor, written by Debbie Phippen of Ripon:
"That 'stick' near your steering wheel is called a turn signal. Courteous drivers use it to make a safe lane change or to let other drivers know their intentions if they are waiting for them on a street corner or driveway."
The major pet peeve showed up in All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque:
"There were thousands of Kantoreks, all of whom were convinced that there was only one way of doing well, and that way theirs.

And that is just why they let us down so badly."

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I share both of your pet peeves! Love the quote from All Quiet . . . might need to add that to my list of books to read.

Heidi said...

It's really a powerful book. I remember first reading it about 20 years ago and being very affected by it. Anthony read it recently for his HS English class, and he keeps bringing it up. Literature doesn't usually stay with him that way. I definitely recommend it.

(Don't forget my recommendation of Frankenstein too - quite good - and quite surprising if the image you have of Frankenstein is Boris Karloff. Frankenstein, of course, not being the monster but rather the creator of the "monster." I'd love to hear your take on it - see how many stars you'd give it! :-)