Most petty pet peeve contest!

[rbnyc]

I’ll start:

This has happened to me in 3 different upscale restaurants. I will ask server if there’s a pinot noir by glass. There is not, so the server suggests pinot grigio or chardonnay. It means, obviously, that the server, who works with wines in a restaurant where I’m probably about to drop $150.00, doesn’t know that pinot noir is a red wine.

Last night I went to a restaurant that had pinot noir on their wine list, so we ordered a bottle. The server came back and said they were out of stock and suggested pinot grigio or chardonnay. I bit my tongue and just picked a merlot from the list that turned out to be not so good. The meal was excellent, and besides the server’s lack of knowledge regarding their wine list, the service was great too. But if the server had known not only that pinot noir is a red wine, but also something about its character, he may have been able to suggest a good alternative. Instead we had a very good meal with a fairly crappy wine.

So anyway, my most petty pet peeve is when a server who works in a restaurant with a wine selection doesn't know that pinot noir is a red wine and suggest pinot grigio because they both start with the word pinot.

[Robb]

1. Aha! But....

Consider this, from a very recently-retired fine dining server.

It is equally likely that the dishes you might pair with the pinot noir would be more suited to one of those two whites, rather than a merlot or cab -- depending on the other reds on the wine list, in the same price range as the pinot noir you ordered, they may be too fierce for the food.

Or, the guy's a moron. :)

[rbnyc]

4. That's a better spin...

...but we hadn't yet ordered any food.

;-)

[gmoney]

2. Sounds like Pinot Envy

Sounds like BYOB time...

[hlthe2b]

3. Well, why not ask the server to send over the wine steward?

I rarely find waiters who know much about wine, but most better restaraunts have a steward. Alternately, why not educate the waiter?

[rbnyc]

5. I guess I assumed...

...that there was no wine steward when the server brought us the wine list.

Your second suggestion is good. I'm not a wine expert by a long shot. I do know all the wines I ever worked with as a bartender or server--but they are almost all California wines. (Also, I know a lot of Oregon wines because Oregon grows the best Pinot Noir grapes domestically, and I like Pinot Noir.) I'm pretty much lost with any other region. But I could say, "Well, Pinot Noir is a light, dry red that’s very smooth and I think it’s great with lamb. Do you have another red that’s like that?”

That would probaly work better than getting annoyed and flustered.

Thanks.

;-)

[Zomby Woof]

61. OOPS!

I replied before reading the thread!!! But I will not edit my post below! :D

[Skittles]

6. um................with all due respect.................

you sound like a republican

[MissMarple]

8. No......Californian, not Republican.

:D

And, and as for petty pet peeves I hate it when I say thank you and the reply is "No problem".

[rbnyc]

11. That's the spirit!

:hi:

[rbnyc]

9. OMG! Skittles made me cry!

Why? I just expect people to know their job. Also, I worked in the service industry for 10 years. From my experience, I think it's important to know about the wines you serve and have the ability to guide customers in making gratifying wine choices. When you go to the doctor you expect him or her to know the difference between a bacteria and a virus. When you go to a shoe store you expect them to know the difference between a platform and a stiletto.

Maybe that is a bit traditional, but I don’t think it’s Republican.

EDIT: typo

[rbnyc]

12. I guess also...

...$150.00 represents a large percentage of my work week. That's a ton of money for me. $20-$30 for a wine that detracted from the meal is a lot of money to me. I love the dining experience. It's a tradition that I do feel like I'm a part of. It does represent a certain loss. I can't afford to go out to eat very often. To have the restaurant under-prepared to present its own wine is like going to a play and having a whole character missing.

[Skittles]

19. oh, I didn't mean to upset you

I just........hate wine and have no idea what you are talking about. My pet peeve is much more basic - people who leave shopping carts in the middle of the parking lot because they are too damn lazy to walk their fat asses with the carts to their proper place.

[rbnyc]

22. Oh honey, I was playing.

I was playing around when I said you made me cry. You didn't upset me.

But I did want to try to explain more about my point of view because I wanted you to understand me.

It's okay. I know you weren't trying to be mean. But I also knew how I must have come off to you, and I wanted to say more about how I felt.

:hugs:

I'm sorry. I should have been more clear.

[Zomby Woof]

63. OH CRAP!

My post at the bottom now rips off both YOU and Rene!!!! Dammit!

[Dr Satan]

7. pretentious wine snobs

are my petty pet peeve.

[rbnyc]

10. Nice to meet you.

You know, I did say it was a petty pet peeve. I was trying to share my experience in a way that poked fun, because it's just wine.

