Wow...I take my MP3 player to work a lot, and I download enough albums to hold me for about a week, and one of the guys passed by and told me I needed to "turn that satan shit off."

Okay. I don't want to seem like a self hater, but I have to say it: I really don't like ghetto black people. And before anybody says anything, a) It's not even a solely a black person thing because this whole behavioral thing is becoming pan-racial. But the majority of people that would be classified as "ghetto" that live in my area are black, so I'm only speaking from experience, b) the ghetto mentality really isn't tied to money or annual income, because there are well-to-do middle class families who act a fool and there are other middle class families that don't; same with rich people and poor people, so I'm not ripping on poor black people. Nor is this mentality really a hip-hop culture thing, since I have friends who are big fans of hip hop music and they don't act like a foul-mouthed drama queen (or king) in public, or go into the "Bling bling" trends, fail at life (and proud), etc. and c) I know that the original use of the word "ghetto" was used to describe a location in which Nazis isolated Jews and other detainees until they were transported to concentration camps, but the term has since evolved to be use to describe a mentality that is often associated with minorities who lived in a rundown, urban environment - and much, much more.

So what exactly is a "ghetto person"? Egad, where to begin?..

Let's start with an experience that I had just last night:

I was at a mall yesterday night with a friend, and as we came out of a store, we, as well as everybody in that vacinity of the mall, wittnessed a scuffle between one clan of hoodrats and thugs and another clan of hoodrats and thugs. The security guards had to break up the rambunktuous spectacle of foul-mouthed, urban youths as they were cussing and hollaring at each other all the way to the security office. Not only that, but on Saturday nights particularly, there has been an overwhelming growth of shoppers with super-tight gold leggings (with no miniskirt over them), belted pants that touch the floor, and those stupid jackets that have the elastic bands at the waist that don't do much justice to the prosterior when a cold breeze whips by. So it's official that this particular shopping center has now reached the level ghetto-ness of another reknowned shopping center in the area, and I am confident that I will be viewing more public displays of poor upbringing in the future.

I could give you a more close to home encounter that are the form of my next door neighbors, but that's just a league of its own.

End rant.

I think I just found yet ANOTHER pet peeve!

Spandex...it's a privilege, not a right!

When I was managing starbucks, we used to get this women in their early forties trying to look hip and cool--- pet peeve 1 for this post. One of them in particular thought herself super sexy. She always wore spandex shorts so tight you could count her f***ing pubic hairs *retches*---pet peeve #2. I HATED this woman. She always ordered tea always five minutes before closing, sat there sipping it waiting for something to complain about...egad.

Third and final pet peeve: I have to take creative writing for my business writing major and there are some really, really, really bad poets in this class....and they think they are amazing. I felt terrible, but one girl in particular really irked me so I shredded her poem (as politely as one can shred absolute crap) since she was so damn smug...poor thing nearly burst into tears. Ha. One ego demolished, a class full to go. (Hey, at least I don't act all high and mighty smug about my writing, regardless of what I think of it...)

I'm SO RELIEVED to hear that someone else has this problem. Here in the Central Valley of CA, we don't really have "ghetto" so much as what I unaffectionately call "contry" (misspelled to indicate the somewhat southern accent with which this word ought be pronounced...). Sadly, my hometown is now world-renowned as the horrifying birthplace of the "Hifey" movement that seems to have engulfed the whole of suburban youth to the point of me imagining running the little brats over with my crapola car every time I see one shuffling down the street.

I don't know if any of you are familiar with this horrifying phenomenon, but I really would prefer not to extrapolate on it too much because it wears me out even thinking about it...

Needless to say, Carpathian, you are not alone in this. You are also not a self-hater. I have very few friends of my own ethnic group because of my area's own version of this same frustrating thing. It's a real challenge finding like minded African Americans to associate with because of just how MANY of them have taken to the "act a fool" in public phenomenon that makes me oh-so-uncomfortable.

I don't even go to the mall anymore. I'm sick of seeing random dudes get stabbed while everyone just looks on nonchalantly at someone with a potential collapsed lung. I'm also tired of them coming into my jobs reeking of ganja and asking ignorant questions of me and no one else because I'm the only negro on staff at the time.... It's awkward. I don't mind pot, just don't go outside when you're baked. I don't think that's asking too much... (another peeve I have from working retail so long)

My greatest pet peeve, however, has to be having my time wasted by others. It incenses such extreme ire in me that I can't even verbalize the level of angry I get when this happens. I have little to no patience for other fools' bullshit and wasting my time just proves what kind of douche one really is inside...

I also do not enjoy it when I ask a serious question and someone's so sarcastic I feel like spitting in response to my inquiry. I really do believe there is no such thing as a stupid question and I don't like to be chastened for asking what's obvious to someone else but not to me (this is a by-product of moving back in with my family; it's a regular habit my father has to basically try and make me feel as small as possible by doing this)

I don't care for it when people try to come across as though they know everything. It's rude and, frankly, without some sort of certification or degree or regular history of practicing a specifc task or ability, one can not consider themselves and expert. I have a manager like this. I'm currently working on trying to take his job because he's so inadequate it hurts...

