Friday, October 10, 2014

Friday, October 10 - Pet Peeve


 
 
                I sat there in class, ready to use my own textbook to knock myself out to get away from this torture. Sitting just two desks away from me was a fellow classmate chewing on their nails. They would sit there and use their teeth to grind them down before using their other nails to click them together obnoxiously. God I sat there just cringing at the awful sounds that came from their compulsive routine. You see, the problem wasn’t the action, but the sound of it. That horrible clicking and popping of the nails being bitten down and snapped together; I can’t stand it! I can’t even begin to describe how much it bothers me. I mean really, I can’t. There is no justified reason as to why this simple action bothers me so much. It doesn’t irritate me in a way similar to someone tapping their pencil or pen on their desk, it actually grosses me out. This disgusted and uncomfortable feeling builds up inside of me when I hear it.

                Not wanting to be rude or sound harsh, I lean over to them and awkwardly call out a hushed, “hey,” to grab their attention. Not responding, I do it again. The person lowers their hand from their face as they look over at me. “Hey, sorry,” I begin, “but could you please stop chewing on your nails? Sorry, but it just bothers me a bit.” The person apologizes and agrees to stop. I give them a thank you and a small smile before readjusting myself in my seat. Finally, I feel comfortable and everything is peaceful once again. Until a few moments later, I hear a soft clicking. My eyebrows automatically furrow in annoyance as I look over at the same person, now clicking their nails together again. Looking up and seeing my gaze, they immediately stop again. “Oh, sorry,” they apologize. I give them another smile and try to shake it off. “It’s fine,” I whispered back. Yet of course, no more than just a few minutes later, and the sound starts up again. I just sit there and leave them be, not wanting to fuss at them for having the bad habit. Knowing that they can’t help the subconscious need to grind up their nails, so I merely lay my head down and try to tune out the horrible sound.

1 comment:

  1. Chewing on nails is her pet peeve. This is something that i have deduced by chewing my nails next to her. I have decided to write this out because Lizzie is a poor communicator of words and decided to leave us guessing of what exactly she meant. She should indeed fix this, as it was totally never said a single time.

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