The most unpleasant things...

In the last few weeks I have bought a car and shopped for health insurance - easily two of the most unpleasant experiences know to man. But then it got me thinking - apart from the obvious (sickness, death, violence, grief, crime, etc.) what are the most annoying things in my life and what makes them unpleasant. So here goes take one of the list of things that suck:

1. Moving - Everyting sucks about moving. You have to organize labor, pack up your crap, and do all that annoying bill-paying related stuff, like deal with your phone and electric and change your address on your credit cards and everything else. Moving also involves asking for favors which, if you're a guy, is particularly challenging. Mostly though, moving involves changing your home base. Home is a sanctuary and a way that you define yourself, and when you uproot yourself and change sanctuaries, it's usually not fun.
2. Car shopping - Car shopping sucks because it is scary to spend that much money on something that, let's face it, you don't really know that much about. It is in your best interest to get the best car for the least amount of money, and it is in the car dealer's best interest to sell you the least amount of car for the most money. They want to get the crap off their lot, so that's what they want you to buy. They use time and fatigue and ignorance against you, and you pretty much have to take it if you want a car.
3. Looking for a job - Especially lately, looking for a job has never sucked more. You wear your best suit, comb your hair, and summarize everything that is worthwhile about you in a two-page resume that reads like a careerbuilder ad. At its core, job seeking is repeated rejection. It used to be that you applied for 10-15 jobs and got rejected by all but 2 or 3. But now, due to the glory of the Internet, you can get rejected hundreds of times in one afternoon. If you get the interview, you then get to prostrate yourself in front of a disinterested middle manager and tell them - in dollars - what you think you are worth as a human being. Then, to make matters worse, they tell you that they think you're worth less than what you thought.
   
4. Breaking up - Man this is a hard one (allegedly, it's hard to do). I've been married for 12 years and I still remember what it was like to break up. It involves doing something willfully that will hurt another person. Even worse, it's another person that you (supposedly) cared about at one time. The only thing worse than breaking up is breaking up about 6 months after you should have broken up. Then it's just plain ugly.
5. Dealing with banks/insurance companies/ universities / brokers/large commercial institutions - This admittedly is a catchall, but all of these things have one thing in common. They are in business because they get money out of you for a service. This means that you are paying them to do something you can't do for yourself that you need to be done. Health insurance is a perfect example. It's like playing roulette at a casino. The game is rigged in the house's favor. You can't win. All you can do is try to mitigate the expense. The bigger the company, the more stable the service - but the less of a poop they give about you. Blue Cross could not care less about me. They want my premiums and they want to pay as little as possible in claims. Period. Keeping me alive is only in their best interest if I am not filing claims and paying as high a premium as they can squeeze out of me. Ugh. Must stop before ugly Rob takes over.

Surprisingly, the dentist and doctor didn't make the list. I really don't mind them that much, compared to these other things. They do their best and they really have my best interests at heart (or at least mine do). Hangovers also didn't make the list because, let's face it, they are my own damn fault. Next post will be my favorite things. I promise.