Mildy Annoyed: A Running List

Subtitle: Just a casual calling out of life’s minor inconveniences. ‘Cause apparently I do sweat the small stuff.

There’s a certain type of tiredness that isn’t about sleep. It’s about being overstimulated, overcommitted, and just… over it. And instead of dealing with the root cause like a well-adjusted adult, sometimes I choose to silently catalog every minor thing that sends me into a slow-burn rage spiral.

This is not a breakdown. This is documentation. Just to be clear. 

So here it is: a running list of things that shouldn’t bother me—but do. Things that make my eye twitch. Things that push me dangerously close to saying something I can’t take back.

And yes, I’m aware these are irrational and don’t change the trajectory of my life or goals. 

And no, I don’t care. So here we go:

• When someone tells or shows you something they think is funny.
  And you have to laugh politely while your soul slowly leaves your body. Wrap it up, friend. I’m dying. (Hopefully that’s not what’s happening right now… but if it is, don’t tell me.)
  
  

• When my husband says, “Where’s the thing?”
  Sir. What thing? Try again.
  
  

• When someone eats during a meeting.
  Especially if it’s crunchy. Like—we’re all sitting in this silent room trying to act normal while you obliterate a granola bar like it’s your final meal. I can hear every. single. bite. One more chew and I will launch myself out the window.
  
  

• When someone uses the word “networking” and expects me to get excited.
  Don’t get me wrong—I put on a good act. I’m highly trained in the art of small talk. I’ll have people oversharing at a luncheon I wasn’t even qualified to be invited to. But internally? I’d rather organize my Tupperware drawer.
  
  

• When I try to multitask and end up doing nothing except blinking aggressively.
  Like I have seven tabs open in my brain and none of them are responding. At this point I’m just standing there, holding a sponge and questioning my entire existence.
  
  

• When I remember something I forgot to do three hours ago and now it’s 10PM and I’m rage-cleaning the kitchen with resentment in my heart.
  No one asked me to clean. No one is even awake. But now I’m wiping baseboards like someone personally wronged me.
  
  

• When a customer service rep says “Is there anything else I can help you with today?”
  You didn’t help with the first thing. Let’s start there.
  
  

• When someone describes me (or anyone with similar personality traits) as “chill.”
  No, I’m not. I’m just really good at suppressing the urge to scream in group settings.
  

The thing is, most of us are walking around with a full emotional inbox. These little annoyances? They’re just the spam folder exploding.

It’s not about the granola. It’s about doing too much, thinking for everyone, carrying the mental load, and still being expected to laugh politely at someone’s story about their dog’s Halloween costume. We joke because we can’t scream.

We make lists like this because we don’t have time to unpack the real reasons we’re so tightly wound.

And the worst part? I know I’m on someone else’s list, too. I’ve been the one who talked too long, texted “hey can I ask you something?” with no follow-up, chewed too loud, overshared, responded “haha” when something wasn’t funny.

I’ve definitely been someone else’s ick.

More than once.

So maybe this list isn’t just about other people. Maybe it’s a reminder to slow down. To shut up. To check yourself before you—(wreck yourself)—spiral over a granola bar. Or maybe it’s just a bunch of words I needed to get out before I exploded at the grocery store because someone hit me in the leg with their cart and then didn’t see the dirty look I gave them. 

Who’s to say?

Xo,

Kate