Friday, January 13, 2006

Pet Peeves

Everybody's got a pet peeve. Most have got a lot of them. Mine mostly have something to do with life in Libya. Can you tell I need a vacation?

Here's my list of the things that just drive me crazy, make my blood boil, or just plain piss me off:

1. Being late - I hate to be late and I hate it even more when others are late. I think this is the biggest offence on my list so it is up here at number one. Of course living in Libya makes this extremely difficult for me because everyone seems to be late ALL the time. Not only am I on time - I'm usually a little early. Tick-tock goes the clock - every minute counts! If you want me to be mad at you, just show up late for an appointment. I'll be forgiving, but I won't forget it!

2. Water on the bathroom floor - Yuck! Yuck! Yuck! - another problem with living in Libya as Libyans tend to splash water all over the place while they are in the bathroom and think nothing of it at all. I find it absolutely disgusting to have to wade my way around the bathroom and will usually just turn right around and walk out. Unless it's a total emergency, I can wait. Uuuugh!

3. Remote control madness - I rarely watch TV, so when I sit down and find myself interested in something and someone grabs the remote control and changes the channel, I get pissed off. This is one of the reasons why I don't like watching TV in the first place. Usually it's hubby, channel surfing like mad - switching between Aljazeera, Alarabia and the other Arabic news channels (as if they have anything different to say!).

4. Trees planted in the middle of the sidewalk - Yes, I know it sounds weird, but all over town there are idiots that knock holes in the sidewalk and plant trees there. The sidewalks here are narrow to begin with, so with holes with trees in them, or sometimes holes with dead trees in them, the sidewalk becomes useless. I am a big fan of walking. I love to walk! But with obstacles in the path it is a pain. When the kids were small it was impossible to use the sidewalks if I was using the stroller. Most of the time the only option is to walk in the street itself and risk being run over by a car. Why do they plant the trees in the middle of the sidewalk? Why can't they just plant them in their gardens?

5. Fatima Omar - You don't get a phone bill delivered to your house in Libya, the phone company just puts your phone on receiving calls only and you get a recording of Fatima Omar telling you to go pay your bill. I know it's not her fault, but when I hear her voice when I try to dial the phone I usually swear at her. In Arabic and in English! Good thing it only happens about every three months.

6. Bugs in fruit - In America I never thought much about bugs in fruit. Fruit there is pretty sterile! But in this part of the world you have to pick over all the fruit before you eat it. Worst of all is usually dates - they get these cobwebby looking nests in them with these teeny-weeny little bugs. You have to open up each one and inspect it before popping it into your mouth. . . Sigh . . . There are times when I just forgo eating fruit because I don't feel like going through the inspection process. Now that the kids are big enough they can inspect their own fruit, but it was a hassle when they were small and I had to look at everyone's fruit. I've also learned to reinspect fruit my mother-in-law has inspected. That woman needs glasses and won't give in and get her eyes checked!

7. Rich women with bad teeth - Not uncommon to see women laden down with gold, but when they smile you see a whole mouth full of rotten or missing teeth. "Honey, sell a bracelet and get yourself to the dentist!"

8. Honk, honk, honk! - I hate when ladies come for a visit and when their husband arrives to pick them up they honk the car's horn because they are too lazy to get out and ring the bell. I have a rule in my house: I never, ever respond to car horns.

9. Doctor's appointments - You make an appointment and get there at the right time only to find out that the 20 patients that are sitting in the waiting room have all been told to come in at the same time as you. Why do they do this?

10. Clean laundry in the basket - I spend hours every week doing laundry. With eight people in the house we have lots of laundry. I get to the final stage, folding the clothes and asking that it be put away. The kids just toss them in the corner of their room instead of putting the clothes into the closet. Then when it comes time to clean the room, the clean clothes get thrown in the laundry hamper! Much easier than putting them away! Of course they make sure to toss in a few stinky socks or a damp towel on top. Boy, I hate that!

Phew! Now that I got all that off my chest I feel a little better.

Go ahead and click on comments and tell me what YOUR BIGGEST PET PEEVE is!

15 comments:

  1. I liked the rich woman/bad teeth one, very true! lol

    Most of the time, we get dressed from the dryer; the clothes don't even make it to the rooms!

    Sent you an email last week, please reply. Could you please relay the same message to Alea, haven't heard back from her. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I really don’t understand why they need to spread water all over the floor!
    One thing that really drives me crazy is an opened tap. Doesn’t matter if I’m at home, coffee shop, friends house. Seeing the water going away useless drive me really crazy. It’s impossible to me to keep my mouth shut!

    ReplyDelete
  3. water on the bathroom floor...cannot handle that...

    ReplyDelete
  4. Ah, the joys of being married to an Arab eh? The cultural differences can be hard to get over. Luckily my wife's father was a military man and a lot of the "normal issues" like time and cleanliness are not an issue.

    I think many of these issues are universal, from Libya to Saudia, seems they are exactly the same.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I guess maybe the water on the floor thing might confuse Westerners. It isn't always from the tap, Muslims use water when they use the toilet. Most of them are not lucky enough to have a bidet, so they use little buckets or cups to clean themselves. Often the water ends up everywhere. Lucky for us we have bidets!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Being late!. I hate that ,I always ask the person who I made appointment with . if he come on time or he will be late , ofcourse always late , you know if someone here in lIbya says that he will come or will do that thing in 5 Minute be sure he will do after half hour. I love Libya !
    another thing when you driving your car they always cross the speed limite like they are playing with NFS. also with out safety belt , Crazy driving.
    "Je l'aiment ."
    Fatima Omar , my advice pay your bill regular before 3 mounth you won't hear it again only if you dial wrong number , it's more better than Libyana Voice message . " Sorry Company "

    ReplyDelete
  7. Re. no. 2 do you mean (a)when people leave their bathroom splashed with dirty water, or do you mean (b)after washing the bathroom and kitchen Libyan style i.e tasyig ? if it's (a) I agree, if it's (b) I will disagree as usually it is very clean but not perfectly dry and this can be dried with a floor mop. Still you should not be confronted with a dirty bathroom if you are visiting people , unless it is at a wedding or some event and the guests dirty the thing and the hostess cannot clean immediately after each person ;)

    lol @ the trees on the sidewalk and Fatma Omar.