If I were actually a wine snob, I would have known which other wine to pick from that list and wouldn't have needed the advice of the waiter.

Yes, it bothers me when a server suggests a white wine when I've asked for a red. I worked hard as a server and a bartender for 10 years, and a couple times I'd like to get back from people what I gave to people. Also, I expect people to know their jobs. I like having good food and good wine in the neighborhood, presented by people who know their shit and can share something new with me.

It bothered me enough that I was still thinking about it and decided to make fun of myself by turning it into a contest about who has the most petty thing that bothers them. I don't know why I thought that would be fun. I guess I'm just a complete fucking idiot.

Anyway, I should have known that I was inviting people to be mean to me. So, no foul, really.

[Bozola]

13. My favorite wine review....

http://www.tcsn.net/rags/bum/

-------------------------------------------------------

Cisco
18% alc. by vol.

Cisco is bottled by the nation's second largest wine company, Canandaigua Wine Co., in Canandaigua, NY and Naples, NY - the same company as Wild Irish Rose.

Known as "liquid crack," for its reputation for wreaking more mental havoc than the cheapest tequila. Something in this syrupy hooch seems to have a synapse-blasting effect not unlike low-grade cocaine. The label insists that the ingredients are merely "citrus wine & grape wine with artificial flavor & artificial color," but anyone who has tried it knows better. Tales of Cisco-induced semi-psychotic fits are common. Often, people on a Cisco binge end up curled into a fetal ball, shuddering and muttering paranoid rants. Nudity and violence may well be involved too. Everyone who drinks this feels great at first, and claims, "It's not bad at all, I like it." But, you really do not want to mess around with this one, because they all sing a different tune a few minutes later. And by tune, I mean the psychotic ramblings of a raging naked bum.

In 1991, Cisco's tendency to cause a temporary form of inebriated insanity led the Federal Trade Commission to require its bottlers to print a warning on the label (above right). The FTC also forced them to drop their marketing slogan, "Takes You by Surprise," even though it was entirely accurate. Since those days, Cisco is harder to find outside the slums, although the FTC's demonizing of the drink only bolstered its reputation for getting people trashed. Anyone who overlooks the warning and confuses this with a casual wine cooler is going to get more than they bargained for. Cisco will make a new man out of you. And he wants some too.

Our research shows that Cisco is actually the second best tasting of the five great bum wines, especially if you're having one of those hankerings for cheap Vodka, Jello and Robitussin. We must also note that Cisco is the best of all 5 bum wines at putting the darkest and puffiest bags under your eyes. The nuclear-tinted color of "Cisco RED" is reminiscent of diesel fuel. Most Cisco flavors are named by the fruit flavor that they are trying to emulate, but the one picture is simply called "RED." This chemical disaster will get your head spinning in no time. A test subject reports, "Strawberry Cisco has a bouquet similar to that of Frankenberry cereal fermented in wine cooler with added sprinkle of brandy for presentation." The sticky, sickingly sweet taste with a hint of antifreeze really comes through in the repellant taste of Cisco. Avaliable in various flavors, 375 mL and 750mL sizes. Down a whole 750 mL and you had better be ready to clear your calendar as you suffer through Cisco's legendary 2 day hangover.

[rbnyc]

14. LMAO

That was awesome.

[Ilsa]

15. I don't even consider this to be "petty".

If you're spending $150+/- on a meal, I expect the waiter to know the product and to have had a briefing on what might be good with the day's selections. (You have me curious about your main course. I guess it was lamb as you mentioned.)

I briefly dated two waiters, and they made around $70,000 a year in Dallas because they knew their menus, wine lists, how to read people, and understood customer service in general.

My petty pet peeve: Hearing people say, "...so I thought to myself..." like someone would have been able to hear them think.

[rbnyc]

18. You're my new best friend!

:hi:

Thanks for sharing your petty pet peeve too.

The best money I ever made was in a restaurant in Sedona, and a lot of that money came from knowing the wines and the food. Also, a lot of it came from knowing that what people want is an experience and that it's my job to make them feel like they're special and this is a special night. And people, I can't actually believe I'm about to say this, but people deserve it. Some people go to concerts, some to basketball games, some to amusement parks, or casinos, or movies. And some people, to brighten their difficult and sometimes painful lives, dine out.

I love restaurants, and most people who own, manage or have worked a long time in restaurants love restaurants. It's a complex cultural experience.

[rbnyc]

26. Oh, and I did have lamb.

And we had a great polenta appetizer with a mushroom sauce. It was delicious. I love polenta. I’d never had it prepared this way before either. I’ve always had it kind of cakey, but this was more soupy.

