The crack of chewing gum always drove my mother crazy. Growing up, my siblings and I learned never to crack our gum with our mother in the same room. Whenever I involuntarily cracked my gum, her head would whip around and she would have this crazy look in her eyes. "Spit it out," she would demand and would even hold out her hand if there was nothing available to dispose of the gum. The cracking of gum never really bothered me, but this past Saturday I realized that I do have my own pet peeve and it drove me nearly insane. I have realized for years now that I have a gentleman for a husband. I was thankful for this quality in him never more so than on Saturday. We went to our son's last Soccer game together this past weekend. We sat next to Loudmouth Dad. Yelling his head off was bad enough, but then the man began to spit on the ground. I've seen men do this for years. Ever since I was a teenager and saw teenage boys do this, I was completely disgusted by it. My brothers also experimented with this "manly" pasttime when I was still living with them and I would snear at them and demand they stop that disgusting habit. Spitting is disgusting to me, but when it is accompanied by tobacco, I would have a queasy sensation in my stomach. That is probably one of the reasons why I will never be able to live in West Virginia. Visiting my parents there has been an education about the men of that particular state. Every single man has a round indentation in the back pocket of his pants indicating he has a can of tobacco waiting. You hear spitting men wherever you go- the grocery store, the movies, and don't get me started on the ball games. I have not been around men who spit very often, so it was quite a jolt to be sitting next to someone who did it every minute for an hour. Every time I heard him spitting on the ground, I wanted to wring my hands around his neck and squeeze. Not a very Christian-like attitude, I know, but I do believe it was extremely rude and ill-bred. So, I know that I will do exactly as my own mother did with my pet peeve. The first time I hear one or more of my sons spit upon the ground, my head will whip around and I will get this crazy look in my eyes. "Don't ever do that again in front of me, you hear?" I would say. So that's my pet peeve. What's yours?
They instructed me to make sure I have a full bladder on arriving for my ultrasound. Ha. I almost laughed in their faces. Pregnant me plus a full bladder equals a disaster. On my son's birthday back in March, I had to drive all the kids home afterward. I had drunk a lot of water and couldn't believe I had forgotten what happens to me when I drink too much water with no bathroom nearby when I'm pregnant. I counted the minutes till I got home all the while breaking the law and speeding trying to keep in mind not to drive too recklessly screaming at the poky people in front of me. It brought to mind the very first time I experienced a full bladder as a pregnant woman. It was my first baby and my husband was in the Air Force. So, when we had an ultrasound we went to the Academy in Colorado Springs. They told me to drink an astronomical amount of water before I came. I did so and then we started out for the half hour drive to the hospital. By the time we were on the
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My gum chewing pet peeve is still alive and well! Don't know why it annoys me so much, I just hate mouth noises, they are rude to those around you, I guess. However, I must correct you about my beautiful state of West Virginia. True, we do have the highest rate of tobacco use in the nation at 23.1% of the men of the state. BUT, that means that 76.90% of men do NOT use smokeless tobacco. So that means that not every man has a can in his back pocket. I agree with you though that it is a disgusting and deadly habit and am so glad that your father and brothers never took up the habit.