I hate those plastic grocery bags with a passion verging on the apoplectic. They have no rigor. Put one filled with various items in the car seat and make a quick stop; the bag collapses and everything is on the floor. Then I get very pissed and cuss a blue streak and my blood pressure goes up. So they're a health hazard. They're also an environmental hazard, so light that they blow anywhere in the wind, and unsightly. If there's anything of weight in them the "handles" cut into your hand. They've been sold to us as a convenience. Convenient for whom? This is one I can do without.

Remember the brown paper bags that had some substance to them? They could hold at least 4 times the amount of the plastic bags, and having some rigidity, protect your products. In my childhood, grocery boys filled them to the brim and they knew how to pack them efficiently, even carried them to your car. That's long gone. Today, no grocery loader knows how to pack a bag. Usually, they just throw two or three items into the plastic bag, double bag if they're heavy, and grab another bag. Very wasteful. Now I've got bigger plastic bags of plastic bags to take to recycling. Try folding one of them or wadding it up. It slowly unfolds like some amoebic cancerous growth. The brown bag folded flat so nicely, already creased in the right places. Although they tell us that these plastic bags are biodegradable, I suspect that the brown bag is just as assimilable to nature and far less polluting.

Another peeve: rudeness

1. Not too many decades ago people in the aisles of grocery stores obeyed an unwritten rule to keep their carts to the right and to pull over to the side if they needed to stop, just as if they were driving. Now, there's no concern for others and the situation is chaotic. You should wonder why the stores don't encourage courteous behavior. It would make shopping so much more pleasant and efficient.

2. I'm standing in line at the grocery checkout waiting for the current customer to be cleared. The cashier tells the customer the price, only then does she search her bag for cash or her checkbook and a pen. Why was she not prepared? She should have had the check already filled out, waiting to write in the amount. How much of other customers time has she wasted? I said she because I observe this behavior mostly in women and it's very prevalent in the South among older women. Why is this?

3. I'm stopped at a red light. Another driver is waiting to make a left turn from the cross street and inches out into the intersection. My light turns green only a few seconds after the cross street light has turned red. Never minding the warning of the caution light, the other driver runs the red light just to save a few seconds. These behaviors are rude, inconsiderate, irresponsible and possibly dangerous, but unfortunately all too common. There should be a special place in Hell for these violators.

Did you know that there exists a movement to make Bridge an Olympic sport and that over 20 countries already recognize Bridge as such a sport? Bridge???!!! A card game?! Now, I've lost any smidgen of residual respect for the Olympics. But, as usual, I've got a better idea. I have an idea for a sport that's sure to draw crowds with highest interest. May I modestly suggest Sport Fucking? Think of the endurance trials! There could be a fucking marathon - how long can one athlete perform, how many people can one fuck in a period of time? Both gay and straight sex should be included to be fair. The possibilities are almost endless. I might watch.

I hate Daylight Savings Time. Because I'm not a morning person it takes me a month to adjust to getting up an hour earlier. DST was instituted to provide more time for outdoor activities and sports after working hours. Sure, it does that, but it screws up coordinating the day with the rest of the world and causes confusion in the universal time standards. Some areas of the country have opted out of the observance of DST, causing further confusion. Then why shouldn't businesses and government agencies just decide to open and close an hour earlier during the spring and summer months? Surely, this wouldn't be any more of a problem than changing the time standards twice a year and upsetting everyones lives.

Do you like to receive telephone solicitations? I don't. Most of them come at the most inconvenient times. Shouldn't there be a law against them unless you subscribe to them? Now, as the law stands, you must move heaven and earth to get off solicitation lists. It's called "opt out". Shouldn't it be opt in? This is another good example of business having power over your life. They pay lobbyists and contribute to political campaigns to have laws passed to their benefit. They don't care a whit for your privacy or your freedom, unless it's your freedom to buy from them. I think capital punishment would be about right.

There's a fundamental difference between receiving junk mail, even spam email, and phone solicitations. You can decide whether and when to read junk mail or to trash it without reading it - a minor annoyance. The phone is more personal and immediate. We're programmed to run to answer it. It's an interruption of life and an invasion of privacy to receive an unwanted call. Shouldn't anyone calling you have prior permission to interrupt your life? And if they don't, sue!

Spammers should be required to send email from a real address that can receive replies. This simple requirement would force responsibility on spammers and stop most of the foolish excesses. Shouldn't we have the right to reply to them with email bombs and crash their servers?

I'd like to live in a world without advertising; not that it should necessarily be illegal because that would be infringement of speech, but that it would be unthinkable or socially unacceptable, like airing dirty diapers. Advertising is mass manipulation that creates artificial or spurious wants in us to drive an economy. Much of it is outright lies or at least serious distortions of fact. Little of real needs is offered. There are plenty of ways for people to find out about the availability of products and services and rate their qualities; advertising has little to offer for the later, anyway; it's meant to mislead the potential buyer. But think of the money that could be saved if there were no advertising expenses to pass on to the consumer and how our lives might be calmer and far less distracted.

What's a penny worth to you? Do you need them? Aren't they just a nuisance? You can't buy anything with one anymore. There's hardly anything you can even buy with a nickel. There are almost no machines left that take pennies. Most pennies end up thrown in jars or dishes around the house, out of circulation. It's money wasted. The U.S. Mint will still tell you that it costs less than a penny to press a penny, but do they cost the economy more in other ways? Update: Because of the recent increase in price of copper and zinc, it now costs about 1-1/2 cents to press a penny. Isn't it time to tell your Congresspersons to eliminate the penny?

Scientists have recently determined that the color of the Universe is beige. Beige..... ugh! Such a milquetoast color. No wonder life is sometimes so boring. I want a different model - fire engine red, purple passion, deep, cool blue.

Why are most products priced at $--.95 or $--.99 instead of whole dollars or some other amount reflecting a real price? Do the sellers think we're stupid? We all round up to the nearest dollar. Some states sales tax went to the next penny at the next even dollar, so this pricing might save us a penny. Otherwise, it's ridiculous.

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