I'm finding a growing list of things that people do that really, really tick me off. Topping the list is ignorance, but it's grown in volume and sheer offensiveness to the point where I must write it all down and get it out in the open before I cut somebody's head off. Therefore, I'm typing this list of things that annoy me, mostly about religious zealots, to relieve a significant build-up of personal stress.

#1. As I mentioned, IGNORANCE tops the list. I'm sure several people have seen editorials, heard news reports or TV interviews or heard it from a significantly loud individual they've met about how evolution is totally false because "I don't want to believe that I came from an ape!" or "If evolution was true, we'd grow turn signals out our ears!" and my personal favorite, "Evolution can't be true or we'd all look like characters from Star Wars!". All of this blatantly portrays the level of misinformation and general ignorance prevalent in our society today. Now, we can't see the exact course life has taken throughout all ancient history, so we can't truly rule out other possibilities. Yes, we might not have evolved from single-celled organisms. Still, that MIGHT is only a MIGHT, not a DEFINITELY. People seem to forget that we ARE given the ability, and therefore the responsibility, to infer things from evidence given to us. A detective at the scene of a crime doesn't look at bloody handprints on the wall and a knife with fingerprints clearly evident on the hilt, then promptly stand up and proclaim, "Obviously, a dragon burst through the window and ate this person!" When things line up a certain way, when there is a clear line of evidence, it is logical to conclude that the correct solution will go in line with the evidence, and not against the evidence. Fingerprints and a bloody knife don't imply a dragon.
Further than that, besides when people jump to conclusions when presented with clear and concise evidence, they also presume to have immense knowledge on subjects they've never studied. The quotes above were all things I've heard from real people in my life. The look-like-Star-Wars one was from my own father. Needless to say, all of those quotes are wrong. Darwinism doesn't suggest that we'll grow turn signals out our ears (that would be Lamarckism) or that we'll look like Star Wars characters (Humans are not isolated from each other, preventing multiple new species arising from us). Not wanting to be related to an ape has nothing to do with the issue at hand at all! It's just based on what somebody WANTS to believe, and not on what's really happened.
Thus, the first thing I could ever suggest to somebody seeking self-improvement would be to overcome ignorance. Research before forming your opinion on an issue.

#2. ASSUMPTIONS, especially those based on age, race, gender, etc. Just today, my aunt told me that, while I was an atheist now, I wouldn't be all my life. Continuing, she said that I hadn't faced any challenges or near death experiences, so I'd definitely reconsider my position later in life when I did face those challenges. The most offensive thing she said was that I was just in the normal teenage rebellion phase, and I'd grow up soon.
That's the sort of assumption that bothers me the most. I didn't mind so much when she was just saying that I still hadn't experienced everything, so I'd reconsider my opinion later as I experienced more. I understand that. But I also know that reconsidering my opinion doesn't mean instantly grabbing hold of religion and embracing God like a man who can't swim in a shipwreck clinging to a floating barrel. I know that I'll experience more, but for the moment I have no choice but to base my opinion on what I've experienced so far, and on what I've heard of other people's experiences.
Still, the line wasn't crossed until she mentioned, "You're just in that teenage rebellion stage. You'll grow out of it." THAT was an assumption, and one of the worst sort. I by NO means became an atheist to rebel against anything, especially not my parents. She's just assuming that's why I did what I did. I tried to explain to her why I really left the church, and how it had absolutely nothing to do with rebellion (I actually hesitated for months and months before leaving the church because I didn't want to offend anyone or lose standing in anybody's eyes, most of all my parent's.). I used an example she'd used earlier, with a slight twist, to point out her error.
"You mentioned being on an airplane at 35,000 feet when it hit turbulence. You mentioned how at that moment, you prayed to God harder than you ever had before. Well, say that it wasn't just turbulence. Say that the engines, visible through the windows, are clearly spouting flames and the airplane is in a steep dive. There's a Hindu man next to you, and he starts praying aloud to Shiva" (This example is slightly incorrect, a Hindu wouldn't pray to Shiva since Shiva is a God of vengeance, not mercy, but I couldn't remember any other Hindu god's names at that moment). "Would you start praying to Shiva as well, or would you start praying to your Christian God? You'd pray to the Christian God, because to pray to the Hindu God would be against your instinct as well as your beliefs. The man next to you wouldn't pray to a Christian God for the same reason."
She told me all about how I was wrong, and I'd come crawling back to God someday when the shit hit the fan. It's simply offensive to have somebody assume your actions for you, and to discount your past actions, or to deny that you could actually have thought things out, possibly more than they ever have. Whether it's because of how old you are, what race you are, what gender you are, it doesn't matter at all. I can't remember a single time I've been more angry at my parents than when my dad told me not to trust any Japanese people because they were inherently a violent, untrustworthy and conspiring race. It's for that reason I'm considering changing my name permanently later on to separate myself fully from that mentality, in name as well as in deed.

#3. SPEAKING ILL about somebody clearly within earshot of you. Again, this traces back to my parents. I have a bedroom directly above theirs. Sound carries quite well between the rooms. It's thin enough that you can hear me typing on my computer upstairs in the basement. My parents know this. They used to use my bedroom as their own, before the master bedroom in the basement was completed, and they could always hear precisely what was going on in the basement below them. My brother stayed in the basement for a few years while it was still unfinished, and my parents had quite a bit of experience with just how well sound carries. So it bothers me when they talk, in elevated voices, about how unfortunate it is that I'm an utter failure at life. They talk about how I'll never stand a chance in the real world because I have no work ethic. They talk about how they're so ashamed that their own son could doubt the word of god. All of this is, as they know, well within my earshot. They even do it when I'm in my room with the door open and they're just down the hall in the kitchen. More than once, they've out and said those sort of things to each other while in the same room as me, as if I just didn't exist. Worse is when I hear them talk about my brother or sister the same way, and I know that my brother or sister can hear them too. It's just not right.

That should be all of my ranting for now, but don't count on it. I'm really pissed off now, and I might need to blow some more steam off again soon.