    Re.no. 6 bugs in fruits such as dates is absolutely normal Khadija I have seen in the best supermarkets in the West and in the most expensive of hotels . There is no way of knowing if a date contains a bug unless you open it..short of an x-ray ;) and even that won't show .

    My pet peeve , I don't think I have any yet :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Highlander - about the water - A - you have no idea if the water is clean water that has dripped from the tap or where it's coming from.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Ahlan.
    With regards to water being splashed, it’s a common occurrence in the UK (many UK homes have very small toilets in comparison with the U.S., many parts of Europe and the Muslim world).
    Muslims make abutilon ‘Wudu’ for prayers, this if not having a specific area like a lowered stool and a designated area for Wudu (abultion) tends to lead to water being splashed from the tap in the wash basin to the floor as one has to rub their feet thrice with water. The foot being not dry tends to lead to water being splashed onto the floor. Abu Sinans issue of washing during using the Himaam; Muslims use water when they use the toilet. Most of them are not lucky enough to have a bidet, so they use little buckets or cups to clean themselves. Often the water ends up on the surface. This common in many UK homes, as the toilets are built with no bidet, a great shame to be honest. I don’t think it’s within the British culture to have bidets. In Europe especially Spain and Italy they have them but in the UK unfortunately they don't.
    I would say water is an important part of the Muslims life, abultion; cleaning and purifying ones self after using the toilet is key. This is not a common practice for non-Muslims in the UK as I see many who do not even wash their hands after using the toilet. I have also heard many do not even use water to clean after using the toilet and only tissue paper, which I find disgusting.
    But I see what you mean KhadijaTeri, one needs to be more careful in not allowing the water to be splashed everywhere.

    Masallama.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Hum , my pet peeves are numeruse but here are a couple ....I hate it when I hear Libyans sit around and talk about how "poor" they are while they drink exspensive imported arabic coffee, eat baclava made from pistascio's w/honey that they have been served by the "house boy" from Africa that they pay a few dinars a month .The women are usally dressed to kill and how they hold up their arms or hands is a wonder since they are loaded down with gold enough to open a gold shop !When they are asked about this , they say they have to dress like this "gheedam-le-ness" or in other words , in front of the People , so there will not be gossipe that they are poor !
    I hate it when you are told all the time how smart their kids are, how perfect they are, they never get into trouble and they look you straight in the eye while saying such outragiousness .You of course know that this is all lies and their kids are just like everyone elses kids!It really makes me see red when they start to compare your kids to one another with in hear of the childern too !
    One more pet peeve and I will stop .I abdhore the women who go around talking about their husbands, "THE DOCTOR" as if he was a saint ! I think that is my biggest pet peeve of all !Just because he managed to get through all those years of school, which ,ok is an acomplicment in it's self I grant you , it certainly isn't the end all to end all. It's like they assume sainthood along with thier husbands and want you to kiss their feet too ! Ok , thats definitly it ... for now !

    ReplyDelete
  11. My #1 pet peeve="Kalam Fadi". I will never geet used to that.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Totally agree with the water on the floor. Especially after I found out what exactly is done in the bathroom by so many saudi women and I found out what is IN the water on the floor. UGGGH

    I have so many pet peeves especially after moving here. But can someone explain: Its cold people bundle up.. put on coats.. some even wrap their heads with scarves then wear a pair of sandels??? What in the world is that??

    ReplyDelete
  13. I agree with the laundry one - it happens ALL THE TIME - now, I make everyone over 10 do their own damn laundry!

    My biggest pet peeve is finding dirty dishes all over the house, especially with bits of food or drink left in them! Disgusting...

    ReplyDelete
  14. Khadija you made a mstake by say Libyan tend to splash water all over .the right way of saying it is Libya Women ..you are absolutly right i have no idea why they do that for ..i had this issue with my X wife we had endless fights regarding this issue .now i am happily Divorced i dont suffer this problem any more hehe.I guess Libyam Woman in Genaral are very Simple and weather they are educated or not.Simplicities is commomen factor among them all its like a desease runs in thier blood due to many reason one is thier mothers........ hehe.

    ReplyDelete
  15. FATIMA OMAR IS MY AUNTY:D loool she reli kool ..... alot of ppl seem to do dat doe. but ey it aint her fault its her job .

    ReplyDelete

Guidelines for submitting comments

You can rant, you can rave, you can question. I ask only that you are thoughtful about what you write.

Comments are reviewed by me before publication. I don’t edit comments, but I do reserve the right to delete comments that violate my guidelines.

These are the kinds of comments that I think are not appropriate for publication:

- Defamatory or libelous remarks
- Abusive, harassing, or threatening language
- Obscene, vulgar, or profane language
- Racially, ethnically or religiously offensive words
- Illegal or encourages criminal acts
- Known to be inaccurate or contains a false attribution
- Infringes copyrights, trademarks, publicity or any other rights of others
- Impersonates anyone (actual or fictitious)
- Off-topic or spam
- Solicits funds, goods or services, or advertises



Please submit comments in English.


Thank you

My Link List