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

[S&CLER]

I'd ban website designers from making sites that were once easy to use unnecessarily difficult. I am thinking of that rotten firm Vue cinemas (who took 9 months to refund my credit card after cancellations during lockdown). Our local cinema used to have a simple website that listed all the films forthcoming plus the live relays of special events (theatre, opera, ballet, music etc). For some reason, since the end of lockdown, someone has seen fit to remove the live relays from this site. Now you have to go Big Events, then to theatre/music/dance/ opera. It's not an improvement in my opinion. I prefer to buy my tickets over the counter, since it gives me somewhere to call on my afternoon walk, but today when I called to see if I could book tickets for Lucia di Lammermoor and Hamlet from the NY Met on 21 May and 4 June, I was told "they're not in the system yet". Before lockdown I could book all my tickets for the whole season from Covent Garden or the NY Met in one go by speaking to a human being over the counter, look at the screen to see if my invariable seat on the end of the front row was free (lots of leg room, no one in front of me and very easy to walk out without disturbing anyone if the production is intolerable) and take the tickets away (I don't bank online, so I imagine paying online and collecting from a machine is not an option anyway).

 

[py_megapixel]

I shall ban charity shops which have a little changing cubicle for trying on clothes, but chuck bags of donated stock there so nobody can actually use it.

 

[Busaholic]

I shall ban charity shops which have a little changing cubicle for trying on clothes, but chuck bags of donated stock there so nobody can actually use it.

Even worse, charity shops which say 'no' when you ask to try a jacket on for size in the shop, the first time I'd ever tried to do such a thing. It was 'against the rules' according to the hatchet-faced individual issuing the edict.

 

[LethalDrizzle]

I believe it's time to establish an international body to govern the use of the word 'iconic'.

L'Arc de Triomphe is iconic. Dark Side of the Moon is iconic. Nelson Mandela was iconic.

Blocks of flats, nondescript restaurants, and obscure music acts unknown beyond the fourteen oddballs who show up to their every pub gig ... are not iconic. They are merely things some other people have heard of.

 

[D821]

I believe it's time to establish an international body to govern the use of the word 'iconic'.

L'Arc de Triomphe is iconic. Dark Side of the Moon is iconic. Nelson Mandela was iconic.

Blocks of flats, nondescript restaurants, and obscure music acts unknown beyond the fourteen oddballs who show up to their every pub gig ... are not iconic. They are merely things some other people have heard of.

Similar to this; overuse of the word 'hero'.

 

[D6968]

Similar to this; overuse of the word 'hero'.

Legend is an over used one that really annoys me.

 

[Darandio]

Forum contributors that use the emoji on a near daily basis in their posts.

 

[gg1]

Forum contributors that use the emoji on a near daily basis in their posts.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Forum contributors that use the emoji on a near daily basis in their posts.

And those who "naysay" things regardless of how sensible and viable they may be, but rather take pleasure in just trying to shoot down any idea for improvement as non-viable or impossible. Lots of things have been "naysaid" on here and before it on uk.railway that happened pretty much as proposed, e.g. larger overhead racks, end gangways on new units, new LHCS, mini HSTs, longer trains on Northern/TPE, e-tickets.....

 

[BenS123]

Personally I'd ban PIS systems that haven't been properly thought out - such as Bournemouth's (and probably other SWR stations) "The train at platform platform 2 is not in use", that one's been going for years SWR's on train ones don't give you a break at all either between sentences.

 

[xotGD]

Similar to this; overuse of the word 'hero'.

Also:

Essential
Unmissable

 

[D821]

Also:

Essential
Unmissable

"National treasure"

 

[yorksrob]

I'd ban website designers from making sites that were once easy to use unnecessarily difficult. I am thinking of that rotten firm Vue cinemas (who took 9 months to refund my credit card after cancellations during lockdown). Our local cinema used to have a simple website that listed all the films forthcoming plus the live relays of special events (theatre, opera, ballet, music etc). For some reason, since the end of lockdown, someone has seen fit to remove the live relays from this site. Now you have to go Big Events, then to theatre/music/dance/ opera. It's not an improvement in my opinion. I prefer to buy my tickets over the counter, since it gives me somewhere to call on my afternoon walk, but today when I called to see if I could book tickets for Lucia di Lammermoor and Hamlet from the NY Met on 21 May and 4 June, I was told "they're not in the system yet". Before lockdown I could book all my tickets for the whole season from Covent Garden or the NY Met in one go by speaking to a human being over the counter, look at the screen to see if my invariable seat on the end of the front row was free (lots of leg room, no one in front of me and very easy to walk out without disturbing anyone if the production is intolerable) and take the tickets away (I don't bank online, so I imagine paying online and collecting from a machine is not an option anyway).

