Posted September 22, 2005

By Kevin Devlin

     Some things that people do annoy others. Sure they do. It certainly annoys me to the point that I merely shake my head in disbelief. So, I’d lie to share my thoughts, and my frustrations with you, and see what you think. I also intend to share the thoughts-the gripes-of others.

     People whining, griping about everything, in the workplace, is as common as pizza in America. In a recent article in the Boston Herald, it was reported that employees spend 20 hours a week “trading war stories about their boss from hell in work” according to a recent survey. People do tend to gripe about everything when it comes to doing their job, but I merely shake my head in disbelief when I hear some of the lame excuses that people render. People rattle off these totally pathetic reasons when attempting to justify their defiance towards their bosses. But in reality it appears that they are only trying to disguise their own personal ineptitudes and laziness. You know they say the best defense is an aggressive offense.

     Roslindale native Joseph Finn, a former Boston School Police Officer has a serious gripe, that being the gripes of Boston School bus drivers who don’t want GPS systems in the school busses they drive. Finn wants to know why they have a problem with this. If they do their job, why worry about anything? If this benefits the schoolchildren why should they gripe?  Finn said that the bus drivers should just do their job and keep the needs of the children as a high priority, the only priority as far as he is concerned.

     One friend from Southie, who wishes to remain anonymous, feels that people who gripe about others should not be so naïve. For instance, several weeks ago a dismayed griper complained about not being thanked for holding open doors for others. My friend feels that this is the way of the world, and that people should realize this, and just move on. Or, as far as she is concerned, don’t be so chivalrous, and be as inconsiderate as others. Maybe then they’ll get the hint, and maybe then they’ll change their ways. You never know.

     Our griper about the traffic problem at the L Street and Day Boulevard intersection is as mad as ever. He feels that nothing is being done about the traffic problem at this intersection, as well as at L Street and Marine Road. He feels that it seems that it’s more important for the city and state to do street cleaning and give out tickets than worry about the traffic issues there. Our griper said that drivers don’t care about the red and yellow lights and just speed past them as if they were on a race track. And, if there’s a pedestrian in the crosswalks, forget about it.

     Our griper is also wondering what happened to all of the signs on this stretch of the road regarding truck drivers being forbidden to use this roadway. He says they are all gone, mysteriously disappeared. Now, trucks and busses are frequently passing by. Our now irate griper feels that something should be done before a serious accident occurs. 

     With the football season upon us, I know that many fans throughout Patriot Nation, including myself, have a gripe. The “Flying Elvis” insignia that the Pats adopted to usher in the modern age is hip, cool, chic, but nothing surpasses the original Pats logo, not in a trillion years. Bob Kraft and company should throw the new design out the window where it belongs and bring back the original, the only one that true Patriot fans cherish and adore.

     (Writer’s Note: People do annoying things that really bother us, all of us. So, what’s your gripe? Send them into SBOL)