Hubris without humility. This is another chief complaint of mine. So many people have these amazingly overinflated egos when they really have no leg to stand on for believing themselves so amazing. What amazes me above all else is that people can believe themselves near god status but then there are some of us out there just struggling to get through each day feeling like we're worth the water it takes to fuel our systems. I, unfortunately, have dated more than a lion's share of people with this particular personality flaw and I REALLY wish that I could spot it before it slams me in the face like a brick wall every time. (Again: stealing this guy's job. I've encountered countless others like this, but the current person who is grating on my nerves for this is the same as the know it all.)

Related to the prior issue, I also don't enjoy it when I'm confident about a skill or ability I have and someone has acknowledged that said skill is impressive in the past and I say "I know" because I've thanked them countless times before and they call me arrogant. There's nothing wrong with knowing what you're good at and I happen to think it's silly to thank someone else for acknowledging a skill they had no part in honing. I mean, if my PARENTS said something like that I'd always thank them, but only the biological ones because they, technically, had something to do with it. Sorry if this seems contradictory to the last one also, but I really don't like being told I'm arrogant-I actually greatly lack self-confidence to the point of cowardice. /ramble

Passive-aggressive tactics in the interest of avoiding a full-blown scandal. I'd rather just have the scandal out, let it blow over, and move on. Better yet, speak up right when the issue pops up if you want to avoid a problem. If someone has a problem about something, they should say so-tactfully and quickly so the whole thing doesn't get blown out of proportion and create needless drama. I have no problems with people taking the time to step back, chill, and collect their thoughts, but the way one handles things is very telling about the sort of person they are... I won't get into the details of why this bothers me so much but I'm finding the older I get, the MORE I have to deal with this nonsense instead of less... It's terribly annoying.

I have a lot of peeves (i'm petulant to a fault) but I think the above sums up my chief frustrations as of late. This list rarely changes in degree, but the amount of chief complaints I have grows daily as new, weird little things pop up...

This is why I left Civil War Reenacting, and just do Living History for that era. Many Civil war reenactors feel that they have a monopoly on knowledge about the Civil war simply because they have been "in the Hobby" for twenty years. They seriously say that they are "Historians". But unless they have a relevant degree, do primary research, and are published in peer-reviewed journals, they have no greater claim to knowledge than the rest of us.

I love poetry, but sometimes i wonder if it is not just becoming another dead artform like the famous and beathtaking artworks done duing the Renaissance.
I love poetry, i write poetry often, but i hate it when people think they are so great a poet only to do those stupid little poems that make no sense. To me, hearing someone read a poem that is complete nonsense is like looking at modern art. I hate it, it grates my nerves to no end.
I know that poetry is a preference that changes with each person, but people should serioulsy know the basics and have the heart it takes to write good poetry before they share it. Now i am not sayign that if a person sucks then the person should not wrte- i just feel they should not share it until it has been perfected as best it can, and then only let others hear if want bac honest feedback, knowing that not everyone will like it.
I know that my own writing is not the best and is nothin at all compared to Poe, but i like to think of myself as at least decent since i have won serveral awards for my poetry and creative writing. I remember that while in high school and he had to write an essay for standardized testing, i was the only one in my school to get a perfect score on it, which earned me serveral letters from the governor and mayor.
I am in no way trying to sound conceded or arrogant or anything else. I am just proud that i can write (and yes, i am always humbled when someone does like it because i am my own worst judge). I will never forget this girl who read one of my poems and she just hugged me and thanked me and told that the poem made her see things clearer and helped her relationship with her mother. i think that was the humblest i had ever been where my talent is concerned. I am constantly trying to learn about poetry and test it to all the limits i am comfortable with and it gives me a sense of peace and i want others to feel he same sense of pride i do when i write, i just wih that most were mor selective about what the read aloud or at least edit it sevel times and perfecting it befre they just read the rough draft and call it their best.

I was very active in the South Florida poetry scene back in the late '90s-early '00s, and I became very disenchanted because of this same reason. When I first joined the scene, there was a mix of published poets and authors, amateur poets, academic poets, "street" poets, etc. in all different styles. There was some stuff I did not care for, but it was usually all excellent poetry, because everyone took it seriously.
Then came the age of "Everybody's A Poet"m which supposedly was aimed at tearing down the "elitism" of poetry and making it "accessible". I saw the results of this in Open Poetry Night. Suddenly, people were coming in and saying "Ummm....I wrote this at the bus stop this afternoon...." Now, a lot of these poems had possibilities, but they unfortunately sounded like they had just been written at the bus stop! The trend became for poetry to be as unstructured as possible. The subject matter was explicit as possible, and this considered "honesty". But all poems have structure. What many people call "free verse" is not really free verse, it's prose! And one of the beautiful things about poetry is that by NOT being explicit, you can allow the listener to interpret your piece to fit their world. People seemed to revel in putting as little effort as possible into their poems. And it showed. As one of the long-time attendees told me right before we both dropped out, "Most of this stuff is pure crap." The end for me came when a girl stood up and read a "poem" that went something like:

"I met him at the beach/we had a night of love/he left me/I wish I were dead"

and she burst into tears. The audience applauded wildly, and began a swelling, rhythmic chant of "Poet! Poet!" even standing on chairs to clap and yell. Now, not to be mean, but was this really poetry? I think not. It may have been therapeutic. It may have been a concept for a poem. But it was not a poem. Over the next year this became the trend, and we also got a slowly increasing number of people at Poetry Night beating on tambourines, twirling around to boom boxes, and all sorts of so-called "performance art". And then Poetry Slams became the rage. [Don't get me started on his one..]

