I Was Thinking... It Bugs Me

Recently after moving some boards, I noticed a sliver in my hand. While it was barely visible, its presence became a major concern. How could something so small draw so much attention to its existence? Despite other things I had planned for the day, this suddenly took top priority. When I finally dug it out, it wasn’t even large enough to measure. So why do we let little things get to us?
You can walk across rocks and hills and climb over trees, and ford creeks and call it an enjoyable hike, but let a small pebble get into your shoe or have a hole develop in your sock and you need to stop and rectify the situation. Every day we encounter or become aware of major problems that assail our existence. There is the war in the Ukraine, the hurricane that destroyed large sections of Florida, and crime in the streets. Gas prices are still too high, the cost of food continues to rise, and political discourse divides the country.
Yet maybe these things are just too overwhelming to consider so we focus on tiny things that just rub us the wrong way.
It is amazing what kind of discussions can occur in a household as to the proper way to put toilet paper on the roll. It is useable no matter how it is situated but it really bugs some people if it is on the “wrong” way. All homes have an array of drawers. They open and they close. Yet it becomes an issue if the opening and closing cycle isn’t completed.
The same is true of lights that can be on or off. The offended person could easily correct the situation, but it doesn’t seem to diminish the “bugged” factor. And then there are newspapers, while there isn’t as many as they used to be, it can become a bone of contention if the paper is left folded open when thrown back in the stand.
The unreachable itch, the underwear that crawls up, or that bit of meat stuck between your teeth shouldn’t be a major problem, but they definitely can bug us until we achieve a remedy. Everyone has that thing that trips their trigger. Do you have a friend or relative that can drive you nuts by using “I don’t know” or “ya I know” about three times in every sentence they speak. Or how about the person that says, “I’ve probably told you this before,” and then proceeds to tell you the same story again anyway. Then there is the person that feels they need to finish each sentence for you.
Of course, we all know the person who lets you start saying something and then interrupts and talks over you. Or how about the person who is in the middle of a conversation but stops everything because their phone beeps to alert them of a text message?
Despite the threat of global warming, a nuclear disaster, or forest fires, it is the little things that usually raise our blood pressure.
While it shouldn’t bother me, but it irritates me when I’m following somebody that has their blinker on for five miles. As a retired person I have plenty of time, but I get miffed when the person in the express lane of the grocery store has four items over the limit. Does it bother you that some people can’t seem to maneuver a car, so they only take up one parking space in a lot? I know I’m not the fashion police but aren’t baseball caps designed to have the bill in the front over your eyes? And as long as I’m at it, do black dress socks really go with sandals and shorts?
Most of us have resolved that we can’t solve the problems of the world, so we try to not let them disrupt our daily lives. Now if we could only do the same for those small things that continue to bug us day after day.
Did You Ever Wonder? — Why do we drive on a parkway and park in a driveway?
Photo:  I Was Thinking Ron Albright