The Daily Times

Do you remember that essay in English class on “pet peeves?” I do. I think every high school student everywhere had to write that one.

I can’t tell you what I wrote about (there’s been way too many years since then) but I do remember those times when I was asked to write a thousand-word essay and thinking that I was being asked to write the sequel to Tolstoy’s “War and Peace.” A thousand words! Can I have like a month to write it?

Now I write a 700-800 word essay every week. And have been doing it regularly for about 25 years.

For some reason, I don’t really remember English class too fondly. Maybe it was freshman year. All I remember about freshman English was diagramming sentences. And I still haven’t figured out the value of that.

My sophomore year of high school, I had this wonderful lady, Miss Wolfenbarger. She was inspirational and memorable. She even had a student teacher, a track star from UT, who taught us symbolism by breaking down popular songs.

My senior year, we had this great teacher who prepared us for college. Keep in mind that this wasn’t a school that was particularly focused on preparing students for college. But Edward Headlee did. I can still remember portions of a poem that he had us memorize in Old English.

College English was a necessarily evil until English literature in my sophomore year when I had the good fortune to walk in to Dr. Paul Barrett’s class. One day he pulled me aside and told me that I was not even close to my academic potential.

No one had ever told me that. In high school, I was told that I should attend TV repairman school. Nothing against TV repairmen but even then I knew that there was something more for me.

But Dr. Barrett’s words changed my life. Forever. More than any educator I ever had before or since.

So now I’m back full circle, writing about my “pet peeves.”

And oh, I have many. Maybe I should write about people who never realize their potential but that would be too easy. I could talk about those that find excuses at every corner not to do what is healthy for themselves, but I’ve preached that sermon a thousand times.

Nah, I’m gonna write about what really bugs me. What really gets under my skin.

Like smoking. Don’t get me wrong — I don’t dislike smokers. But light up a cigarette in my vicinity, and one of us is going to leave.

I abhor prejudice. It hurts everyone. Describing someone by their skin color should be as mundane as describing them by their hair color or the clothes they are wearing. But prejudice is still out there.

And long fingernails on men. I’m sorry guys. And ugly toenails. An article in a popular men’s magazine reported that ugly toenails were found to be the one thing that women found most unattractive in men.

My list includes fever blisters and being late and drivers that don’t think I have a right to ride my bicycle on the roads. And headaches and parents that scream at their kids while they’re playing games and socks with slides (and if you don’t understand that one, ask a teenager).

I still don’t remember what I wrote about in high school but I bet it was quite different. I hope I am.

Joe Black, PT, DPT, SCS, ATC is a physical therapist and athletic trainer at Total Rehabilitation and is Manager of Outpatient Rehabilitation for Blount Memorial Hospital. Write to him at (joeblackdpt@gmail.com)

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