Top 10 Bugbears (Annoyances/Gripes/Irritants)

Rachel Hawkins - 12 Apr 16

This list includes all the little things in the world that wind me up.  You know, those annoying irritants that get right under your skin, like those idiotic self checkout tills at Sainsburys or Tesco which always involves you having to receive help from someone at least 3 times.  They’re not more time efficient, they’re not easy to use and they waste your staff’s time just as much as they waste mine!
So, have a little read of my bugbears and see if you can see any that annoy you too! There’s bound to be at least one or 2. 

10. Cyclists who go through red lights

I don’t drive.  I walk and get the bus everywhere.  Time after time after time I’ll be walking across the road only to be met by some arsehole on a bike who thinks the red light  doesn’t apply to them, whizzing past me so I have to dart out the road.  It makes my nerves bad I tell you.
Good for you that you’ve decided to cut down on the carbon omissions and get a bit of exercise in at the same time but if you could just wait a couple of seconds while I cross the road when I’m supposed to that would be fab. 
Same goes for cyclists who cycle on the pavement and look at you funny when you’re walking on said pavement, they’d be quick to give a ring of their bell and yell some sort of obscenity if you were walking on THEIR side of the cycle track.  Morons.

9. Litter louts

Was Earth made for you to throw your empty crisp packet down on the ground when you’re stood 2 feet away from a bin? No, so get moving your lazy arse and throw it in there instead.  I can’t bear it, it’s lazy, rude and makes me wonder what their houses must look like.   The same goes for dog mess, why have a dog if you’re not prepared to clear up after it?  I’ve lost count of the amount of times I’ve had to swerve my son’s buggy like I’m on some sort of assault course because some canine has done a dump and his lazy owner couldn’t be arsed to pick it up.  It’s disgusting and so unnecessary. 

8. Doctor surgery receptionists

Or Gate Keepers as I affectionly refer to them as.  No I wont tell you why I’d like to see the Dr of my choice, funnily enough that’s what I’m wanting to speak to my Dr about, not some middle aged woman who has got a chunky chip on her shoulder.  They can be just so rude and so ridiculously unhelpful, it’s like they’re doing you a massive favour by taking your call and booking you an appointment.  Oh, sorry, is that not the job you’re paid to do or have I got your job description wrong and you’re actually supposed to diagnose me over the phone?  Thanks but I’d rather speak to someone who’s been to med school for the best part of a decade.  To be fair, my current Dr’s receptionists aren’t too bad but I’ve come up against some actual tyrants in the past, acting like they’re guarding the gates of Buckingham bleeding Palace not an NHS surgery in Bristol. 

7. TOWIE ‘stars’ opening shops

What is it with these TOWIE ‘celebs’ opening up a shop after being on the show for 2 episodes or putting their name to some god awful clothing brand and purporting to design said monstrosities. All of the clothes look exactly the same.
It makes a mockery of the fashion world and probably makes it difficult for those unknown fashion designers who haven’t gone down the TOWIE route.  If you’re over the age of 21 and have one tiny bit of style would you actually buy anything that a TOWIE star has worn?  OK, so they want to capitalise on their (short lived) ‘fame’ as much as possible but how about you do something you’re good at?  Oh, course, there probably isn’t anything apart from saying “shhhuuuuttt upppp” over and over again. 

6. Pregnancy Police

It seems that as soon as you announce you’re pregnant, it gives every single bloody person the right to express their opinion. 9 times out of 10 the opinion is totally unwanted.
Could someone please inform me why I need to let a stranger know whether or not I’m breastfeeding my baby? Exactly, what business is it of anyone else’s apart from mine?  Oh I know, the Pregnancy Police.  Do I need to justify my choice of birth?  I found myself having to do that more than once. 
To be fair, I didn’t have too much of a rough ride with them or with the Baby Bobbies as I named them once I gave birth to my son but I’ve heard some absolute horror stories.  I’ve heard of people being asked by staff in supermarkets about their feeding choice for their baby, expressing their disappointment when they see a box of formula in their trolley.  It honestly renders me speechless (a rare occurrence I have to say).  Pregnancy and having a baby is such a scary and personal time and yes we’ve all got a story to tell about our experiences but do we need to be told our baby isn’t good if they’re still not sleeping through the night?  That doesn’t mean they’re a bad child, it simply means they’re a baby and that’s what babies do?!

