A lot of my pet peeves probably center around basic manners. For example, right now a thing that's seriously driving me crazy is people not covering their mouths when they cough or sneeze. (Flu season is here, my friends! Stop attempting to infect us all!) But a pet peeve that encounter pretty much all the time - like whenever I leave my house - is the inability of some people say a simple Excuse me.
Like I'm shopping in Walmart. I'm standing in front of a rack looking through t-shirts, trying to find my size. Then I feel a presence behind me. Slowly I turn my head. Behind me, just off to the right, stands MOM™ - just standing there, staring at me. It seems, by looking for my size in shirts at a rack in the clothing section of Walmart, I appear to be in her way. And instead of simply saying, "Excuse me," MOM™ chooses to stand creepily behind me, looking impatient and annoyed, in hopes that I am, somehow, a mindreader.
Listen! You go into the world. You live in a crowded city. People are going to unintentionally be in your way. Or you're going to walk unintentionally in their path. Either way! There are two simple words that, though they are not 'open sesame', work like magic. A simple "Excuse me" parts crowds like Moses parted the Red Sea. When you use it, people go hurtling out of your way as if controlled by some magically pull to no longer be a nuisance to you.
It really is quite incredible.