Comedic "things you would ban": minor things that irritate you

[trainophile]

We have vowed never to go away over a bank holiday weekend again. We also tend to avoid school holidays were possible. If bank holidays were increased to 12 there would potentially only be about 30 weeks in the year when we go away. If too many people feel likewise this will force the overcrowding problems all year round, and ensure we all book our trips for November!

 

[py_megapixel]

One thing that we really should do is spread out the current bank holidays a bit. As it stands there are none in September, October, November or most of December, while four of them end up spread, usually, between March and May.

Why not just declare the last Monday of every even-numbered month a bank holiday, with the December one moving to a different day of the week to match Christmas when the 25th doesn't fall on a Monday. Boxing day and new year's day make up the complete 8.

 

[GusB]

Getting back to the original topic - I'd ban (and probably have shot) anyone who complains that there are too many bank holidays

 

[adrock1976]

One thing that we really should do is spread out the current bank holidays a bit. As it stands there are none in September, October, November or most of December, while four of them end up spread, usually, between March and May.

Why not just declare the last Monday of every even-numbered month a bank holiday, with the December one moving to a different day of the week to match Christmas when the 25th doesn't fall on a Monday. Boxing day and new year's day make up the complete 8.

Scotland has a September Weekend, and in November, there is the 30th (or the following Monday if it falls on Saturday or Sunday) which is St Andrew's Day - the patron saint of Scotland.

I would like to mention that the St Andrew's Day holiday is a halfway house bank holiday, in that you can take that as a holiday if you have worked a different bank holiday. This motion was tabled by the former Falkirk MSP Dennis Canavan, although the original motion for it to be a proper bank holiday was voted against. The bill was amended to allow St Andrew's Day to be a substitute bank holiday in place of working a different bank holiday, so the number of bank holidays for Scotland still remains the same.

Dennis Canavan retired from frontline politics a good while ago, not long after he was in a position that no parent would ever want to find themselves in that he has outlived all four of his children.

 

[trainophile]

Even when I was working I hated the damn things. I was in a sales team for a drinks manufacturer, and we always had to ask for a double order the week before, and listen to the ranting about having to take in two weeks' stock that they didn't have room for. All the advance planning was a bit of a nightmare for all concerned. Publicans always said "well we don't get the day off".

It really does depend on the nature of your work as to whether you could properly benefit from the extra day off. If your job meant you could just down tools as normal and have a 72 hour break instead of 48 then what's not to like?

I think bank holidays should be restricted to Christmas Day, New Years Day (to avoid absenteeism), and any others to be one-offs for some specific reason, as agreed in parliament.

They should reinstate rail services for 26th December too, most people have had enough of their relatives by then!

 

[yorksrob]

Getting back to the original topic - I'd ban (and probably have shot) anyone who complains that there are too many bank holidays

Absolutely !

Even when I was working I hated the damn things. I was in a sales team for a drinks manufacturer, and we always had to ask for a double order the week before, and listen to the ranting about having to take in two weeks' stock that they didn't have room for. All the advance planning was a bit of a nightmare for all concerned. Publicans always said "well we don't get the day off".

It really does depend on the nature of your work as to whether you could properly benefit from the extra day off. If your job meant you could just down tools as normal and have a 72 hour break instead of 48 then what's not to like?

I think bank holidays should be restricted to Christmas Day, New Years Day (to avoid absenteeism), and any others to be one-offs for some specific reason, as agreed in parliament.

They should reinstate rail services for 26th December too, most people have had enough of their relatives by then!

It's presenteeism that needs to be avoided. .

 

[nlogax]

I think bank holidays should be restricted to Christmas Day, New Years Day (to avoid absenteeism), and any others to be one-offs for some specific reason, as agreed in parliament.

Your specific bad experiences with bank holidays in your specific job are hardly reason to ban the things and force everyone else to work themselves to the bone. Proper Ebenezer Scrooge attitude there.

(I should add, unless you were being extra lighthearted in which case I apologise)

 

[trainophile]

Your specific bad experiences with bank holidays in your specific job are hardly reason to ban the things and force everyone else to work themselves to the bone. Proper Ebenezer Scrooge attitude there.

