Last month I launched my fun new “28 Things” series with a list of truly wonderful things. Today, we are taking the series a little darker—which is fitting, given today’s date. (To be clear, Halloween itself doesn’t fall under the umbrella of “crummy things” for me, I quite like this holiday; but it is a day that often celebrates some pretty not-great things. . . some of which appear on today’s list!)

With the stated purpose of my first list being a desire to focus on good and beautiful things, you might be wondering why I would dedicate a full list to things I don’t like. And you wouldn’t be wrong to question this, I did so myself. Ultimately I decided to roll with the Kinda Crummy theme because sometimes you just need to call out something bad for what it is! And sometimes, you need to laugh at yourself and marvel at our uniqueness because an item on one person’s Kinda Crummy list could be lifted straight off of someone else’s list of Wonderful Things!

Here’s a look at some things I find loathsome. Feel free to disagree!

1) Black licorice, celery, raw apples, coconut shavings, and nuts. There is no hope of redemption for any of these foods.

2) The sound of someone biting into an apple—it’s my “nails on a chalkboard.”

3) People who think eating an apple around me and watching goosebumps appear on my arm is amusing.

4) Any fruit or vegetable with an apple-like texture. (Are you sensing a theme here?)

5) Aggressive drivers, and people who speed.

6) Halloween costumes that are scary or grotesque.

7) Horror movies.

8) Hypocrisy of any kind, even when (especially when) I see that hypocrisy in myself.

9) Coming to the end of a delicious dessert.

10) Looking into an emptied bowl of ice cream and realizing I’ve eaten the final bite without even realizing it.

11) Junk mail in the form of text messages.

12) Political campaign signs.

13) All political ads, especially negative ones.

14) Trick-or-treaters who ignore the “please take two” sign and pilfer every candy from the front porch bowl.

15) Food thaTt goes bad before its expiration date.

16) Realizing that every one of the pens in my purse has dried out. (It always happens when I’m most desperate for a writing utensil.)

17) A mouth sore that you can’t keep from aggravating and that just won’t heal.

18) Teeth once straightened by braces that decide they want to be crooked again.

19) Unmet expectations.

20) Having to watch your kids grieve unmet expectations.

21) Seeing another’s pain and not knowing how to help.

22) Watching a child’s innocence slip away.

23) The first time a kid says a cherished kid-ism word the correct way.

24) Scuff marks on a white wall.

25) The first ding or scratch on a new car.

26) Recognizing a missed opportunity or unrealized potential.

27) Feeling overwhelmed, or lonely, or helpless.

28) Stickers and labels that leave residue when you try to take them off.

I hope you have a great Halloween that is filled with wonderful and NOT crummy things! And if you get a chance, let me know what would go on your own Kinda Crummy list!