The same could be said of the redesign of the Doodle website, which is much worse than the original to use.

 

[D821]

Shampoo or shower gel bottles that can't easily be stood on their heads to get the last of their contents out.

 

[jfollows]

The same could be said of the redesign of the Doodle website, which is much worse than the original to use.

Thank you for that, it's not just me then! Awful and counter-intuitive.

 

[gg1]

Shampoo or shower gel bottles that can't easily be stood on their heads to get the last of their contents out.

Also those where it's impossible to remove the lids so you can't balance one almost empty bottle on top of another to recover the dregs.

 

[yorksrob]

Thank you for that, it's not just me then! Awful and counter-intuitive.

They need to learn the rule "if it ain't broke, don't fix it".

 

[gg1]

They need to learn the rule "if it ain't broke, don't fix it".

When it comes to corporate web design, a lot of companies seem to prefer the rule "if it ain't broke, **** about with it".

eBay are a perfect example, they have a long history of making "improvements" to their site which worsen the user experience.

 

[43096]

When it comes to corporate web design, a lot of companies seem to prefer the rule "if it ain't broke, **** about with it".

eBay are a perfect example, they have a long history of making "improvements" to their site which worsen the user experience.

A case of “Normal people believe if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Engineers believe if it ain’t broke, it doesn’t have enough features yet.”

 

[Strathclyder]

Shampoo or shower gel bottles that can't easily be stood on their heads to get the last of their contents out.

This! As I like to get my money's worth out of my shower gel/shampoo, this drives me up the wall. Have to resort to shaking it like a idiot to get the last of it out.

 

[birchesgreen]

A case of “Normal people believe if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Engineers believe if it ain’t broke, it doesn’t have enough features yet.”

Engineers don't change corporate websites just because, marketing do. To be honest a lot of changes occur because someone new is in charge and they want to make their mark.

 

[Pinza-C55]

Since we are getting on towards summer , I would ban men from wearing shorts, open toed sandals and sunglasses on top of their heads. Cover it up , it looks horrible.

 

[Gloster]

Large gentlemen wandering around town on hot days wearing only shorts and flip-flops. It is worse when they go into shops, particularly considering where they sometimes keep their money, and most disgusting in somewhere like a library.

 

[gg1]

Since we are getting on towards summer , I would ban men from wearing shorts, open toed sandals and sunglasses on top of their heads. Cover it up , it looks horrible.

Shorts and sandals (sans socks obviously) are fine but no arguments about sunglasses worn on top of the head.

I would however add going shirtless to the list, especially if you're a middle aged or older man with a beer belly and moobs.

EDIT: @Gloster got there first

 

[LethalDrizzle]

Shorts and sandals (sans socks obviously) are fine but no arguments about sunglasses worn on top of the head.

Are reading glasses exempt from this, or is it the tintedness of the eyewear that's the problem?

 

[DelW]

Also those where it's impossible to remove the lids so you can't balance one almost empty bottle on top of another to recover the dregs.

This! As I like to get my money's worth out of my shower gel/shampoo, this drives me up the wall. Have to resort to shaking it like a idiot to get the last of it out.

You guys need one of these (photos attached of device for clamping two bottles together).

I've no idea when or where I bought it, but it must easily have covered its cost. It's surprising how much I can get out of some bottles long after they first seem to be empty.

 

[gg1]

Are reading glasses exempt from this, or is it the tintedness of the eyewear that's the problem?

I will make an exception for reading glasses, though with a suggestion you invest in a glasses case

 

[Paul Jones 88]

Ridiculously loud music being played from passing cars during times of pleasant weather.

 

[Pinza-C55]

Shorts and sandals (sans socks obviously) are fine but no arguments about sunglasses worn on top of the head.

I would however add going shirtless to the list, especially if you're a middle aged or older man with a beer belly and moobs.

EDIT: @Gloster got there first

We'll have to disagree on that. There's nothing more nausea inducing than a middle aged man wearing open toed sandals and having yellowing ragged toenails and dead skin. God knows how much DNA and sweat must be in those things too.

 

[dakta]

Just a minor one but company self-descriptions that don't do much describing

'At JK Media we use our vast experience along with the latest technologies, processes and attention to detail to meet the ever-increasing demands of our clients to conduct their business successfully in the modern digital world'


So you film adverts, print T-shirts or you sell printer cartridges and blank discs then :/