(I should add, unless you were being extra lighthearted in which case I apologise)

Agreed my job wasn't conducive to enjoying BHs as the build-up greatly outweighed the reward. I usually spent the whole day in recovery mode!

But I fail to see that having eight days added to your annual leave entitlement, rather than being forced to take them on specific days along with millions of others, would be detrimental to your well-being!

 

[Ianno87]

Agreed my job wasn't conducive to enjoying BHs as the build-up greatly outweighed the reward. I usually spent the whole day in recovery mode!

But I fail to see that having eight days added to your annual leave entitlement, rather than being forced to take them on specific days along with millions of others, would be detrimental to your well-being!

I could go along with 8 extra days of Annual Leave in lieu of Bank Holidays!

 

[trainophile]

I could go along with 8 extra days of Annual Leave in lieu of Bank Holidays!

Well they couldn't just scrap them without putting some sort of compensatory measure in place, there would be mutiny!

 

[Jimini]

They should reinstate rail services for 26th December too, most people have had enough of their relatives by then!

Let's not open that annual can of worms just yet; it's only August

 

[HST274]

Shops that celebrate certain events far to early, and ads for school right at the start of a summer holiday.

 

[Scott1]

Shops that celebrate certain events far to early, and ads for school right at the start of a summer holiday.

There's a well known orange and purple supermarket who have always had a policy of no Christmas adverts, displays etc until after Armistice Day. I've always felt that was appropriate and stopped the creeping of Christmas shopping towards September.

 

[Techniquest]

Let's not open that annual can of worms just yet; it's only August

Christmas stock has been in my shop for over a week and on sale for pretty much a week now too. Who on Earth buys Celebrations etc in August?! Granted, they could come in handy for a birthday or something, so they are a bit more excusable than Cadbury's sending Christmas-themed chocolate out. Those Puds they've started selling don't look hugely appetising to me! Selling those in August is borderline criminal...

As for the Bank Holidays thing, I won't comment more than I did yesterday. Other than to say I would be in support of taking those mandatory 8 days off and making into regular holiday allowance. That seems like a fair compromise for now.

I'll not mention much in reply to @trainophile and their view on 26th December, other than being in full agreement!

 

[alex397]

I would make it a legal right to be able to grab someone’s phone and stamp on it, whenever they listen to music out loud on public transport. Just buy some ear/headphones!! Even if they are listening to something I like, it sounds awful through the tinny phone speakers.

Also I would ban those on public transport who haven’t seemed to have learnt the concept of blowing their nose, so spend their entire journey snorting the snot back up their nose every minute.

 

[nlogax]

As for the Bank Holidays thing, I won't comment more than I did yesterday. Other than to say I would be in support of taking those mandatory 8 days off and making into regular holiday allowance. That seems like a fair compromise for now.

Agree.. I totally misunderstood the point @trainophile was making but having thought about it some more it does makes good sense.

 

[duncanp]

I would make it a legal right to be able to grab someone’s phone and stamp on it, whenever they listen to music out loud on public transport. Just buy some ear/headphones!! Even if they are listening to something I like, it sounds awful through the tinny phone speakers.

You are leaning against an open door with me on this issue.

It really irritates me to have to listen to other people's c**p, especially as often happens you get noise from more than one phone.

And not just music either.

I would like the right to take a sledgehammer to someone's tablet/phone/IPad/laptop if they are watching a video on their device with the volume turned up and no headphones.

 

[Gloster]

What I find annoying is the sound of people typing away on a laptop. As I have mentioned before, this can sound like how Posy Simmonds many years ago described the sound of someone’s Walkman: like mice tap-dancing on the lid of a biscuit tin.

 

[Ianno87]

.

I would like the right to take a sledgehammer to someone's tablet/phone/IPad/laptop if they are watching a video on their device with the volume turned up and no headphones.

