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I see a LOT of people do this, and it's completely baffling to me.

Whenever they stop, they put their car in reverse.  I see this happen at stop signs, red lights, gas pumps, and even parking lots.  I've seen people start their car, set the parking brake, and put it in reverse while they load groceries in the trunk!

The only thing I can figure is that they think it's bad to let the car idle in drive. (???)  Even if that's the case, why don't they just put it in neutral?  Why reverse?

What examples can you all think of?

I've always found it a little baffling when people get on an elevator and push a button that has already been pushed by someone else.

...or while they're waiting for an elevator, they tap the "up" or "down" button repeatedly. As if that's going to make it come any faster.

Old people in the middle of the road who believe that putting their hand up means that you cannot or will not hit them.  I have seen this over and over, and as recently as last week.

Example #1:  Driving down a road at approximately 25 mph.  An old man walks across the road in front of me (the crosswalk is a short ways away). He holds his hand up in the air, palm out toward me as I slam on the brakes.

Example #2:  Driving down a main entry lane of a parking lot at about 15 mph.  Old man moves out from between cars, apparently just spotting his vehicle on the opposite row.  He steps out in front of me, realizes that he has done so, then raises his hand up just as example #1 above.  I hit the brakes.

Example #3:  This was just last week.  I am driving down a long hill near Havre De Grace, MD at about 35-40 mph  As I come over a small rise in the road, I see an old man walking uphill in the middle of my lane.  He could be on the grass, but he is in the middle of the road.  He is holding his right hand up in the air, palm outboard toward me.

People who seem to have no idea how a  4-way stop works. They come to a complete stop then simply drive on through,even if other cars are coming. I've seen so many near accidents and several pretty bad ones because of this. :lookingup:

Or they sit there and wave other people through who don't have the right of way, and generally cause more confusion and delay for everyone than if they'd just gone ahead. Want to be courteous? Then learn the rules and follow them consistently.

The common folk dealing with atms.

With two lanes going each way, with a turn lane, the people who stop in their lane (when there's no other reason to stop) and then wave on the person in the turn lane -- creating a pileup behind themselves so that the person who wants to turn can't see the flow of traffic (in the next lane, going probably 30-40 MPH) that will annihilate them if they attempt to do said proferred turn.

It's supposed to be courtesy?  The courtesy of proferred annihilation?  :)

Oh,yes....I've seen that too much as well. :wink:

     Magical thinking of all sorts.An old example: tv viewers who, even when it's plain that the problem is at the station / network end, will continue to fiddle with the antenna, knobs, (or, insist that YOU do it) as if their sheer desire to "see their show" will somehow make it work.

     Aren't we supposed to outgrow this?

People who hit  malfunctioning machines hoping that somehow physical violence will make them function better.

* People who click their mouse about a dozen times in rapid succession when their computer freezes.

* People who hold up a check-out line at a store while they dig around in their pockets or purses to find exact change.

* People who hold up a check-out line at a store while they select individual scratch tickets: "Give me a $1 "Lucky Winners" ticket, a $2 "Big Bucks" ticket, a $5 "Set for Life" ticket, a $1 "Golden Fortune" ticket, a $1 "Mystery Cash" ticket . . . AHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

* People who put on the turn signal in their car after they have started turning.

* People who have a favorite word and consistently use it incorrectly.  Years ago, I worked with a guy who could barely finish a sentence without saying the word "irregardless," when, of course, he should have said, "regardless."

Oh, I hate that one. The tickets all offer the same random chance of winning. Just grab anything. I'm standing there waiting to pay for a coffee while somebody is carefully picking tickets, then scratching them, then trading in the ones that won free tickets, then scratching the free tickets. And the cashier can't break away for two seconds to take my buck-fifty. Really, I'd like it if there was one kind of generic scratch ticket, with one box indicating prize or no prize. Quit pretending people are doing it for the fun of the stupid game. Then the rest of us might be able to pay for our actual shopping and get out faster.

Whenever I take the bus downtown in summer, there is always some person who closes the window(s), even though its like 100 F outside and twice inside the bus.

It's even more baffling that they push them with their fingers.  I'm no germophobe and I don't have OCD, but I have to say that elevator buttons are the most filthy germ-ridden things ever.  Think of all the people who picked their noses, or a scab, or had their finger in their ass and then pressed that same elevator button.
I use my knuckle to press them and even then, I wash my hands after.

My mom is one of those people that pushes the "up" or "down" button until the elevator comes and always tells people to stop gawking and explains that it's in a queue and as long as she keeps pushing our "call" will stay on top.  She's not an elevator technician so this, I believe, is all in her head.  However, we just got an e-mail from Building Services at work today that our elevator "down" call buttons are malfunctioning and until they are fixed we should push the button continuously or hold it down until the elevator arrives.  My mom is thrilled about this.

