Ok, there are a lot of little things that annoy me.  People generally being stupid is the umbrella category for this I guess.  But one thing in particular that drives me nuts lately so I'm going to post about it. 

My voicemail on my phone doesn't say much.  It either just says my name and beeps for you to leave a message or the number and beeps.  I assume - incorrectly - that this is enough to cue the person as to what to do next.  Answering machines and voicemail greetings have been around since the mid 80s so by now I would think that reasonably intelligent people would know what to do with them and that you don't need the explicit instructions, "This is gabriel, please leave your name, number, and a brief message after the tone."  I assume you know what to do when the thing beeps.

Unfortunately, I'm sadly wrong about mankind's embracing of this technology.  Apparently voicemail greetings are a novel and complicated phenomenon just within grasp of the feeble psyche of most callers.  Day after day after day I get numerous messages that go something like:

"Um... I think I'm supposed to talk now... is there something wrong with your phone?  [pause, pause] Uh, well, uh, I hope you get this.  Your voicemail didn't say anything.  Are you there?  [pause, pause] Well, um, just I guess if you get this... call me back... this is [idiot's name]."

There is nothing wrong with my phone!  Leave your message when it beeps.  At this point in human history do you really need to be told by a recording to leave a message at the beep?  Isn't the beep enough to provoke that action or do people really need a recording on every phone that tells them what to do when it beeps?

My phone:  "Gabriel Hudson" *beep*
You:  "This is so-and-so from such-and-such.  Please give me a call when you get this."