Thursday morning on FirstNews, we talked about viewer's pet peeves. There's a web-site called petpeeves.com that stimulated the discussion. Frankly, one of my pet peeves is the fact that for just about everything and everybody there's a web-site! To be honest, technology in general is a pet peeve for me. I understand all the benefits of the interwebs and those little talking boxes called cell phones with which you can also take pictures, shoot videos, send written messages, and, with some of the newer models, neuter small animals...which may leave your pet peeved. Still, I think we may have been a little better off when we weren't quite so much in touch so much of the time! In a way, my Luddite tendencies are almost cutting edge. According to the web-site and our viewers, cell phones are on top of the list of pet peeves. Talking on them while driving...having them go off in church or at the theater...people yakking loud and long at restaurants. There are many reasons to dislike cell phones. Now, of course, when your kids are out and about, it is comforting to know they have that communication device with them but it is not a good sign when your teenage daughter is able to actually send text messages while asleep.

I had a little cell-phone irritation just last evening. My wife and I were attending the senior class awards ceremony for our oldest son. By the way, we are very proud of the fact that he was mentioned several times but I thought it was odd that several of the scholarships were decided by how well the students could dance. This ABC show has taken on a life of its own. Luckily, our son always wears his tap shoes and carries a straw hat. Anyway, as I was trying to tell an unidentified family member about how exciting it was walking the dog earlier in the day, she kept fiddling with her text messaging. When I expressed my displeasure at being ignored, she just smiled and said "Oh, u jr 4aw...tie...brb...bff...lol..." I guess that translates to "Oh, you just relax for awhile...take it easy...be right back...best friends forever....laughing out loud." It didn't even mstm...make sense to me. Out of respect, and a fondness for sleeping indoors, I will not reveal which family member was text-tifying. Let's just say it wasn't my d or one of my s.

Another viewer said he hates it when co-workers use the microwave and don't cover what they're nuking. The oven ends up a splattered mess. This is not a problem for me because I don't eat at work. Ever since they took the "Food-Taster" clause out of my contract, I avoid anything served in the building. I'm not paranoid, just cautious. Along the lines of food-related pet peeves, other folks mentioned being irked by diners who chew with their mouth open or talk while eating. That kind of behavior is boorish and rude unless you time it just right so as to make a person across the table laugh just as they are drinking their Cherry Coke, sending the liquid cascading through their sinus cavities and shooting our their nostrils like a dragon with a head-cold. Then, it is acceptable, according to Emily Post...well, according to Emily Post's out-of-work brother-in-law, Scooter.

A few bothersome things had to do with driving. For example, one e-mailer said she hated it when another driver knows the lane is ending due to construction but does not merge until the very last minute. Personally, I tend to let any and all drivers in ahead of me in any and all circumstances. I do this for one reason: to get that little "thank-you" wave. Yes, my self-esteem is in such a state of disrepair that I need validation from total strangers on the highway. When I don't get the acknowledgment, the rest of my day is kaput. Others mentioned being annoyed by people who don't use their turn signals. I think this is another area where technology has led us astray. So much of what we do in the car, nowadays, is automatic...done for us really...from cruise control to on-board directions to self-parking, that, perhaps, we just forget that we may have to, occasionally, de-blinker. On this point, I think we need to go back to using hand signals. Roll down the window and hold your arm out there...whatever the weather. When I was a kid, in order to get a license for your bike, you had to demonstrate to the police officer that you knew that holding your hand downward was stop....straight out meant you were turning left...upright was a right turn. Using both hands to make a duckie or bunny shadow on the pavement was frowned upon. But, if we just go back to this form of intention indication, the whole eternal blinker problem is gone. It wouldn't be that hard. I already see lots of people gesturing at me when I drive.

Just to answer the question I'm sure you're pondering: No, nobody listed "annoying weatherpeople, mostly by the name of Joel, who are always wrong" as their pet peeve. At least not yet. Now, according to my fellow FirstNewsers, one of the respondents may have had me in mind when she listed, as her major pet peeve: "stupid people."