Is "everyone a poet?" Well, is "everyone" a guitarist? Or a knitter? Well, everyone certainly has the potential to be all three. But you have to make the effort to become proficient at it. Everything takes work. Saying it does not make it so.
Because if 'everyone is a poet', then nobody is.

I really hate when I give someone advice on doll customization and some noob steps in saying, "I wouldn't do that! It might damage someone's doll!" Even though I hate throwing around my years of experience, sometimes I actually have to tell people, "Look, *I* have been redoing dolls for almost a decade and know for a fact that (insert advice) works great without harming the doll. If you have that much experience please share it!" It makes me so mad when people that don't know what the hell they're talking about start piping up about how they 'think' a more experienced modder's advice is wrong!

Lost, that 'freeform/everyone's a poet' crap 'poetry' is exactly why I dislike bandds like Tool. There's not a better word to describe Maynard!

Lostindreaming and Medieval: 100% agreement!!!!

Yeah, people should try things out themselves before they go on about how someone else's approach is incorrect, in my opinion. It's hard to sift through forums for that sort of thing when there's so much knee-jerk "Well I do it better" posts that were obviously written by someone who doesn't know what they're talking about. I know fully well I know nothing so I just try to soak up the information as it's available to me.



I couldn't have put it better myself. I have no affection for that man and his so-called "poetry". It's not all swill, but the people who listen to his music near-religiously have me wondering exactly what the heck kind of crap he's trying to pull-a lot of the ones I've encountered aren't at all intelligent and view him as some kind of god... The melodies are nice though. I can't begrudge him that part.

@Lost: That reminds me of how some people will draw a dot or a circle on a blank canvas and call it "art". I mean, maybe if somebody splattered a bunch of paint on a canvas took a bit more time and is a tiny bit more original, but seriously: once that kind of concept has been done by one other person in the past, then it's been done. It's not like past artistic movements like impressionism or baroque, or even 20th century/modern art like cubism or surrealism: this is just laziness.

I'm no art critic (but I am an art enthusiast), but, with some pieces you can just feel the emotion off the bat and the story behind it, while others, like cubism, it's sorta cryptic but you want to - nay - NEED to know what was going in the artist's mind when they were working this piece. But stuff like this - especially if done by some art college student - who cares a flying fuck? They had better be prepared to give a very, VERY long commentary on exactly what they were thinking during the production of this piece in order for me to empathize on any level at all.



Hm. Yeah, I can empathize with this. Although, to be completely honest, I am enjoying this stage of undergraduate college knowitallism that I'm in. But to be serious, I don't go around telling people off and picking random arguements just to show off what I know and to feel high and mighty, because I know that I'm not an expert and anybody that I show off to could very well have a PhD, and I'd be put in my place. V.V I say stuff where it's appropriate (and to subjects that I have a clear understanding of), and I don't try to make other people feel stupid, nor do I claim to be an expert.

But I don't know. Just because you don't have a piece of paper saying "you know what you're talking about in this discipline" doesn't mean you don't have any understanding at all. I'm not a certified environmental anthropologist (or whatever I'm aiming for) or nothing, but, I admit that I know a lot more about the subject than some other person who hasn't even taken any classes concerning the disciplines, and then they tell me that I don't know what I'm talking about. And I'm not even trying to start anything like that. Not for nothing, but I'm not going to sit back and let somebody trample over me like that, especially if their sources come from some public media outlet like a talk show.

What it all comes down to, I think, is just a matter of one's maturity level, be it somebody's inflated ego or - well, I think that's the main issue with this sort of conundrum. Some people have too big of an ego to either accept/tolerate new information, admit that they might be flawed, etc.

I hear you on the last part PocketBunny. Every once in awhile my mom tells me to finish college so then I won't have to take orders from somebody who's clearly less educated. She dropped out of college and she regrets it because she has to do this sort of shit now. -_-

Reminds me of a student where my sister went to art school. Said student filled up one wall with staples. The professor loved it, but the janitor made her take them all out.

My pet peeve: people who argue about editing rules. Our clients needed to submit a paper to a journal and had us review it. I noted that they had repeated data in the text that were already in one of the tables. In my medical writing classes, I learned that this is forbidden (and the journal instructions made that clear). So I removed it. And the client complained and claimed that their editor had not seen this direction. Idiots. They just wanted us to look at the draft and say it looked great (with a gold star, perhaps?).

The only people I really meet anymore that love his music are/were frat guys. Not that ALL frat boys are drunken, douche-bag, jocks...just the ones I happen to have had the dubious pleasure of making the acquaintance of in the past.

Harpy, some people should just change their last name to 'Stupid'. It would get rather tiresome with so many running around, though...