90019
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People.
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Random little annoyances
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Hydro
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People who leave their shopping trolleys in the middle of the aisle when looking at food in the supermarket.
Those who basically assault foodstuffs in shops to determine whether they will buy them, and put a mangled loaf/fruit/whatever back on the shelf.
Overly elaborate business cards.
Their/they're/there, lose/loose, brakes/breaks, need I go on?
Those who basically assault foodstuffs in shops to determine whether they will buy them, and put a mangled loaf/fruit/whatever back on the shelf.
Overly elaborate business cards.
Their/they're/there, lose/loose, brakes/breaks, need I go on?
This too. Although some people bemoan that as 'typically british', I think it makes everyone that little bit happier especially when doing a basic service.
Hydro
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-seethe- (I love that book/film!)
The reason I bring it up was my partner and her housemates just had a load printed to hand out at a recruitment fair next week, and I actually likened it to that scene! Fortunately my missus is quite good about these things, and has a very simple to read card that shows all the vital information. The others have striking colours, mad designs, unreadable fonts and reams of needless information. If I got handed one of them I'd be less than impressed.
A work colleague had one given to him by a web designer, and it took three of us a good five minutes to decipher what her name actually was, the font was that elaborate and flowery.
DaveNewcastle
Established Member
That reminds me of one of my own 'little annoyances'.
Its the opposite of yours!
I feel irritation at impatience. Other people's impatience.
I agree. Its not just that it annoys me, but that I can't help drawing the meaning from the words that they are intended to convey - the correct meaning. As a consequence, the sentence doesn't make sense and I have to either ignore it or re-read it and try to deduce what interpretation would make sense. I can't help it - my schooling must have been very intense!
No, no, no. Not all of them.
Just a few.
Well, quite a large proportion.
A lot, in fact.
Maybe even 'most'.
But not all.
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Barrett M95
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It seems I'm quite tolerant based on some of these little rants. However I think this may be because in a previous part of my life I had a role that taught me a vital part of life that has benefitted me ever since: Patience. It is hard to overstate how much easier I find life (even outside the profession in question) because of the patience drilled into me.
If someone annoys me (this still happens - they don't drag that out of you), it is more than just "biting of tongue", it is a whole diplomatic state of mind - step outside yourself, see things from others' point of view, state your opinion when it IS a bonafide opinion, such as "I like this food" and at all other times, stick to the facts.
Above all - remain calm. Emotions can be powerful, but misused, can also get you killed. Obviously not being frustrated by a spelling mistake, but you know what I mean.
If something like a person stopping in front of you in the street boils your blood, just take a second to metaphorically (and physically?) step aside. Yes it is annoying, but focus on your goal - it may be getting to work, or meeting a friend, or (topically) catching a train. Life always throws these little things at you. Rise above it all.
I'm not trying to be patronising to anyone, so please don't take it that way. I think this topic is an interesting insight into the way we all think and maybe we can all learn something from it. My personal take and life experience on it though is as I've written.
If someone annoys me (this still happens - they don't drag that out of you), it is more than just "biting of tongue", it is a whole diplomatic state of mind - step outside yourself, see things from others' point of view, state your opinion when it IS a bonafide opinion, such as "I like this food" and at all other times, stick to the facts.
Above all - remain calm. Emotions can be powerful, but misused, can also get you killed. Obviously not being frustrated by a spelling mistake, but you know what I mean.
If something like a person stopping in front of you in the street boils your blood, just take a second to metaphorically (and physically?) step aside. Yes it is annoying, but focus on your goal - it may be getting to work, or meeting a friend, or (topically) catching a train. Life always throws these little things at you. Rise above it all.
I'm not trying to be patronising to anyone, so please don't take it that way. I think this topic is an interesting insight into the way we all think and maybe we can all learn something from it. My personal take and life experience on it though is as I've written.
chris89
Established Member
Which is all fair. People standing in the way walking is annoying but nothing big for me. Only time i can not stand it if people start nattering in the entrance/ exit on buses and in shop door ways where only one point of entry is avaible.
Ivo
Established Member
Another one from me:
Bath Bus Station, and especially its information desk. Not the people; one guy is really quite helpful! But some of the questions people ask and then take half-an-hour to understand the answer...
"How do I get to Lacock?" Answer: Bay 6 (I think; might be 5), bus 231 or 232 to Chippenham, then 234. 231/2 are half-hourly (both hourly); 234 is hourly. Three seconds later, the person asks again, and again, and again...
I know this happens a lot everywhere, but we seem to have a particularly strong occurrence of it!
Although, whoever thought it was a good idea to design Bath's bus station like Bristol's needs a reality check. There just isn't the room, and - courtesy of local routes using the bus station, which is not true in Bristol - it has more departures!
Bath Bus Station, and especially its information desk. Not the people; one guy is really quite helpful! But some of the questions people ask and then take half-an-hour to understand the answer...
"How do I get to Lacock?" Answer: Bay 6 (I think; might be 5), bus 231 or 232 to Chippenham, then 234. 231/2 are half-hourly (both hourly); 234 is hourly. Three seconds later, the person asks again, and again, and again...
