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I detest a lot of pet peeves that people display, and many times, I find myself asking different questions in my mind—are these habits really part of their traits, or can't they get rid of them? Some of these habits are so weird and disgusting that I wonder if they are ingrained or simply picked up from the environment they find themselves in. I believe that pet peeves are not all centered on traits; some are developed through external influences. I haven't been particularly close to many people with pet peeves that I dislike, as I tend to detach myself from them. However, I have done it twice or so.
The Time I Had to Cut Off Someone Because of Repeated Pet Peeves
There's this cousin of mine who is older than me by about five years. Back when we were in the village, he used to visit our house often, almost like a member of the family. I liked him, but what made me distance myself from him was the sound he made whenever he was eating.
I like to eat my food in a very neat way, and I value good table manners—even though I sometimes violate the rule of "no talking while eating." I hate seeing or experiencing anything disgusting while eating, such as a runny nose or someone making irritating sounds. This cousin of mine had the habit of gnashing his teeth so hard while eating that the sound was incredibly loud, as if he was chewing stones. It irritated me so much. He did it even when drinking water, making unnecessary mouth movements and hitting his teeth together loudly. I wonder if water is chewable.
Even though he was older than me and my siblings, that didn’t stop me from telling him how irritating his habit was. But instead of making an effort to stop, he would laugh it off and intentionally make it even louder—almost as if he was telling us that there was nothing we could do about it. The habit became even more unbearable when he kept repeating it without any attempt to reduce or stop it.
Eventually, I could no longer tolerate it, so I stopped joining family meals whenever he was present. If I was already eating and he joined, I would immediately stop eating. He noticed my reaction but didn’t seem to care. In fact, he would make mocking remarks, which my dad and others would find amusing and laugh about. That was it—I just cut myself off from him.
I don’t know whether he has changed because it has been a very long time, but honestly, I don’t mind. If I ever get close to him again and we have to eat together, and he still does that, I know I will feel just as disgusted and might just stop eating.
The Time Someone Cut Me Off Because of My Bad Habit
Before now, I used to be very fond of nose-picking, and I never saw anything wrong with it. Maybe this was exactly how my cousin felt about gnashing his teeth—he simply didn’t see anything wrong with it. Lol 🤣
I don’t actually know if someone ever cut me off because of this habit since I was never really aware of how others felt about it...no one approached me about it. Maybe someone left my life because of it, and I just didn’t notice. Well, that was then. I have stopped the habit.
Thanks!
I wrote this in response to Hivenaija contest.