Those Little Annoyances

Today was quite lackadaisical. In turns, we took various walks about the town, often stopping at the grocery store as it seemed we kept thinking of more items we needed once home. In all, we went to the store a total of four times; I’m sure the townspeople are now familiar with the family of four who seem to like spending their vacation time cooped up in the local Spar store. We also stopped at the tourist bureau in town, where we collected various walking maps and ideas for our stay. As we seem to be in line for a stretch of very warm weather, I asked about swimming lakes nearby. The guide cautiously gave me the information but warned that they would be pretty cold as yesterday was their first warm day. I didn`t want to brag that Canadians could handle any lake temperature so kept quiet. She offered us the alternative of a `water world` nearby but the kids thought the pictures looked like it was more suitable for younger children. Maybe we`ll send Ben there instead. The walks about town afforded us lots of views of beautiful Austrian homes, with large carved wooden balconies, blooming flower boxes, and tidy lawns. This country sure impresses us with its neat and traditional-looking towns. Later in the day, Ben and I went for a walk along the river that goes through town, noting the aftermath of flooding in some fields. Haying is in full swing, with many needing to hay various steep portions of their land by hand. More walks are planned for tomorrow...when in Austria, do as the Austrians do...

As all four of us were sitting around having a nice intimate family moment the other day, my youngest said to us “Does anyone else notice that when we’ve been travelling together as closely as we have, people’s annoying habits become more noticeable?” Unthinkingly, I asked her to elaborate. She immediately said, “Well, you know, like the way you chew, for instance.” So glad I asked. Others got into the conversation and in no time, we had compiled a list of annoyances –repeatedly asking what time it is, going around pantless, taking forever doing one`s face washing routine, heavy iPod usage, etc. It seems that, yes, we had all noticed this, even if we hadn`t voiced it yet. It appears to come in waves, the awkward part being that the four of us don`t coordinate our feelings. So, some days, only one person finds the others incredibly annoying and other days, we are all very much annoyed. (And, yes, there are even times when all four of us are happy with our companions.) We try to combat the various feelings of angst, irritation, impatience, and sullenness with time outs, usually self imposed; they often take the form of going out, plugging in, sleeping, closeting oneself in a small, dark room or reading. And then there`s always talking, trying to work it out, painfully walking through the incidents and issues, revisiting and analyzing, and finally coming out the other side, relatively whole again. Sometime, the situation doesn`t allow for that so we just seek reconciliation through ice cream, knowing Magnum bars and gelato can put things in a different perspective. At times, unhealthily, we don`t sequester ourselves early enough and things implode. I have to remind myself that it is not the trip itself that causes these moments – they would have occurred with similar frequency back in Victoria. But, when you put two pubescent girls, a premenopausal woman, a luckless male and a quirky GPS into a Renault, stuff happens. (And as for the male, what`s his excuse for his behaviour, I`d like to know.)

For a fun party game, try to pair the behaviour with the person:

Sniffling
Not listening well enough
Leaving wrappers around
Not charging the laptop
Acknowledging in the affirmative even when not hearing
Pointing out my annoying habits
Distracting talking when there`s work to be done
Making puns
Stealing others' computer cords
Singing inappropriately
Being embarrassing