[DS1]

16. Hey! Good to see you back, here's mine

well, actually I don't have a petty pet peeve, IMHO, they are all major peeves and piss me off.

hmmm...

[rbnyc]

20. LOL

Good to see you too. And way to take your pet peeves seriously. I'm behind you all the way.

:toast:

[DS1]

25. thx, I mean

I could start with people that honk their horns in order to get people out of buildings, or dogs that bark at nothing, or school buses, or people that hassle you when you go in and out of a supermarket, or apostrophes on plurals, or loose interpretations of the word lose, or people on messageboards that think they have me figured out, or charcoal that doesn't cooperate with my paper and rubbing stump, or clients that don't know shit about web design yet insist that their fucked up navigation scheme is the way it's going to be, or people that don't pay for services rendered, or people that try the old mission-creep tactic, or people that think I'm stupid and naive and can't see through their bullshit, or people that brake when they are faced with a green light, or or or...

[rbnyc]

27. Nice list.

I can relate to many of those.

[MissMillie]

17. Ringing cells phones in a restaurant

If I wanted to hear the phone ring during dinner, I'd stay home.

[rbnyc]

23. Good one.

I agree. If you need to be available, just put the phone on vibrate.

[Lars39]

21. My pet peeve: loose lids on jars.

You think the lids on tight, then whammo! olive juice all over creation. I know who the culprit is, and he's got to sleep sometime.
:evilgrin:

[rbnyc]

24. That's not petty! That sucks!

I hate when that happens.

:hi:

[Lars39]

28. Usually happens riiiiiiight after I mopped the floor.

Revenge is sweet! :hi:

[shanti]

32. shoot

my peeve is TIGHT jars on lids...my joints aren't as strong as they used to be anymore...and let's not get started on super tiny print on consumables!!! i can't even read it with my reading glasses! :grr:

[Lars39]

51. I get tight lids, too. Without naming names, it's like a gorilla put 'em

on. :)

[GOPisEvil]

29. If you want me to attend a function. INVITE ME DIRECTLY.

Don't tell a friend to tell me about it.

Is that petty? :shrug:

[rbnyc]

30. I don't know if that's petty.

You've probably got one that's more petty.

I think it proably depends on what kind of function and what kind of friend. If it's within a very close group of friends and it's not something like a wedding then it might not be a big deal.

:shrug:

Just curious, any golf pet peeves?

[GOPisEvil]

31. People who take 5 minutes practice swinging, and going through

a routine; only to duff the ball 5 feet. It slows play and is frustrating. Get to your ball; take 1 practice swing and hit it!

[rbnyc]

33. LOL

I can imagine.

Y'know Cliff plays golf now. He started playing because it was something his brother liked to do. Then he started going to the driving range by himself. I tried to hit a couple a few weeks ago. Now, granted, I could hardly walk a few weeks ago, but it was hard! I was surprised how hard it was just to hit the ball.

[GOPisEvil]

34. It takes good hand/eye coordination.

I am amazed at people who are REALLY good and consistent.

[HamstersFromHell]

46. Sounds like a friend's line if you took too long in playing pool...

"If you study long, you study wrong."

Hammies!

[DancingBear]

36. "that's good - it's inside the leather".

My ass - the person saying it usually can't make a six inch putt into a manhole cover.

Also, cigars and cigar cutters on a golf course - why don't you just scream "hey, I'm an ass!" and be done with it.

[GOPisEvil]

40. Yeah - what is it with the cigar thing?

:shrug:

[Booberdawg]

35. The telephone

it's getting so I rarely answer it anymore. If I don't recognize the number, I won't answer. If I'm expecting a call and don't know where they are calling from, or take a chance and answer, and it's some schmuck trying to sell me something, I don't even let them finish the sentence. I hang up.

I'm fed up with being interrupted and mugged by telemarketers. x(

[DancingBear]

37. People whom, after being caught in an outright lie, answer with:

"Whatever".

Hey, you just hit me in the face with a brick!"
"Whatever."

[rbnyc]

38. whatever is the most disrespectful...

...word I can think of. I'd rather have someone just say, "Fuck off."

[DancingBear]

39. You DO know the opening you've left here for someone, don't you?

:) :) :) :)


But I wholeheartedly agree.

[rbnyc]

41. I'd make a good

Gracie Allen. I'm always right there with the set up.

;-)

[ironflange]

42. Here's petty: crumbs in the margarine

That just drives me apeshit, finding crumbs in the tub. Ugh!!!

