We all have them. Those things that really irritate us no matter who does them.
One of my biggest pet peeves is poor etiquette at concerts and plays. Seriously, I want to throw rocks at those in the audience. Sometimes I get so worked up about it that I can't even enjoy the production. I've tried to get over it, but I just can't seem to let it go.
But this post isn't about my pet peeves. Or your pet peeves. It's about the term and idea of pet peeves.
When I look it up in the online etymology dictionary it brings up the connection to peevish. Peevish is an adjective that describes a person showing irritation or annoyance. That certainly fits. That's definitely how I feel when my husband does any one of the hundreds of things he does that annoy me.
What about pet? Aren't pets those cute little things we bring into our lives that add joy and comfort? Things we choose?
Sometimes.
Sometimes they are those things that your child talked you into on a day when you just didn't have the fight left to deal with it. Or the thing you agreed to keep thinking it would keel over dead before long. Or that thing that was so cute when it was small and just makes a huge mess and takes a lot of work now that it's big.
One more thing to take care of. One more thing to clean up after. One more thing to worry about.
And I guess we do feed our pet peeves. We do care for them and carry them around with us, nurturing them as if they were a pet.
Just something to think about.
Now, I'm off to try to overcome some of my pet peeves. I'm starting to become the crazy cat lady with more pets than I can keep track of. No wonder my life stinks.