When people cite their pet peeves, they usually include stuff like despising people who talk on mobile phones in their car or drivers who go too slow in the fast lane.

The pet peeve of a friend of mine from Dallas was when people would toss empty tuna cans into the kitchen trash without wrapping it in foil first to remove the smell.

Smokers are often cited as a source of pain for those outlining their peeves.

TV channel flippers. Bicyclists who choose to exercise their road privileges during rush hour. Messy people. You name it, and everybody has a set of behaviors that sets them off.

I've got them, too. In fact, one of them happened to me today.

In the grocery store, when I am paying for my groceries at the credit card terminal, the person behind me should not be right behind me, like within slapping distance. I am always tempted to tell the person hovering over my shoulder to step the f*** back, but social rules keep me from doing so.

In terms of driving, I pretty much can't stand the whole driving-too-slowly-in-the-fast-lane thing. Folks on cell phones don't bother me as long as their driving is up to par. To me, anything too fast or too slow is an annoyance. However, this isn't my driving pet peeve.

My driving pet peeve is people who will hold up traffic behind them so they can turn left into a parking lot where there is no light. We're forced to wait for them to be able to turn in while oncoming traffic zooms past. The courteous thing to do would be to plan your trip a little better.

Slow walkers. I've got a good friend who will probably think I'm referring to her, but I'm not. She once noted this online group called "Slow Walkers Should Die," and I have to amusedly note that I wouldn't mind being part of that group. The only time this applies, really, is in a crowded area, in which case the rules of walking should really become more like the rules of driving. Stay to the right, and keep up.

In Washington D.C., one of the first unwritten social rules my buddy Jonathan told me about was that, on escalators, you should always stay to the right so that people who didn't want to just stand there and let the machine lift them could dart right up to their destination.

Another big pet peeve of mine is when businesses that have no business asking for tips start requesting gratuity. Baristas at Starbucks have tip jars, and I think to myself, "I just paid $3.87 for a venti Chai Tea Latte. Howard Schultz or whoever owns this place should really pay you a bit better."

I'm going to start noting a few of these things. I suspect that most of what makes the majority crazy in terms of their collective pet peeves don't bother me in the least. However, I have my weirdities, if you will.

***

One of the things I have taken advantage of this weekend that I don't on most is my cool reading room. I put a big recliner in there and just surrounded myself with reading materials, and every week, I say to myself, "Self, this is the weekend I'll enjoy the room."

And then I usually don't sniff the room except to yank out fresh underwear from my dresser.

However, spring is here, and I am hoping to spend more time outdoors. For example, I have to mow the yard here in a bit. While it's a chore, it's also quite cathartic, too. Like the reading room. Heck, one of the things in my reading room is last week's Sunday New York Times.

You know what the beauty about the Times is? You can read it almost any week, and even if some of the articles are out of date by the time you get to it, you're just so impressed by the level of writing, the skill of the constructor, the feel of the metropolitan ink that it still satisfies.

***

It just occurred to me that your pet peeve might be when people outline their pet peeves, as if the world revolves around them. That is actually a pet peeve of mine. I think to myself, "Who are you to think so much of yourself that you would tell the rest of us what bothers you, with the expectation that by declaring such that we would then be obligated to not violate said peeve?"

***

My buddy T gleefully noted that he heard Idol's numbers overall were down this year. I thought to myself that it was quite possible, given that the level of talent this year is just terrible except for a couple of contestants.

So, I looked it up this morning.

Overall numbers are up, proportionally up as they have been every year since the show's 2002 inception. In fact, Idol is now in a virtual tie with CBS for overall viewership in the 18-49 demo, thanks primarily to Idol.

However, what he had heard was that last week's show was down 15 percent from the same episode a year ago.

The article notes that daylight-saving time being early this year probably has a lot to do with it. That would make sense. It would also make sense that the regression of talent from last year to this would have something to do with it.

One of the things folks have to remember is that the very nature of our ever-increasing entertainment choices means that every show will eventually lose viewership over the years. Why? More choices. I can watch network TV, cable TV, a movie on-air, a DVD, something on my DVR, surf the Web, not to mention all the other choices, which have always existed, such as reading a book, taking a walk, attending church, whatever.

The gauge industry experts will use to measure this show is how it fares compared to the competition. It kills it so badly at this point that the other networks give up, hence why Ugly Betty was in re-runs for three weeks on Thursdays while Idol was on.

***

I think one weekend every month should be a three-day weekend, something we could incorporate into our business culture. I almost hate Sundays worse than Mondays because I anticipate having to resume my regular schedule as opposed to having this free time.

Perhaps it's another pet peeve?