Pet Peeves of Mine

My own pet peeves include the following:

(1) I am dismayed by the customary practice of many American architects of their placing water fountains in public office buildings within a few feet from the front door to a men's restroom or a ladies' restroom.
I find it very unpleasant to be drinking water from a water fountain while pondering the proximity of that water fountain to a public restroom where other human beings are actually urinating or defecating. When I am drinking water, I don't want to be asking myself whether I can be perfectly sure that the water I am drinking is completely free of any urine or feces.

(2) I am dismayed by the "modern tradition" of many American store clerks in which they respond to a polite "thank you" from a customer by immediately replying, "No problem." Often the store clerk does not even smile at the customer when the store clerk mumbles "no problem" to that customer.
The lack of graciousness and the lack of hospitality in that widely-uttered phrase is sobering to the point of unnerving.
Does a customer enter a retail establishment primarily to obtain information from the store clerk as to whether that customer is himself posing an "inconvenience" or a "problem" or a "nuisance" for that store clerk? I would hope not!

(3) I am dismayed by the many Americans who choose to greet the "New Year" on January 1 by contracting a hangover and lying in bed with intense pain.
They made that choice by agreeing to consume an excessive amount of alcohol on New Year's Eve.
Does it make sense to usher in the New Year by inflicting a severe headache and dizziness and nausea on yourself?
Does it make sense to be so tormented by a hangover on New Year's Day that you are not feeling sociable and friendly toward the friends and relatives of yours with whom you would have agreed in advance to share a New Year's Day meal and delightedly celebrate January 1?

(4) I am dismayed by the growing tendency of many Americans to rationalize their own deplorably illicit addiction to marijuana by declaring that "I only consume marijuana for medical reasons. I never consume marijuana in order to be frivolous or silly or outrageous or hedonistic or self-destructive or defiant of the law."

I can offer several responses to the Americans who claim to be "medical-marijuana-only" consumers of cannibis:

(a) The odds are high that the city or U.S. state where you reside has NOT, in fact, legalized any consumption of marijuana for citedly "medical" reasons. You are therefore breaking the law and committing a crime whenever you purchase or possess or consume any quantity of marijuana.

(b) Even if you do live in a U.S. state such as California that reportedly permits some individuals to consume so-called "medical marijuana", that legal right is only extended to residents of that state who formally obtained prior authorization from the government.

It is also my understanding that the government is generally limiting that type of "medical-marijuana patient certification" to persons who have been officially diagnosed as terminally ill---persons, in other words, who are suffering from an incurable and fatal disease.

(c) Even if you have been diagnosed with an incurable and fatal disease, you can consult OTHER medical doctors to determine whether ANY of them do NOT agree with the diagnosis and prognosis given to you by the medical doctor or doctors who labeled you as "terminally ill.

Your seeking a third and fourth and fifth opinion from a variety of medical experts could help you to save your own life and enjoy a full medical longevity.

(d) Even if all doctors whom you consult all agree that the disease you have is incurable and very painful as well as fatal to yourself, you can still pursue factual research to identify the full range of law-abiding natural options for pain-relievers that you can take.

It may well be that there are numerous natural pain-relievers that are perfectly legal everywhere in the U.S. and Canada and other nations, and that will not give you any of the adverse side-effects that ingesting the so-called "medical marijuana" would have inflicted on you.

(e) Even if you reside in a U.S. state that has officially given you advance specific written authorization for "medical marijuana" consumption by yourself, you should keep in mind that if you travel from your own state of California, for instance, to a state such as Utah---where any and all marijuana consumption is illegal----you are at dire risk of being arrested by a law-enforcement officer in Utah.

That very grim and degrading scenario could easily occur for you if you continue your
ill-advised marijuana consumption inside a hotel where you are renting a room in Utah.