Tag Archives: douche

What Annoys Jeff This Week?

Posted on by

So it’s Thursday and by now you’re surely wondering what annoys Jeff this week. From a host of things, here are the three that made the final cut this time around:

1. Religious zealots. Every religion since the dawn of time has been based on what it’s followers (or creators) considered some kind of “revealed truth” about the universe and our place in it… and mostly, the central tenant of most major religions is the same: Try not to be a doucebag. The problem arises when people make an addendum to this basic philosophy and you end up with something more like: Don’t be a douchebag, unless the person you’re acting like a douchebag towards doesn’t subscribe to every particular detail of your system of beliefs. I’m not known as the most laid back guy in the world, but at the end of the day, if you’re nice to me, I’ll be nice to you. Jesus, Vishnu, Buddha, and Mohammed all seem to agree on that point. So yeah, don’t be a douchebag zealot, regardless of who hears your prayers.

2. First world problems. I don’t need a new iPhone. I definitely don’t need a $600 new iPhone. I’m not even particularly impressed with the incremental design improvements the leaks have shown this time around. And yet somehow despite those three pieces of evidence to the contrary, I really, really want to order the new iPhone when it’s launched next week. Not even my best mental gymnastics can manage to transform this from a “want” into a “need.” And lord knows I’ve tried. That a slightly lengthened form factor, a marginally larger screen, and a couple of as yet unknown new bells and whistles can cause me this much gnashing of teeth is an impressive tribute to the power of marketing… and a slightly disturbing testament to my priorities.

3. It’s not the end of the world. I’m constantly amazed at people’s misguided assessment of their importance in the grand scheme of things. Nothing makes me want to bang my head against the keyboard more than people who spend all day lost in a haze of everything they do being an emergency. Things worked just fine before we showed up and unless you’re actually the next Einstein of your field, they’re keep going along in more or less the same direction long after we’re all singing with the choir invisible. The sooner you come to grips with that fact, the less bothersome these nominal “emergencies” become.

Life skills…

Posted on by

Almost every time I leave the safe confines of the house I’m left to wonder how the human species has managed to spread across the planet and survive in every climate from the burning sands of the Sahara to the Antarctic deep freeze. Clearly not everyone is as dumb as a bag of turds, so maybe it’s just the ones I keep running into who have no appreciable life skills.

Not everyone needs to be an atomic scientist or spend their days writing the great American novel, but I don’t think it’s too much to ask for people to be able to navigate your standard big box store parking lot. I mean with the lines and the arrows and the signs and the hundreds of cars already sitting there showing you more or less what to do, you wouldn’t think it’s that hard to take a quick look around and figure out what the hell you’re doing. But then there’s the reality of small children dashing between cars, slack jawed yokels wandering the lot having forgotten where they parked 20 minutes ago, random carts rolling across the lot looking for a target, and the inevitable douchenozzle who can’t be bother to look in either direction before backing out into the traffic lane.

As far as I can tell, the only thing these people are good at is breeding more people who will grow up to be just like them. That’s unfortunate, because I’m pretty sure that’s just another sign that civilization is doomed.