1. Olfactory intrusion. I am fed up with the amount of perfume and cologne that permeates the air on the morning train. Each day the soup of air-born chemicals tickles my nose and dries out my eyes for 30 minutes before I arrive at work and begin staring at the computer. Today was particularly bad because the girl who sat down right next to me had drenched herself in something acrid, and my eyes watered for the entire trip. On the train there is no respite, there is no wind, and nowhere you can turn to suck in some cleanish air. I am not opposed to perfume, but the idea is to have a hint of scent that is pleasant to someone within 6-8 inches. If you can be detected across the room, or if your perfume makes your neighbors' throats swell up, it's TOO MUCH! And let's be honest, living in this country where hygiene may be taken to an extreme, most people shower at least every other day, if not every single day. How much fragrance do we really need?
2. Annoying dogs.
a) Those of you that follow my other blog Mona Lisa's Teeth (MLT), will recognize Bowser in this story. This is a dog that belongs to one of the families where I teach piano. Bowser is a friendly dog to a fault. He jumps. Incessantly. About 2 weeks after the escape incident I reported on MLT, Bowser greeted me at the door (by jumping on me) and caught a nail in my bracelet. Being made of elastic and beads/shells, it snapped and beads and shells scattered to the floor. My annoyance was more on principle than a PARTICULAR attachment to the bracelet. Last night, Bowser was at it again, but this time a nail got caught in my favorite scarf. It snagged, and although I was able to pull some of the thread back through, I'm left with a toenail-sized hole. GRRRRRRRRRRR. I took a deep breath, put the dog in the crate, and made sure to request as I was leaving that the dog be in the crate from now on before I come.
b) The next house on my piano circuit after Bowser is home to 4 tiny dogs. While not in danger of having my things destroyed by jumping, I have to bear the 4-part chorus of piercing yaps for the first 5 minutes after my arrival. The polyphony is truly astounding.
3. Children who are disrespectful and parents who are complacent. Yesterday (after the scarf attack) I was the piano teacher that you dreaded as a child. Call me quaint, but when an adult adresses a child older than around 4, the child should respond. I find it to be terrible manners when I greet or address a child and am ignored, and particularly bad when the parent smiles indulgently at their child and shrugs at me as if to say, "kids will be kids." True, but parents should be parents and teach their children to be polite. I layed down the law with one of my students yesterday who sat at the piano and looked straight ahead as though I wasn't even there despite my attempts to engage him. I decided not to resort to being a clown or groveling for his attention, and instead crossed my arms and had a stern little chat (well, monologue) about being respectful. For those of you who have children, I'm sorry to be harsh, and I do understand that kids have bad days just like adults and often express them more freely. Maybe I need to move back to the south where children say "ma'am" and "sir" or at least address adults with titles and know how to behave if they don't want to get a whoopin'.
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