[HamstersFromHell]

47. Ouch!

Now you're listing one of my peeves.

Never knew I'd specified "crunchy butter".

My other ones:

Folks who just jab a knife into peanut butter jars. (yes, I take it out of the jar "top down" and evenly)

Ruining good whiskey with ice, water or <shudder> cola.

Ordering fast food at a drive thru, and after placing a complete order, having the person on the other end respond with "would you like a <whatever> to go along with that?" (Hmmm...if I'd wanted *that*, I'd surely have ordered it, don't ya think?)

Dating women with shorter hair than my own.

Hammies!

[montana_hazeleyes]

43. First,

I don't blame you one bit for expecting people to know and do their jobs correctly.

Now for my petty pet peeve-- I'm a big sports fan and listen to alot of games and sports radio talk shows. It bugs me every time someone says a team now controls its own destiny.
Of course I know what they really mean but it still bothers me.

[HamstersFromHell]

48. LOL

My dad's was always the "in depth analysis" of what a team had to do to win that day.

Dad always wanted to know why the coach just couldn't say "We have to score more points than they do."


Hammies!

[montana_hazeleyes]

49. LOL

I've thought that same thing so many times!

[Sting]

44. My petty pet peeve: stupid people who work at fast foods.

No need to elaborate.

[Paul Hood]

52. Please elaborate.

[kyrasdad]

45. people who stop in the middle of an isle with their cart

to look for an item that they have a coupon for... somewhere in their coupon file that they must first search through... causing a traffic jam all the way to the deli...

[Speck Tater]

50. That ugly non-word "alot"

It makes me alittle crazy every time a see aperson intentionally leave out the space between "a" and "lot" in a sentence like: I saw alot of apples so I bought acouple of them for afriend of mine who likes them awholebunch.

ALOT is NOT a word!!

[montana_hazeleyes]

54. oops

I do that alot.:-)

[scarlet_owl]

57. Aaaaaaaggghhhh! I hate that too!

I also hate it when people type things like "Aaaaaagggghhhh!" in their subject lines. (just kidding) "Alot" really does get on my nerves, however.

[onebigbadwulf]

53. My list

people who say "I could care less"
(it's "couldn't" care less)

people who bring their children to non-children movies. There's always at least one baby or 6 year old at every rated R movie just crying their heads off or running around the aisles.

People who pretend they didn't just see their dog poop

People who say "I will pray for you to find Jesus" when they find out I'm not christian.
(already found him, made up my mind)

People who say "you weren't a christian" when I tell them I was a christian.

Roommates who come into the room and TALK to you when you're clearly watching a TV show

No store around here is open past 11 pm

Pennies (if it doesnt have buying power why is it in circulation?)

Endings where people wake up and it was all their imagination

Girls who wear belly shirts and their bellies hang over their belt line

Fat vegetarians who claim "meat is bad for you"

Hypocrites in general (maybe thats why i hate repugs so much)

People who defend corporations out of libertarianism

People who have an opinion without having the facts

People who don't educate themselves

People who spell it "tomarow"

People who mix up "too, to, and two"

People who mix up "they're and their"

People who mix up "your and you're"

People who ask why you're reading

People who comment on my sleep patterns.

[Guaranteed]

55. Personally, I tend to hate the kinds of people

who fart in elevators and tailgate. And say "a whole nother."

[scarlet_owl]

56. People who park in the fire lane in front of stores.

My mother in law does this from time to time and it makes me crazy! And no, having the hazard lights on does not mean it's okay! I don't care if it's "just for a minute", it's annoying.

[soleft]

58. people who drive slow in the left lane

:grr:

[DancingBear]

59. Yes!

This is, I believe, a state law in Virginia. "You must drive slow in the left lane, especially if the next car in said lane is approx. 212,000 car lengths in front of you."

Don't even get me started on HOV lanes....

[Zomby Woof]

60. all of my pet peeves are big!

:evilgrin:

I love pinot noir! Though I discovered lots of great wines in Washington state, I found that Oregon makes the best pinot noirs. For some reason, the red pinot grapes grow better there, although the climate difference between the 2 states is small. Next outing you have, see if they have any Oregon pinot noirs!

Um, let me think of a peeve...

Oh! My time-honored favorite peeve involves the lazy-ass jerkfucks who cannot return a shopping cart!! They will leave them in between or IN parking spaces, sometimes only a few yards away from a return slot, or what? Another 20 yards to the store!! :grr:

[Spirochete]

62. People who talk

with their mouths full of food. Really gets on my nerves.

DVD's that start out with previews

phones ringing that nobody's on the line when you answer.