Pet Peevin’: Stuff that drives me nuts
I missed last week, and I’m sorry. I was sick Thursday and Friday, then the long weekend with the Auburn game (WAR EAGLE, 1-0, BABY!!) led me to being lazy and not posting anything. My bad. Can’t say it won’t happen again as I’m notoriously lazy, but que sera sera.
However, the article you see before you is what I was going to post last week, but I never finished it. It’s about a few things that I’ve been thinking about that drive me crazy or really irritate me….some “pet peeves”, if you will (and I know you will). Maybe you have the same ones, maybe not. I’m just saying these things drive me up the f’n wall, my friends. I’m pretty sure a few of them are ones that not many other people have, but I thought I’d share them anyway. If you do any of these, I’m sorry in advance…but I hate you. Enjoy!
People not returning their carts to the cart corral. OMG this absolutely drives me nuts. Supermarkets, Wal-Mart, Target, you name it, and people will leave their carts in the middle of a parking spot. I’ve actually returned 5 or 6 abandoned carts to the corral before even walking into the store. I’ve seen abandoned carts in parking spots that actually sit RIGHT NEXT to the cart corral. That’s just f’n lazy, people. God forbid you walk your cart 10-15 ft to the nearest cart corral. Yes, I have been in the situation where the nearest cart return is on another aisle (usually when you park close to the front of the store). In that case, I take the cart back to the store. It’s a cop-out to say they have people to put the carts away. Yeah, nevermind the fact that it makes the parking lot an obstacle course when you are trying to park with all of these abandoned shopping carts littering the landscape like dead bodies. RETURN YOUR CARTS PEOPLE!!!
Leaving your movie seat looking like a popcorn/soda bomb exploded. Goes along with the first one. It’s a cop-out to say they have people to clean it up. How hard is it to take the leftover bag and cup and drop it in the trashcan on the way out of the movie? I’m not saying you have to sweep up, but damn, people, throw away your trash.
I was in Taco Bell the other day (that itch you have to scratch every once in a while) and this lady came in carrying her 4 or 5 year old son by the waist. Not only was she carrying him by the waist, but the kid had no shirt or shoes on. I’m sitting there trying to eat my taco-y lunch and this kid starts running around half naked. I don’t know about you, but that completely spoils my appetite. WTF?! Lady, this ain’t your living room, dress your kids!!!
If you read this blog, you know I love sodas. Well, the next few have to do mainly with sodas.
Why when you go to restaurants can you only get Coke or Pepsi? When you order a beer, can you only get Budweiser? How about wine? Can you only buy Robert Mondavi’s labels? It’s absurd. I’m mainly a Pepsi drinker, so when I go to a restaurant and they only have Coke products, I’m screwed. The only Coke drink I like is Coke Zero, which is usually never available (another pet peeve). And the only diet drink they usually offer is Diet Coke, which I hate with a fiery passion. For me, it’s really hard to justify the 150 calories you’ll be drinking if you get regular non-diet sodas. Why must soda companies divide their markets like this? It’s so unbelievably frustrating. This also happens in fast food joints and movie theaters. It’s either Coke or Pepsi, but never both. WHY?!
The lack of diet soda options in soda machines and/or restaurants. I prefer mostly Diet Pepsi, Diet Mountain Dew or Diet Dr. Pepper. If I’m lucky, I can get one of these, rarely two, but NEVER all three. And if the place only sells Coke, my choice is Diet Coke and that’s it. I HATE DIET COKE. The soda machines here at work have Coke and Pepsi. My diet options? Diet Pepsi or Diet Coke. There are at least 20 soda options between the Coke and Pepsi machine and I have TWO diet options. WTF?! That’s right, I get no Diet Mountain Dew, Diet Dr Pepper, Sprite Zero or Coke Zero? If I want those, I’m SOL. Do people really drink that much full strength Pepsi and Coke products? Yikes. I go to Subway right by work for lunch. Subway is a fairly good, healthy place (in comparison to others) and they offer only Diet Coke as a diet soda option. Every once in a while, they stock Sprite Zero 20oz bottles in the cooler, but you pay extra for that. Hell, I would pay extra for a Coke Zero, but they don’t even stock THAT!! The fountain? Diet Coke only. That’s just sorry, and it drives me bananas.
Coke Zero. I really like Coke Zero. However, why doesn’t Coke offer it anywhere? Restaurants and movie theaters that carry Coke have yet to stock Coke Zero in the fountain (a few have, but not many) and most soda machines do not have it. Steph and I went to the movies Monday afternoon and saw an ad for Coke Zero before the movie. Intersting considering AMC does not serve Coke Zero. I personally think Diet Coke should be retired and fed to the dogs and Coke Zero should replace it……for good. But that’s just me. Coke, you have these great ads for Coke Zero, how about offering it up at more places than the local gas station?
Technorati Tags – Pepsi Coke Coca Cola soda pet peeves
Cavalcade of Awesome 
September 6, 2007 at 4:46 pm
TOTALLY AGREE WITH THE CARTS! Gotta disagree with Coke Zero vs. Diet Coke.
