My pet peeve? At the moment, it’s people complaining about my neck-cracking.
I have a herniated cervical disk, and the MRI images to prove it. (Between C-5 and C-6, for those who are interested in such details.) I NEED to occasionally stretch in order to relieve sciatica and to avoid even more discomforting symptoms (such as muscle spasms); and when I do, my neck will sometimes make that cracking sound.
Some may argue that I should go to the men’s room (or somewhere more private) to perform this exercise. It takes just a couple of seconds to move my ear toward my shoulder, which I do about 3-4 times per hour. It takes several minutes to walk to the men’s room and back. How many employers do you know who would put up someone taking that many “breaks?” Hmmm?
Trust me, I’m not doing it to gross you out… it doesn’t sound or FEEL too good to me either, and I would greatly prefer to NOT have this condition. But it’s not like I’m snapping gum, trimming my nails, picking my nose, or farting… can’t you show some empathy (and etiquette) and politely ignore this inadvertent sound? Yeesh, it’s like you’re complaining about a squeaky wheelchair!
Incidentally, and in the interest of full disclosure, I discovered this site whilst researching my schizoid personality manifestations… so I really don’t care what you think.