I know this happens a lot everywhere, but we seem to have a particularly strong occurrence of it!
Although, whoever thought it was a good idea to design Bath's bus station like Bristol's needs a reality check. There just isn't the room, and - courtesy of local routes using the bus station, which is not true in Bristol - it has more departures!
CarterUSM
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People that talk about nothing but themselves.
90019
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This;
EM2
Established Member
The use of could of, would of, should of, must of annoys me immensely
Eagle
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90019
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SS4
Established Member
Agreed. A variation thereupon is when a narrow passageway is blocked by people travelling slowly (the pedestrian equivalent of three caravans abreast doing 50 ahead)
DaveNewcastle
Established Member
Good post!
I share your experience, colleagues sometimes point out that my patience is surprising. However, and unlike you, I don't think it has arisen from any of my training but must simply be my disposition. Its helped me to understand and solve difficult problems and to sustain relations during tempestuous times, but I'm sure its also a handicap. I probably arrived at work 2 minutes later than the chap in the car next to me one day last year.
Peter Mugridge
Veteran Member
Toy manufacturers who make even the simplest toys battery powered these days when clockwork would be quite adequate, a lot cheaper and a lot more environment friendly.
Eagle
Established Member
Am I the only person that finds the words "boyfriend" and "girlfriend" a little bit awkward when applied to people over 20? (Sorry Dan...)
Ivo
Established Member
Not a chance of you being alone! I have a friend in Kettering who has a "girl" of 38 for his "girlfriend" (when he is roughly my age)... which just doesn't sound right. 20 may be a little harsh, especially in cases where the people's ages are quite similar, but you are definitely right in some cases!
Another controversial one now. English people who always assume that they don't need to learn other languages because others can speak English.
And relating to SS4's point above, what about situations in which you are walking towards a group and you have to move out of their way instead of them bunching up or walking behind one-another when you try to walk past them?
Another controversial one now. English people who always assume that they don't need to learn other languages because others can speak English.
And relating to SS4's point above, what about situations in which you are walking towards a group and you have to move out of their way instead of them bunching up or walking behind one-another when you try to walk past them?
SS4
Established Member
Agree, "they all speak English in X" is one I hear a lot, and while it is sometimes true, it doesn't seem like a great attitude. Also, when people get annoyed in other countries when they can't communicate with others - "they should be made to learn English" is one I have heard in Southern Spain! :roll:
Anyway, I don't get annoyed with slower people on the street as that is life, but instead when people don't look around and consider others on the street.
DaveNewcastle
Established Member
I regret that your discomfort with those terms might just have to remain your burden. Would you have us all adopt the term applied to Queen Victoria's 'boyfriend'? her 'Consort'?
[Its such an underused term that when the officiating speaker at a recent funeral was referring to the deceased's 'boyfriend' but had clearly been prompted by survivors to use the term 'Consort', then, probably due to unfamiliarity with that term, but being more familiar with the Ford Motor Company's consumer products, they referred to the deceased's 'Escort'. Several times! Audible cringeing from the bereaved and the mourners. They would all have been happy with "boyfriend", and we're referring to people in their 60's.]
Is 'partner' any better for you? I think it implies a relationship which may not exist. What do you propose instead of 'boyfriend', 'girlfriend' or simply 'friend'?
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Eagle
Established Member
Vaguely related to this, I once witnessed a very long conversation on Facebook about a group of friends planning a holiday to Tenerife, and deciding it would be cheaper if they drove and stayed in motels along the way. I was just waiting for the moment someone decided to look for driving directions and noticed which continent Tenerife was off the coast of...
90019
Established Member
Something about it doesn't sound quite right once people are over a certain age. Though I'd say over 25-30 myself.
(You're over 20, I'm not
)
Ivo
Established Member
Something about it doesn't sound quite right once people are over a certain age. Though I'd say over 25-30 myself.
(You're over 20, I'm not
Ooh, I don't know about that! If I can be pedantic for a moment, you are roughly 20.53 years old! Is 20.53 not greater than 20?
25-30 is probably about right.
By the way, I've heard of the term "ladyfriend", but is there a male equivalent? Or is it always "boyfriend"?
This doesn't so much annoy me, but some people really do have poor basic knowledge about where towns/countries/cities are. On another note, someone asked me if you needed a passport to enter Wales last week....
90019
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Ivo
Established Member
This doesn't so much annoy me, but some people really do have poor basic knowledge about where towns/countries/cities are. On another note, someone asked me if you needed a passport to enter Wales last week....
I've been asked that about Scotland - by someone who had previously (and fairly recently) crossed the border!
As for people having a poor knowledge about where some places where, it would not be unreasonable to say that our local knowledge would be among the best of the best (how many other people could locate Penryn, for instance, without being local?). But sometimes there is no excuse. How dim do you have to be to not know where Newcastle-upon-Tyne is? And don't suggest the "-upon-Tyne" bit caused problems, because I said it both with and without...
Peter Mugridge
Veteran Member
I agree about this, but what is really annoying is when you are walking faster than the person in front of you and you move to one side to overtake them, they invariably then move to that same side themselves just as you are about to pass them... Idiots!:roll:
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