September 6, 2007 at 7:13 pm
I can’t stand diet drinks so I can’t empathize there but I do hate it when people let their children run like wild things through stores. I was in Walmart the other day and some kid started screaming like she was being killed because her mom wouldn’t let her have what she wanted. I never acted like that when I was a kid… no I take that back I did throw a tantrum in a store when I was 3 but you better believe I never did that again. Not only did I not get my toy I also got in BIG trouble!
September 12, 2007 at 5:04 pm
Bitch, bitch, bitch…. just kidding.
I have to agree with you. The soda machine at the hosp in Jax had Diet vanilla Coke Zero for about a month. They must have realize that we liked it, becasue it was yanked quickly. They did the same thing with Vault Zero.
Jen and I went to the movies the other day (Bourne=awesome) and the only uncaffeinated drink choice was Sprite. No diet sprite, not even the light lemonade. So, I had 46 oz of sugar and Limon ( think limon is akin to the radiation induced cannibals of “The Hills have eyes”). Add the constant camera shaking during the fights of the movie and my brain was pinging in my skull like a tweeker with ADHD after three bags of Skittles.
September 12, 2007 at 8:01 pm
Yes, Mike, Bourne Ultimatum may actually have been better than the first Bourne, and that’s saying something. Steph agrees, too.
Vault Zero is impossible to find outside a 12pack at the grocery. Sometimes it can be found in 20oz at the gas station, but that’s it. I like it, also, which I forgot to mention.
Coke Zero Vanilla is delightfully awesome. Have you tried Mountain Dew Game Fuel? My lord, prepare to be bouncing off the walls, my friend. It’s like mainlining cocaine mixed with heroin.
December 16, 2008 at 4:38 am
A Dane agreeing with the cart stuff, especially bad here in UK where I live now. They are all over the parking lot and then a wind blows up and bam, carts into cars all over the place and who pays? Your own insurance and NOT theirs! EYTS as they say over here!
April 17, 2010 at 3:56 pm
Hey. did a yahoo search and found this. thanks for the good info
May 3, 2010 at 12:09 am
Definitely agree on the half-naked kids and the shopping carts. On a really windy day, I once had a stray cart blown into the back of me in the parking lot. Hurt like hell.
On the soda front, maybe things have changed, or perhaps it’s just here, but Coke Zero is practically everywhere now, including McDonald’s… but at the expense of their orange drink. š¦
But usually, as I understand it, the full-calorie drinks just tend to be better sellers. Read a post on Consumerist talking about the drinks in schools, and some commenters who used such machines to make money noted the healthier fare was usually a poorer seller.
As for the “Coke or Pepsi” thing? Contracts, as I recall. If Coke or Pepsi are supplying you with the beverages for a fountain, they’re often supplying a lot more, and usually have a contract in place that you’ll only carry their brand.
May 3, 2010 at 8:59 am
Yeah, Coke Zero has finally started showing up in more places. Mostly movie theaters and fast food joints. However, most sit-down restaurants that serve Coke products still don’t have it.
I realize it’s all contracts and exclusivity, but that was my point. Why do sodas get to have exclusivity contracts with restaurants when alcohol doesn’t? There aren’t any restaurants that just serve Budweiser products, or Miller products. I should be able to order a Coke Zero or a Diet Pepsi based on my preference when I’m in a restaurant or bar. That’s not going to happen, I’m just sayin’. š
That’s for all of your awesome comments, man. I’ve been enjoying answering them.
May 3, 2010 at 12:00 pm
My guess? Coke or Pepsi probably have better negotiators, perhaps owing to the fact that they can reach a far, far, far wider demographic than beers can. Not only is there the age factor, there’s also the whole intoxication thing, meaning that while there are few situations in which you can’t have a Coke/Pepsi (maybe if it’s after midnight and you have a check-up in the morning), there are simply times when having a few beers may not be practical.
Heck, back in NC, you can’t even sell beer before noon or 1pm on a Sunday, I forget which.
In a way, I dare to say that beers are probably more niche than soda. It seems that while a lot of people see no discernible difference between Coke, Pepsi, RC, or that stuff with the silly name at the grocery store, they can be VERY particular about their beers, to the point where if it’s not their brand, they might just forgo the entire thing. As such, cohabitation in bars and the like is probably more key to them.
Another factor would probably be room; I don’t know much about beer, but as far as I know, I don’t think having a small assortment of one company’s beers takes up as much room as the usual run of soda.
Of course, that new Freestyle machine Coke made could potentially help. Less room, uses “cartridges” instead of those hefty boxes and such. If Pepsi can get in on that, who knows? Maybe there will be enough room for both someday (not holding my breath, though).
I totally agree that being able to pick your preference would be nice, though.
And my pleasure with the comments, thanks for giving me a great place to leave them. I’ve got to link back to you once I finish getting my site back up to speed (I’ve a couple of soda articles there myself, actually). Keep up the great work!
January 17, 2011 at 7:35 am
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May 30, 2014 at 9:44 pm
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