Prolonged horn blowing when a simple beep will do.
Heavy perfumed scent--man or woman, strong enough to leave an olfactory residue on your skin and clothing after a hug or in closed spaces, e.g., elevators, where the odor can linger for hours.
Thumping high volume bass speakers in cars--especially at night and/or at stoplights.
Loud music (usually rap) played at high volume with car windows down.
Doctor instructs: "No food or drink for 12 hours" and then first thing next day :"Give me a urine sample."
People speaking loudly, walking around gesturing on cell phones in public places. Same for stalls in public restrooms (usually without the walking).
People who amble around stores talking animatedly with a mostly invisible over-the-ear mike and receiver--and come up next to you, look at you while talking, and you think they are talking to you and start to answer when you realize the embarrassing truth.
Loud television programs, with corporate or institutional advertising, played in an emergency room, doctor's office, or place where you can't get away from the noise or while you're trying to escape by reading.
Receptionists in the waiting room of a medical office who, in a loud voice, call patients with a "canned" message to remind them of an appointment the next day--while patients are sitting there worried about their own issues and test results. These calls with a repetitive message are usually made in an "announcer's" voice," and delivered a sufficiently high volume that everyone in the waiting room hears who is being called and the nature of their complaint--so much for HIPPA guarantees.
People who stop and block pedestrian traffic in a store's aisle, checkout line, or return line in order to use their phone or iPod for personal business.
People who block a cashier line while they scramble to take out a purse and hunt for money or coupons or count change. Usually these people have not bothered to hunt for or touch their purse until the cashier says "That'll be $52.80, please, and then the search begins. What a shock! These people always seem a little surprised when they have to find their money even though they have been in lines like this hundreds of times in the past.
Clamshell packaging that is devised to prevent shoplifting by using large, ultra strength NASA quality plastic packages to protect little things.
You're walking along in a parking lot thinking about what to cook for dinner or the balance in your bank account when someone, far away across the lot, that you cannot see, activates the car's door lock--right next to you--no one else around-- causing the horn to blow unexpectedly. Heart arresting.
Accidentally rolling your mouse over an internet popup that presents you with no obvious way to exit.
Particularly unbearable are popups that come on line and shock your sensibilities with volume turned up unbearably loud. This is especially offensive when the ad precedes and is is totally irrelevant to (and demeans) the topic you're searching for--looking for Palestine/Israel Conflict and get Depends, Fiber Gummies or Ram Tough.
Foil covers that are adhered to cups of yogurt, applesauce and pudding, etc.with super glue. Tears repeatedly in strips when penetrated with a blade or fingernail.
Tabs too small to pinch that must be used to open a food or medical product. Same with sealed medication bottles topped with industrial strength foil adhered with Super Glue. These difficulties are multiplied by age, time of night, and arthritic fingers.
Tabs that tear just as you begin to use them--an especially egregious problem with sardine tins and the like. The tabs are gone, how do I get inside?
Newspapers with vertical half page ads that cover part of the first page, including headlines, so you can't read the news without unfolding the whole paper to remove half-page; and/or newspapers containing small or slick/glossy inserts that fall out when you pick up the paper by the fold.
"Sealed for your Safety"--all containers. I saw following article about Tylenol bottles. Here's where it all began.
September 29, 2012
Why Tylenol Bottles Are Hard To Open
EnlargeiStockphoto.com
Thirty years ago this weekend, seven people died from ingesting Tylenol that had been poisoned. Since then, Johnson & Johnson has overhauled its packaging.
Opening a new package of Tylenol can take some effort. There's the cardboard packaging, plus the push-and-twist top and the safety seal.
It used to be a matter of just popping off a cap. Thirty years ago, seven people died in Chicago suburbs after taking poisoned Tylenol. Pharmacies pulled Tylenol off the shelf in a panic and the nation was in shock.
Richard Keyworth was a firefighter in the area and one of the first investigators in the Tylenol murders case. He says investigators quickly realized the poison was hidden in bottles of Tylenol, but no one knew how it got there or how many people were at risk.
"There was a feeling of helplessness, and Tylenol was the medication for everything," he says. "If you can't trust that, what can you trust?"
Investigators said the poison was likely slipped into bottles after they were already on store shelves. Johnson & Johnson then recalled about $100 million worth of Tylenol.
No one was ever charged with the crime. The FBI has reopened the cold case and investigators are using new technology to search for DNA evidence.
Mark Mandell was finishing up pharmacy school in Chicago when the Tylenol murder story broke in 1982. He says for a while, people were scared to take just about any medication.
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"You really had to try to reassure people, but how confident were you as an individual? Because no one knew. It was unknown who the attacker was, what the motive was, and ... it was out there," he says.
The deaths spurred new regulations on over-the-counter drug packaging. The FDA and Congress quickly passed a federal anti-tampering law.
Mandell says there shouldn't be any confusion now about how to handle a product with a broken seal.
"It's sort of in your face. You know, if anything appears wrong, don't use it," he says.
Over time, Tylenol bounced back to its status as a household name. O.C. Ferrell, a marketing ethics professor at the University of New Mexico, says the way Johnson & Johnson handled the Tylenol case is still considered textbook crisis management.
"If you're a really good company, like they were in making this recall, you've got to say, 'If we don't protect the brand name and our integrity of our reputation, then nothing will matter in the long run,' " he says.
Now, for many Tylenol users, perhaps the biggest thing they worry about is getting the bottle open.
Here, thy this wonderful website:http://www.buzzfeed.com/hannahjewell/things-that-will-irritate-you-more-than-they-should?bffb&utm_term=4ldqpgp
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