My 3 and 5 year olds watch with headphones without even the slightest protestation, so can be done. Even got complemented the other day for how good my 3 y/o was on an LNER train

 

[alex397]

My 3 and 5 year olds watch with headphones without even the slightest protestation, so can be done. Even got complemented the other day for how good my 3 y/o was on an LNER train

I must say, it is an exception for me, to some extent, when it’s children. I don’t mind them listening to things, as long as it’s a fairly low volume. I appreciate it’s sometimes hard to keep children occupied, and it’s probably better than a screaming child!

 

[Ianno87]

I must say, it is an exception for me, to some extent, when it’s children. I don’t mind them listening to things, as long as it’s a fairly low volume. I appreciate it’s sometimes hard to keep children occupied, and it’s probably better than a screaming child!

I'd personally ban the passengers who glare and tut at the slightest noise from a child; had one a couple of weeks ago when I'd only just got on at Peterborough before I'd got my kid settled (he pulled the tray table a couple of times whilst I was trying to get his entertainment out); he then proceeded to sit quietly for the whole journey, whereas the other passenger's kids proceeded to make more noise than the rest of the carriage combined....

 

[py_megapixel]

I would ban people from labelling anyone who dares find something they like annoying or offensive as a 'snowflake'.

Not least because the perpetrators are generally too dense to see the irony in taking offense at people being offended.

 

[Ianno87]

I would ban people from labelling anyone who dares find something they like annoying or offensive as a 'snowflake'.

Not least because the perpetrators are generally too dense to see the irony in taking offense at people being offended.

Couldn't resist having a search on the forum... https://www.railforums.co.uk/search/1526746/?q=snowflake&o=date

 

[birchesgreen]

I would ban people from labelling anyone who dares find something they like annoying or offensive as a 'snowflake'.

Not least because the perpetrators are generally too dense to see the irony in taking offense at people being offended.

From experience those who call others snowflakes are most likely to act like snowflakes themselves.

 

[py_megapixel]

Couldn't resist having a search on the forum... https://www.railforums.co.uk/search/1526746/?q=snowflake&o=date

That made me realise that this had already been mentioned in this thread before my previous post. Not just once, but twice, and once by me already! There are also some fairly legitimate uses in there, including people describing inanimate things as special snowflakes in that they need to be decided on a case-by-case basis. Then there are some discussions of what a snowflake symbol in various computer systems represents. There are also people quoting bad uses of it, or saying things along the lines of "call me a snowflake but [usually perfectly sensible view here]..."

Unfortunately there are also quite a few unironic uses of it in the way I describe...

From experience those who call others snowflakes are most likely to act like snowflakes themselves.

I agree entirely. Sadly that does not stretch to them melting in the heat of the sun and flowing away... the world might be a better place if it did!

I'm sure 'snowflake' was the sort of term thrown around when legalising gay marriage was still being campaigned for. But you have to be a pretty major 'snowflake' yourself in order to feel offended by other people being able to marry each other without it having any effect on yourself.

 

[Ianno87]

I agree entirely. Sadly that does not stretch to them melting in the heat of the sun and flowing away... the world might be a better place if it did!

Also, if you have enough Snowflakes, you have the force of an Avalanche!

 

[birchesgreen]

See what a few snowflakes do to the transport system too...

 

[Mcr Warrior]

See what a few snowflakes do to the transport system too...

But only when it's the wrong type of snowflake!

 

[Strat-tastic]

Restaurants automatically adding a service charge to the bill. I've just eaten at such a place. I asked for it to be removed, and they got about half of what I would've otherwise added. Shame, as it was a lovely meal with good service, but to assume they're worth it and trying to sneak it past me? No! Get out of here! More lines to write!!!

 

[Gloster]

People who get to the front of a queue and then suddenly try to be gallant by waving newly arrived people to go ahead of them; this is particular common with middle-aged and older men waving on young women and the old. This may be very gentlemanly to the people who they wave past, but is totally inconsiderate to those patiently queuing up behind them. (A particularly bad example was when a bus was nearly full and there was probably just enough room for the last four or five queuing passengers. Five teenage girls ran up and the chap at the front just waved them on. On they got, the driver shut the door and departed, leaving those in the queue with a fifteen minute wait: possibly half-an-hour for the two women immediately behind me.)