You know what I hate?

Do you have pet peeves? Of course you do. Everyone has one or two. If you’re like me you have closer to 371. I won’t list them all.

One of mine; crud in my keyboard. I hate that can see crumbs, dust bunnies, cat hairs, and little bits of who-knows-what. The most frustrating part is that I can’t get to them. They sit just beneath the keys and taunt me. I use the flip and shake method, but they’re still there. I run the sticky side of a Post-It between the keys. Somehow they avoid it. I have not yet gone so far as to remove each key and clean the surface underneath, but I’m seriously contemplating it.

Another, and this is a big one, is the pick-up lines at my kids’ schools. I don’t think anything on earth comes as close to making me lose my religion as the pick-up line. I think most people treat these things like a Michael Mann movie; check your brain at the door because it’s not necessary for this ride. Luckily I only pick them up twice a week at most.

What really galls me is that it never gets better. You would think that as the school year wears on the parents would get used to the procedure and things would flow a little smoother. You would be wrong.

I recently realized I am becoming one of those people whose online life is more social than real life. I post “status updates,” comment on blogs, respond to senseless lists, tweet. But I rarely talk to real people. Take, for example, Jeremy Britten. We go to church together and I see him there quite often. I’m not sure I’ve spoken to him more than 4-5 times. Online, though, we tweet (another word for posting on twitter.com) back and forth; I comment on his Facebook status; we interact daily. Just not in real life.

Unfortunately the rise of the internet, especially social networking sites, gives shy people like me an even bigger blanket to hide behind. I can’t imagine what it means for agoraphobics. I am getting better, but I still interact with people online more than I do in the real world. I’m going to make it a point to do better in the future. I will talk face to face with people. Even if I have nothing to say (which, of course never stops me on here). That means I need your help. If you see me, talk to me. Make me interact. It’ll be good for me.

Time to go distribute Girl Scout Cookies. Crap, that means I’ll have to talk to people.