Friday Five--Pet Peeves

Reverendmother of the RevGalBlogPals is suggesting this meme for Friday: Pet Peeves!

Without further ado, here are mine:
1. Grammatical pet peeve: What I call "piling on;" the use of more adjectives than is really needed, in order to create effect or pad the word count.

2. Household pet peeve: Not putting kitchen utensils away after use (such as scissors, bottle openers and cork screws); this is especially outrageous when the item is left on the counter right next to the drawer/knife block/shelf where it belongs.

3. Arts & Entertainment pet peeve (movie theaters, restaurants, concerts): Restaurant snobbery. I hate it when waiters have a condescending attitude, acting as if I'm a country rube in town for the day who doesn't know a salad fork from a tuning fork. If I want an explanation of what creme fraiche is, I'll ask--don't automatically start telling me (but in this case, I already know--which makes it worse). Also, give me food when I order it--I really hate ordering, say, a chop with vegetables, only to find that "vegetables" means three steamed string beans and two slices of cold zucchini. I really do love eating out, trying different kinds of food, and knowing the various restaurants in the city. But this snobbery has got to go!

4. Liturgical pet peeve: The insistence on formal precision--the liturgy can become a prison instead of a liberating experience. In the early days of my internship, I neglected to replace the paten on top of the chalice after Communion, and was scolded by a deacon after the service. When I mentioned it to a friend (a long-time active member and lay theologian) he responded, "Was she afraid Jesus would get out?" I do like things to be orderly--but not rigid!

5. Wild card--pet peeve that doesn't fit any of the above categories: Parents who scream at their children in public. It seems that most of the children thus yelled at are too small to understand anyway--what's the point in telling a toddler to stop crying because he can't have something? Or worse, threatening to "really give them something to cry about"? Or dragging them by the arm (I really hate that). And screaming at an older child only embarrasses them and makes them resentful. I've been there; the best thing a parent can do is maintain his or her cool.

Bonus: Because all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God: What do YOU do that others might consider a pet peeve? I leave books everywhere. I'm usually reading about ten books at once, so I leave them places I'm likely to be able to fit in a few pages here and there--by my chair in the living room, on my nightstand, on the bench outside the bathroom. But they pile up, and make clutter. DP does not understand. She's one of those organized people who only reads one book at a time, until she finishes it, and then begins the next one on her shelf. I don't get it.