They’re little.

Tiny almost.

No bigger than the head of a pin.

But when they bite, that attack can swell up to the size of a lemon.

I’m not talking about mosquitoes.

I’m talking about those little black gnats that crawl all over your face, up your nose, and in your eyes the second you step outside.

Annoying doesn’t even come close to describing their effect. As if we didn’t have enough aggravating situations in life.

Traffic for one. If I had a dollar for every orange cone in the state of Texas, I could retire a billionaire tomorrow.

Just about the time crews finish a section of road, the cones go up on the next section, and there’s gridlock traffic all over again.

Near our house, they rerouted traffic to the shoulder for a quarter mile. We drive over rumble strips cut into the asphalt while they’re working on the west-bound traffic.

The noise from the tires bumping over the rumble strips would wake the dead.

Anybody driving on Highway 59 can attest to the headache around narrow lanes with concrete barriers on both sides of the road.

I feel like I’m being squished through a sausage maker, especially when there’s an 18-wheeler barreling past me.

Once we get to where we’re going, we get to stand in long lines and deal with people who do not understand the concept of the next person in line should go to the next open cashier.

Not the person on their cell phone who runs up to the check-out lines and believes because they were already in motion they should go next.

Wrong.

Wait your turn because your behavior is annoying.

People talking loudly on a cell phone in a waiting room or in line is annoying. You might think you’re talking quietly, but you’re not.

Everyone five feet around you can hear everything you’re saying and, sometimes, we can hear the person on the other end of the conversation.

In no particular order, here are some other things that are annoying:  having it rain right after you washed your car. Pulling up to the ATM machine on a Friday afternoon and finding out it’s out of cash. Finally mopping the floor and then having the kids run in with muddy shoes.

Repeating yourself to someone who’s distracted but assures you they’re paying attention. Getting stuck at a red light next to a teenager blaring music so loud, your car vibrates.

Waiting for a delivery that’s supposed to come between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m., and you get a text message at 5:55 p.m. that the delivery is postponed until the next day.

Reading comments online about who lives and dies in “The Endgame.” At this point, if you haven’t seen “The Endgame,” time’s up for asking people not to reveal the ending. You’ve had plenty of time to see it.

A mosquito in the bedroom at night is annoying as are mosquitoes almost all the time. Sure, those insects are great for the birds, but explain that to the itchy red bump on my cheek that’s right next to the gnat bite on my forehead.

There are some ways around the annoyances. Stay off of Highway 59 and take Highway 90 instead. Enjoy the few minutes the car and floor are clean instead of concentrating on the dirt. Stop reading online comments about movies or shows until you’ve seen them.

And buy “Bugg” or use vanilla – both will repel those annoying little gnats.

When someone pulls up next to you at the red light blaring their music, crank up your radio and blare NPR back at them.

Hopefully it’s during pledge week – that’ll annoy anybody.

This column was originally published in The Fort Bend Herald.