5. Celebs using Instagram to post ads

I’ve lost count of the amount of times I’ve scrolled through Instagram to be faced with a picture of a Z Lister holding some sort of teeth whitening kit next to their face with the hash tag #spon.  It took me an age to work out what this spon business was until I googled it to find out it means sponsored.  They’re paid to probably pretend they use a product and post a pic on their Instagram, clever business and all that but so highly annoying.  If it’s not a teeth whitening kit it could be those irritating protein shakes or some sort of pill that means your hair will grow 7 inches in a day. 

4. Chuggers (Charity muggers)

I was both jealous and impressed when I read that Croydon have banned Charity sellers from their streets – oh how I’d love to breeze around Cabot Circus without feeling like I’ve got to swerve those irritants like I’m playing some sort of video game.  They stand there with their big false smiles and their clipboards ready to get selling and pretending their doing some sort of humanitarian act when in actual fact they’re probably on £10 per hour.  Why, I ask, why do I find myself more than often apologising to them for not giving them my precious time? Cus, lets face it, I’m really not sorry and they don’t really hope that I have a nice day do they? 

3.  Fakery

Which side of your face am I talking to today?  I’ve lost count of the amount of people I’ve come into contact with over the last 29 years that have been so hideously fake, you know, that sort of fake that when you’ve left their presence you feel really horrible and unsure?  I’m a firm believer that you should always be polite to someone but there’s being polite then there’s being so sickly sweet fake that it’s a little embarrassing.  My best friend raised a very good point the other day when we were putting the world to rights (we do this ALOT), she said be careful how people speak about people to you as chances are they’re doing the same about you to them.  It sums my point up perfectly, it’s a sad state of affairs when you have to spend time with someone you know is playing a game and is 2 faced.  I decided earlier this year that if I find someone fake, I just won’t spend time with them anymore, life is too short and I’ve got so many great people in my life I don’t need anyone I can’t trust.

2. Poor manners

It really doesn’t take much to say thank you, it’s so simple yet so effective.  I’ve lost count of the amount of times I’ve held a door for someone, only to be met with silence (I usually shout YOU’RE WELCOME quite loudly in a sarcastic tone), or done a favour for someone, for them only to be rude to me some months later.  It really, really gets my back up.  The problem with me is I have a fantastic memory, I’m renowned for it.  So although I’m very good at forgiving, I’m less great with the forgetting part.  So if someone was rude to me back in 2001 – I’ll remember it or if I gave something to someone to be given absolutely zero gratitude then I’ll remember that too.  Being polite really isn’t difficult and can really make a difference so if someone gives you a present, remember to say thanks, or if someone holds a door open for you – don’t act like you’ve done them the favour!

1. Bus drivers

Is it a pre-requisite that to become a bus driver you have to be an utterly rude arsehole?  Because that is exactly how it seems.  I absolutely loathe having to hand over my hard earned money on a near daily basis to someone who doesn’t know basic manners such as please & thank you.  The majority of drivers I come into contact with barely even grunt when I get on their bus so I’m not actually sure if they have any sort of grasp of the English language at all.  The problem in Bristol is, we have no other regular bus company to us.  We rely so heavily on First to get us to work etc. that we have to put up with under par service, but me being me, I’m not happy in shutting up.  I’m often tweeting First Bristol’s twitter page with my thoughts and complaints and have even called the office a couple of times to have a vent, to no avail I have to add.  Why work in a public serving sector if you have zero customer service skills?  I wouldn’t dream of picking up the phone in work and answering with a totally inaudible grunt, so why should it be acceptable that our bus drivers do?  Recently, I had a driver actually shout go at me when I showed him my bus ticket, I called him a fucking arsehole under my breath and made a complaint about him later that evening.  Shock, horror, First Bus did absolutely bog all about it and yes, I still got on the bus the next day, because I had to get to work.  I’m hoping to meet with my local MP soon to discuss this as I really do think something needs to be done about First Bus and the public transport system in and around Bristol so stay tuned as I’ll keep you updated with how that pans out.  I will say, however, there is this one particular bus driver I come into contact with quite regularly who is nothing but friendly and personable, so much so I nominated him for an award recently.  Although I’m one to complaint (a lot), I’m also a believer that if you receive good service then you should let that be known too, so that is exactly what I did. I was probably back to tweeting First Bristol with complaints the following day though!!

Rant over. I swear there was actual smoke emanating off of my keyboard when I was typing that, especially the Bus driver bit.  The pure disdain I have for First Bus is huge. 

Rachel Hawkins

Almost 30 year old (eeeek) Mother to one from Bristol. Writing about whatever takes my fancy, mainly due to the fact 140 characters on Twitter and a Facebook status just isn't enough! Passionate about mental health awareness.

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