One of my favorite baffling behaviors is when people take their grocery carts beyond the barrier line of the parking lot and then curse and kick the cart because it just stopped working, and then try other carts repeatedly and finally decide to drag the "broken" cart to the car.  This is especially funny when the person is right next to the notice sign that the cart wheel will lock beyond yellow line.

They usually look real p**sy about it too, like they're deigning to let you move while you're trying to follow the rules.  Sometimes I think I'm the only person in my town who paid attention to the 4-way part of the driver's license exam.  (and for pete's sake I took that test 16 years ago, it's not that hard to remember.)

When I was working as a cashier this would happen constantly: people would come up to the register on their phones, then hold up their hand at me (usually before I would even try to say anything) because their phone call is obviously more important than the checkout line.  Congratulations!  You're an a-hole both to the cashier and the people waiting in line behind you!

I have never seen this.  That would very dangerous.  What if the person had a momentary lapse of mental power and hit the gas?  I think that it would make more sense to put the car in Park rather than reverse.  But that is just my opinion.

Later,

John

Both are very weird.   :question:

Not sure if this could be counted as a behavior.  That thing that baffles me is when people drive a big vehicle and then try to park this vehicle in spot that God himself could not put the vehicle in.  So then the result is the rear or front of the vehicle is sticking out in the line of traffic or the person has the care too close to the lines (marking out the parking spot) and is very crooked in the space.  This is then making it hard for the other drivers to get in or out.

Must be a fear of Parking??  "Park-a-Phobia"

Later,

John

Good grief! I put up with this all the time! Yes,I'm a cashier and when they leave I feel like imitating Eeyore and mumbling,"Thanks for noticing me".

Also,folks that will drive up to the store after we're closed....they see most of the lights are off and they may even noticed the "closed" sign. But they still yank on the door anyway...arrgh! :hatred:

One of my favorites, as it is telling about basic human psychology, is when someone walks into an inanimate object and then gets angry at the object.  Animism is the default human religion it seems.

This is probably something next to nobody has to deal with, but I sign a lot of people up for library cards. It always confuses me when people who live in apartments will give their full street address and then not provide their apartment number. How do you expect mail to get to you? I'd say a full 80% of people do not provide their apartment number without further prompting.

Then there are the people who just have no idea of the address where they live. How do you walk around without even knowing where you live?

And then, there's this nutcase South African who shudders at the thought of ever changing his undies......  :buggedout: :wink:

People driving in traffic who JUST HAVE TO GET IN FRONT OF YOU.  Or, people who are driving in traffic and JUST HAVE TO MAKE A RIGHT TURN FROM THE FAR LEFT LANE.  Or people who DON'T YIELD WHEN MERGING IN TRAFFIC.  I see these everyday.  The message is: f**k you.  In fact, I've had the finger offered even when I did not slam on my brakes and lean on the horn! 

I hate it when there is a lane closure and traffic has to merge. Nearly everybody sees the signs and manages to get over, but there's always one jackass who just has to get farther ahead, and he stays in his lane, passing everyone else until there's no opening for him to merge into. So the idiot ends up driving to the very end of the lane, and sits there with nowhere to go.

But that's not the baffling behaviour that I really hate. What annoys me even more is that somebody always lets him in. This a***ole has effectively thumbed his nose at everybody he's just passed, then just as he's faced with the natural consequence of his actions, some idiot gives him a pass. Great, instead of learning a lesson, he gets rewarded.

When somebody drives past a whole line of traffic and wants to merge in front of you, he's saying he's better than you and everybody behind you. If you let him in, you're telling him he's right.

Ah, you commute!  Been there, done that.   :bluesad:  It's not that things are greater, by far.  But, I'm fortunate to no longer have to drive 80 miles one way just to get to work...  :lookingup:  I live in NJ and remember how crazy commuting got, but, I'd likely be the a***ole who'd let King a***ole in!!!   :bluesad:   
But... when more often I'd see that some other a***ole let 'im in, I'd curse the a***ole !!!    ... :bouncegiggle:

This happens to me quite frequently.  I often tow trailers of various sorts and sizes.  There is something about vehicle "size" that seems to make people REALLY want to get in front of you...my wife says she thinks it is because they cannot see around the larger vehicle.

There have been cases where I was going the flow of traffic, no slower than the traffic in front of me and following a safe distance (which is longer than "normal" when towing)...I mean a REAL safe distance not that "I can't see your headlights because you are following so close" following distance, and some yahoo behind me will fight traffic to pass, only to find that there is nowhere to pull in unless I, the one towing the extra several thousand pounds, slam on the brakes to give him space.

