Pet hates............................

Before I begin, I want to say, No, I'm not a Victoria Meldrew!!! Certainly not, I am far more likely to see the good in things than the bad and I see my cup as always half full as opposed to half empty. But there are some things that rile me and I shall share these with you, dear reader and wonder what your own views are? Do let me know..............

Zebra Crossings - a Godsend on a busy road, but why don't people teach their children how to use them correctly? When I was a small child I would go out with my mother and I remember having to hold her hand walking along the pavements up to the shops and home again and there was a zebra crossing on the main road. We would walk to the crossing and wait on the kerb and look Right, Left and Right again and then only IF clear OR IF the cars had stopped would we venture out onto the crossing, thanking the drivers on both sides of the road with a wave as we walked directly to the other side of the road.

I was always told that it was a courtesy for cars to stop for me as they had rights on roads and pedestrians had rights on pavements. I was also told that if drivers did the courtesy of allowing me to cross then I had to show my appreciation by being courteous and saying thank you to them.

How difficult is that? How many have you noticed that consider it normal to walk straight out on a crossing, and even when you have waved them over they don't even give you the courtesy of a nod let alone a thanks! They are sometimes also so busy meandering all over the road in their groups especially just coming out of school that I'm sure I've seen more appreciation in the eyes of sheep and goats that I have stopped the car for in Cyprus than the beings that flood the road in front of me on some of our crossings.

Another pet hate of mine is the pronounciation of the letter 'H' - so many say it wrongly and seem to delight in doing so. I suppose I can't blame them as young people as a lot of their teachers have taught them wrongly. But I have to say this is AT HOME - the letter 'H' is actually spelt 'AITCH' and not as some erroneously think spelt 'haitch' - I encourage the looking up of the spelling in the dictionary in case they think it's just down to an eccentricity of mine, but there again maybe my insistance is.....

Why do so many english speaking Brits get mixed up with the words 'bought' and 'brought'? and the verbs to Lend and to Borrow and - I hear young people saying "I've bought it with me" or "can I lend a tenner off you". I'd best not get started on the difference between your and you're...............