What really grinds your gears?

General Chat
22

I did not!!!

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23

OK I slightly exaggerated but depending on where you are it might be 50% of them.

I would say that anywhere that there is an actual junction is likely to be automated as they need to control traffic whether you’re there or not.

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24

When people are so self absorbed that they have zero consideration for others and their surroundings.

This video on Reddit sums it up and made me laugh.

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25

There is a roundabout near my office that is all automated, you see people pressing the buttons but it’s clear they do not do anything as it would ruin the flow of traffic lol

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26
  • Poor customer service
  • “Computer says no”
  • Computer says yes but monkey thinks they know better and still say no.
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27

So many things…

  1. Lists
  2. Falsely advertised WiFi speeds
  3. Companies who only have 0808 numbers.
  4. People talking too loudly on their phones on trains.
  5. Repetition.
  6. Falsely Advertised WiFi speeds.
  7. The price of Freddos.
  8. The insane amount of insulation in new houses which turns them into hell during summer.

Fun fact: I was going to miss the number 7 out, and put a bad joke about people leaving the number 7 out from lists, but Discourse auto corrects it to include the 7 every time!

:grinning:

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28

There is a junction near me, on my route to and from the station, which monitors the pavement and crossings after the button has been pressed. If you move away from the button, or cross the road before the Green Man, it cancels the WAIT on the yellow box and continues to cycle through the traffic phases.

Very helpful if there is a break in the traffic allowing you to (safely) cross early, or to combat people who press the button and walk off, just to annoy drivers.

However, I’ve discovered in my quest for mindfulness, that a short pause whilst one waits for the lights to change feels relaxing and combats the (particularly city–based) feeling of having to be everywhere as quickly as possible.

Try it, just wait :wink:

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29

People who call Lunch, Dinner and call Dinner, Tea

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30

There is a reason for this. Dinner was always the largest meal of the day, which traditionally would have been at lunchtime. As we moved to more 9-5, office jobs, the largest meal moved towards the end of the day.

That’s why dinner ladies are called… well, dinner ladies.

It’s very OK to refer to lunch as dinner - it’s been the term for much longer!

However, the use of the term dinner for the midday meal is strongest among working-class people, especially in the English Midlands, North of England and the central belt of Scotland.[6] Even in systems in which dinner is the meal usually eaten at the end of the day, an individual dinner may still refer to a main or more sophisticated meal at any time in the day, such as a banquet, feast, or a special meal eaten on a Sunday or holiday, such as Christmas dinner or Thanksgiving dinner.

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31

This one is the WORST.

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32

Mostly because I’m horrendously inflexible I agree.

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33
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34

Vice versa

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35

I hate when I put in headphones and some random stranger tries to talk to me in public (esp on public transport). I’m wearing these for a reason! +1000 loathing points when they physically reach over to pull out your headphones and tell you to smile!

Also:

  • Passive-aggressiveness or British sarcasm™ (just tell me if you’re not happy ffs stop avoiding confrontation)
  • When people blow e-cigs into your face.
  • Clueless travellers who hold up the line at airport security for having liquids, metals, etc. despite staff yelling at everyone to take all liquids out and have them in a bag right at the beginning of the queue. Also people who put their feet up on the handrest. Ew.
  • When customer services give me trite apologies and not actually help eg “I’m sorry you feel that way/ Sorry to hear this”
  • Being patronised in general
  • When someone uses “reply all” to tell everyone to not use “reply all” and to take them off the list
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36

When customer services give me trite apologies and not actually help eg “I’m sorry you feel that way/ Sorry to hear this”

I’d like to also add the stupid canned messages on live chat like “Please give me a minute to look into this” or similar.

It’s chat, similar to texting. Waiting without a response while the other person is busy is expected. Even though they are canned responses the person at the other end of the wire probably wasted a couple seconds sending them which he could’ve just used to look into my issue already and only reply when they actually had something substantial to say.

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37

These are called signposting. You don’t need or want them because you have confidence in the tech chat system, but if Monzo is to get to a billion users, some of those won’t like dealing with a blinking cursor just sitting there for a couple of minutes, and a confirmation “please wait” puts them at ease that the system hasn’t just logged them off.

Customer service is so very nuanced, and even more difficult over a purely text–based system. As humans we’re socialised to understand meaning and context through non–word sounds, like pitch, speed, volume and timbre.

But we have to fight against making assumptions over things like accent and gender, so it’s swings and roundabouts.

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38

Gosh where to start…

  • Automated phone systems that make me type in / speak my account (etc) details to get access… And then the operator asks me ALL THE SAME QUESTIONS AGAIN.
  • People who stand on the Left of the Escalator.
  • People who try and get on the train while I am trying to get off.
  • Pedestrians, when I am driving.
  • Cars, when I am a pedestrian.
  • Everyone, when I am a cyclist.
  • e-cigs in indoor places.
  • Especialy when they have the “dragon breath” e-cigs.
  • When coffee shops ask “what size flat white” I want.
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39

And also:

image

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40

Does that seriously happen? That’s shocking…

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41

I agree with so much in this thread :sweat_smile::joy:

So I shan’t duplicate things! I’ll add:

  • Sticking your shopping trolley out into the aisle and then taking up even more room whilst standing next to it browsing the shelves!
    • Just pull the trolley close to yourself so others can pass :joy:
  • Sudden / abrupt stopping in a shop / on the pavement, people need indicators and brake lights! :wink:
  • Dawdlers… :roll_eyes: I love the idea of fast & slow laned pavements :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:
  • (a new one…) BEING TOLD I CANNOT USE CONTACTLESS ABOVE £30 WITH MY PHONE :iphone: :anger:
    • I’ve had times where they’ve pulled the reader away from me because they thought I was being a mad haxor (I can only assume that’s what they were thinking anyway :joy:) But I make a habbit of explaining myself to the cashier in this case, politely :innocent: But it still irks me! (Oh and then of course, actually paying with my phone on those >£30 purchases to prove them wrong :smirk:)

I’m sure there’s more things haha :man_shrugging::grin: This has been a fun thread to read!

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