If people only stopped to think for 5 measly seconds before acting on the highways, the roads would be 10000% safer overnight.

Corollary: The folks that dog it in traffic to be the first one at the red light.  I am totally baffled why so many people are in such a rush to have to stop and wait.

When I see the light ahead of me is red, I start slowing down; very often, I don't even have to stop.  Believe it or not, this can save a BUNCH of gasoline, but that's a separate point.  In this case, I pretty much almost always get in front of them again  (they have to accelerate from a dead stop, I'm already going 20-30 mph), then they speed past only to repeat the entire process.

Hurry up and wait, maneuvering a 4000 lb projectile and with no regard for the well being or lives of those around you....what a way to live is that?

Here's one I haven't seen for a while, but only because I haven't been in the situation. I'm sure it still goes on.

There were quite a few years, mostly when I was in my 20s, when several Saturday nights every summer were spent at a stag and doe. Don't know how widespread the term is, but for those who might not know it, a stag and doe is a fundraising dance for an engaged couple. Lots of booze, food, a DJ and draws. The draws used to get kind of baffling.

Somebody would always come around to the table selling tickets. Usually, there was a price for one ticket and a reduced price for more. The most popular deal was a strip of tickets as long as your arm. This was so popular, virtually no one was buying just one ticket, and it became customary to just sell tickets by the arm's length.

Why bother? If everybody buys a strip of tickets, the odds are the same as if everybody bought just one. Unless your arm is exceptionally long, there's no advantage. I'd point that out to people, and the response varied quite a bit. Some understood right away, but there would always be somebody who would argue.

"Of course I have a better chance. I've got an arm's length of tickets. I have that many chances to win"

"But so does everybody else. Everyone might as well have bought one ticket, and they'd have had the same chance of winning."

"No, then they'd only have one chance. I've got all these."

Seriously, how hard is it to understand that one shot in 500 is the same as ten in 5,000?

This reminded me of one of my major pet peeves in parking....parking your vehicle longways so you take up two or three  spaces. Out near the back of a Wal Mart parkinglot I can sort of see this but it's usually in a smaller one where there's only a few spaces. Grrrrr!

As a person on foot or bicycle (well, no bicycle now after my latest one wrecked twice and sensing worse than a bloody leg if it happened a 3rd time, I left by the Dumpster), I've come to hate most people in cars. Here are a few reasons:

1. I'm going downhill and am nearing a cross street (driveway, etc.) and while I have the right of way, I've seen people almost roll their vehicle to cut in front of me.

2. Going uphill (wheezing along every inch) I've seen the exact same maniacs from example 1 turn in front of me, but take their time and almost come to a complete stop while turning in front of me until I am forced to stop and put my foot down. THEN they take off like a scalded ape.

3. I'll see a vehicle coming up a side street I am nearing. Not wanting to be a hood ornament, I stop and put my feet down to show I'm not moving. The idiot will pull up past the STOP sign, glance over and see me and then back up and motion me across. Most of the time, I'm nowhere close to the corner, so their attempt at being courteous is pointless.

4. Why I don't take anyone up on the offer to cross in front of them stems from an idiot on a cell phone who waved me across one day. As I started to go, they rolled forward, so I stopped again. They waved me on again, only to start rolling when I did. I got off the bike and let it fall on its side on the sidewalk and just stared at the driver, who, after another bout of yammering on their cell phone, tried to motion me across again, saw what I had done and started shouting obscenities at me as they drove off.

We won't discuss drivers in parking lots. 99.98% of them just need to be shot.

One that is both baffling and annoying is when a driver who seems at least vaguely aware that you have the right of way proceeds anyway. I see this both as a driver and as a pedestrian, often at four-way stops, in parking lots or even at crosswalks. They don't just go barreling through, of course. They kind of crawl ahead slowly, not stopping but not exactly going either. You can't go ahead, because they aren't stopping. If you do start to move, they might slow down their crawl, but they still don't stop moving, so you hit your brakes again. I don't think it's deliberate intimidation, although it can seem like it at times. More that they just can't sit still and wait their turn, or maybe they have no clue who has the right of way and they're trying to tentatively stop and go at the same time while they watch what you do. In any case, you reach a point where they've encroached so much they are practically in your way and you have no choice but to yield.

And then these idiots will wave a "thank you" as they step on the gas, as if you kindly let them go first.

What the hell? The only reason I didn't go ahead was that they wouldn't freaking stop.

On another forum people frequently start threads saying "What do you guys think of Vendor X? I just spent $100 dollars at their site, are they any good?" This happens at least 2 or 3 times a week.

Cabbies almost running down pedestrians. Oh wait, that's too common. :hatred: