Does this bother you as much as it bothers me?

I'm posting this a little later than anticipated, but it's something I'd like to discuss.  Being that it is my blog, and this forum allows me to express my opinions.

Under Armour.  UA locates their interlocking "UA" logo dead center below the neck line on a lot of their merchandise.  This is a clever marketing ploy - if you see that logo, you immediately think Under Armour.  I have no problem seeing athletes wearing 24 different UA products at once (it's a little excessive, but whatever).  I have no problem with you lounging out at home with an UA hoodie and sweatpants on.  I have no problem wearing said hoodie out to the mall.

The thing that really makes me scratch my head is when I see a 40-something sporting the shirt - UNDERNEATH a button-down shirt, exposing the logo.  While I'm at it, it pisses me off even more when I see people strolling around - in public - wearing tight-fitting UA shirts.  Those shirts are meant for athletic purposes - not for you to walk around with your nipples ready to pierce the shirt.  To the gym, sure, feel free.  To take a leisurely stroll in the neighborhood, why not.  But not to walk around the mall.  You're embarrassing yourself and whoever happens to be with you.  So please, have some self-respect, and stop.  I don't care how good you think you look - you're wrong.

Merging.  Why is this so difficult?  I am convinced, and have been for some time now, that all traffic is directly related to merging.  All of it.

In New York, we're blessed with merges at every turn - four lanes into two, two lanes into one, road crews weening off the road with cones, blinking arrows on the back of a DOT truck driving backwards, two exit ramps merging into one exit ramp merging onto a highway.  You name it, we got it.  And what is the direct result of all this merging?  You guessed it - traffic.

In Connecticut - a state Lindsay and I used to frequent quite regularly - I-84 has it's own version of the merge - the "Slow Vehicle Lane".  This lane is designated with a dashed double white line and lasts for no longer than a quarter mile at a stretch.  Trucks work their way over and then :25 seconds later, they're coming back into civilized traffic, forcing cars cruising in the center lane to brake in order to avoid an accident.  Senior citizens are often seen using this SVL and continuing on the shoulder because they forgot what they're doing.  It's not a smart idea and it creates unnecessary braking and ultimately, traffic.

Press 1.  For English?  Are you kidding me with this one?  Any phone call made within the vast confines of the USA should automatically proceed in English.  With all the tree branches you need to climb in order to actually speak with a real person, the least they can do is eliminate the need to press 1 for English.  The constitution is written in English, not Spanish or Chinese (nothing wrong with those two languages, I'm just saying).  I wind up pressing 1 and then hitting 0 twenty times in hopes that it'll forward my call to a human being and not the robot that can't understand what I'm saying.  Sometimes it works, sometimes I just grit my teeth and keep pressing numbers.

It's shit like this that bothers me.  I know people will say, "Ryan, don't let things you can't control bother you", you know what I say, that's your prerogative.  Live and let live America.  And learn to merge for God's sake.