Wheeling and Squawking

You know how there are people who belong to a certain group/segment of the population, and just their belonging to that group makes you automatically think you will not like them? Yes, it seems like I am about to go into some very non-PC rant about some group of people, and in a way, it may be non-PC, but don't worry, I am not racist, or sexist, or homophobic, I am not talking about hatred, I am talking about annoyance.

One group that I automatically dislike just because I don't understand are bird owners. I don't understand people who choose birds as pets. You cannot cuddle with them, they can't lick you, you can't play with them, take them for walks, watch them chase string. The just sit on their perch and squawk. Or chirp. Both equally annoying when had in a large quanitity. I never really knew how I felt about birds and bird owners until I moved into my apartment. In my "Absolutely No Pets Apartment Building." Apparently that means No Pets except for the crazy lady on my floor who has a bird named Larry. I know his name is Larry because every time she leaves her apartment she says in a shockingly high-pitched, perky voice "I loooooove youuuuuu Larry.....Seeee you soooon!" Once I saw this woman wearing a glowstick as a headband. I could complain, but everytime I get used to it, Larry lets squawks out that sound like someone is sticking him with pins and needles....at 3AM. Apparently you can hear the squawks on the 8th floor, because a classmate who lives up there (I live in a combo dorm/retirement home) asked if I ever hear screaming coming from the park next door. I asked her if it sounded like squawking, and she said yes. I then imitated it, and she said that was it. I could complain, and I should. But I would hate to be that neighbor that turned the poor, crazy, glowstick woman in. I know my other neighbors know about Larry because they help her take care of him. One woman put a poster of birds on her door that I was hoping was a passive-aggressive jibe at bird-lady. But then the other day I came home and she was chatting with bird-lady like they were old pals. So, there you go, one group of people that I forever will never understand and automatically be wary of when I meet them.

The next group are people in the law school who use what I call rolly-bags. These are the bags that students use instead of book bags, and they put all their books and computers in them and then roll them around. Apparently the mere fact that they own and use a rolly-bag is enough to give them license to take the elevator ONE floor either up or down. That is my biggest pet peeve in law school, when you are on the elevator going to 6 and it stops on 5 so a rolly-bag person can go up to 6. The thing is, these bags have handles, and can be lifted. And I have seen several people have to carry their rolly-bags up the stairs in the library as that is the only way to get to the second floor in the library, so I know they are capable of lifting it. This is clearly arbitrary and just another manifestation of my dislike of law school, but really, are you so differently abled that you have to take the elevator everywhere. In truth, this isn't fair, I do have friends who have been know to use rolly-bags, but still, no excuse.

I am sure that I have habits and characteristics that cause people to dislike me without really knowing me. Like the fact that I wear earrings that make jangle sounds when I walk, or I type loudly, or jaywalk on Mass. Ave, or talk loudly about inappropriate subjects in the library, or roll my eyes when annoyed, or.....