Good Morning. It’s 4am and I don’t have class until 11. As I sit here in my room I started thinking about things that annoy me. Since I’m a writer with a blog, I thought I’d share these annoying things with my readers.

Here are 8 Things That Grind My Gears.

1) Being referred to as “N***A” or any other title.  

I love my name, I think my parents did a great job naming me Christopher Michael. Whenever someone calls me “Christopher” my heart skips a beat. I love my name so much that I hate being called anything else. I instantly get annoyed when someone calls me “Nephew”, “Brother”, and most triggering, the “n-word”. I understand that I can’t constantly correct everyone I come in contact with, but it really annoys me to be referred to anything else outside of “Christopher”, “Chris” or “ChrisSumlin.”

2) When people don’t listen

Debating is so much fun. The only way to truly grow intellectually is to engage in healthy dialogue. I get frustrated when I’m conversing with someone and they shut themselves off to my ideas. If I say, “I think Beyonce is the greatest entertainer of all time” and you cut me off before I get to  “of all time” with your rebuttal, that is the worst. I do my best to enter every conversation with an open mind before jumping to a conclusion. Disrespecting my time but not listening to my ideas really grinds my gears.

3) Narrow Mindedness

A mind is like a parachute, it works best open.

4) Thinking Negatively

Life is hard, this we all know. I truly believe our only purpose on this earth is to grow and learn. It should go without saying that growing and learning aren’t necessarily the most fun things to do. What I know for sure is that everyone struggles with life. Whether you’re Bill Gates, the local baker, or Mark Zuckerberg, we all experience struggle. What annoys me is when people speak negative thoughts and words. Being pessimistic does not serve anyone it serves you much more to be positive.

 

5) Wasting Time Or Money

The most valuable asset we have is time. The second most valuable asset we have is money. Don’t waste either of mine.

6) Prejudice

 

Prejudice is defined as an unfavorable opinion or feeling formed beforehand or without knowledge, thought, or reason. I hate when people judge me before knowing me and I try not to do that with others. Humans are multi-faceted and complex beings, it is so important to get to know someone before judging them.

7) Phone Conversations with loud backgrounds

My Mom hates when I call her and the wind is blasting into the phone receiver. I have picked up on her preference. I don’t like phone conversations with any background noise.

8) Transactional Relationships

I hate networking. I don’t like when people want to connect with me with the intent of getting something done. I enjoy my collaborating with my friends. I think when working with anyone, trust is the biggest component. I think it is hard to gain real trust in a relationship that is completely transactional. In an academic space, I have to work with all different kinds of people but anything regarding personal branding or passion projects I like working with my friends.

What annoys you? What grinds your gears? Am I crazy and all alone? Or do some of these same things irritate you too? Let me know.