Do I care? No I don't. I am not even aware of which way round it is, or which way round I put it. So long as I HAVE toilet roll, I am happy. If anyone got uptight about this, I'd shrug it off. On a range of things I don't care about, with zero being not at all, this is in the minuses.
But that's not true for everyone, oh no. I have seen an elderly married couple have a shouting match over it, that almost came to blows, and ended up with them not speaking for hours. The resentment went on long after, possibly permanently for all I know. I've heard of many families where this really is A Big Issue.
So we could ask why, but first let's look at a dead horse I've been flogging for years, with which you will be very familiar.
The question is not why this one drives me crazy, but why this does and the other doesn't. Why are our peeves selective?
It's a valid question. Even people who appear to nitpick everything, actually have plenty they simply don't care about. While the most laid back, lazy, or apathetic person can be irritated by something.
Well, what do you think? How do we (probably subconsciously) select our peeves?
That's funny! I notice both of those situations, but neither really bugs me. My man does the toilet roll 'under' and I do it 'over'. When I'm in the room and I notice it, I just change the roll direction without saying anything. Not worth fussing over. The wrongly placed apostrophe is something I generally ignore (unless they are telling me that I am uninformed about something (usually politics) and then I just laugh at them for demonstrating their ignorance for everyone to see.
ReplyDeleteThe things that really bother me are things taught to me as important. The reason the toilet paper was supposed to go over the roll was that was the way the pretty flowers were printed. Toilet paper no longer has pretty flowers so it doesn't matter at all now.
ReplyDeleteThat makes sense. If there's a design it makes a difference.
DeleteI think that wantonbanter has a point here, as this was pretty much what I was thinking. I can't actually think of anything that I find peeving in this way. Yes, incorrect spelling, punctuation and grammar grate on me, but I can understand that the writer isn't well educated or just doesn't care as much as I do and shrug it off. The loo roll thing, I do the same in that I simply change it to "my way" (over) which I find delivers the paper in a more easy to handle way. It definitely doesn't peeve me though. I also think that being disabled has meant that my reactions to things have changed, in that anything that might have peeved me, nowadays, it is unlikely that I will be able to just get up and change it to "my" way, so perhaps I have become even more accepting than I was to begin with!
ReplyDeletePeeves in general bother me because whatever the "thing" may be, it boils down either to "someone" not paying attention, or doing something "just because it needs to be done." Period.
ReplyDeleteWe may think it is a matter of preference or choice which way the roll goes. I can understand the pattern part, but it has been my experience that the roll flows better over than under. Functionally, it shouldn't matter, but it does to me. It won't ruin my day, but if I can find a way to change the roll around, I usually do (unless it's locked or something).
The other...the apostrophe plural...does speak more as evidence of one's attention to detail AND their education level, sorry. There are basic rules to effective communication and posters with apostrophe plurals and misspellings are just incorrect. If that is the fault of the writer or the proofreader, I don't know, but that's another thing I'd love to fix if I could--but it isn't always up to me. I'll go so far as to point it out whenever possible, though. THAT, I feel, is my job in life (or so it seems)--to bug other people in a positive way. ;) ~ Blessings!
If it's somebody's FB status, I can shrug it off. But a PRINTED SIGN?????? Ye Gods. These are supposed to be professionals! An extraneous apostrophe on a printed sign is no different to a chef adding fish to a cake! Really!
DeleteFancy hotels and resorts all put the toilet paper roll "over".. in our home, I put it over when I change it, hubby puts it under when he changes it.. there is no argument or fuss.. we are both just happy that someone changed it.. now if only I could get the kids to change the roll in their bathroom..*sigh*
ReplyDeleteAs for the apostrophe, well... bad grammar is.. well... BAD!!! This is the sort of thing we were taught in grade 3 yet it seems to have been lost. Oh I could go on a rant about this sort of thing, but I won't. I will let Melanie do it. :)
OK, so we share the same priorities there, but why? With some people it would be the other way around - they'd not notice the apostrophe (or not care), but would break a sweat over the toilet roll! Why?
DeleteBecause there is no "right" way to do TP, but there are rules to grammar, rules we had to learn and memorize.. rules that define what a word means. If one can't do that, then either one is lazy or uneducated.. I will forgive the uneducated.. though they could learn if they wanted to. So...so... Oh I don't know... it's definitely a pet peeve.
DeleteWell.....the first is entirely inconsequential. The second is not. Sloppy grammar leads to sloppy language and on to sloppy thinking. We have too much of that and we all bear the consequences.
ReplyDeleteThanks! That's what I was fumbling for I think! YES! Sloppy communication leads to sloppy thinking! It's all about caring, I think.
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