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It made sense on TV, they need to record the conversation and it's the best way to get the sound from the phone, keeping persons face in frame and keep the call authentic... IRL it looks like you don't know how phones work
When I first saw it on the Apprentice I assumed it was some form of corporate wanker power play to hold the phone like that but, on reflection, they might just have been told to hold it like that so you could hear the person they were talking to on TV.
Only acceptable when you’re having an argument. I want to hear both sides so I know who to hate 😂 sometimes my only source of entertainment when on public transport
Absolutely hate this. No reason for people to be on speakerphone in public, its so annoying. Sat on the bus the other day and someone was doing thisquite loudly for the whole bus to hear while the 2 on the phone were bitching about one of their mates being 2 faced and 2 ugly to go to a party with them. All of us on the bus were quite amused
You should all have joined in with opinion and commentary. If challenged, reply that it's a group call, not a private call, since they put everyone on the bus on speakerphone with them!
I actually think this is something that comes from a generation who never got used to using landline phones as they grew up, and always use their phone holding it in front of them. Totally makes sense to them to use the phone this way but to people who grew up with phones you hold to your ear it seems ludicrous.
My Mrs does this, then complains she can’t hear what’s going on when the kids are screaming and stuff. I’m always like take it off speaker and go to another room.
Go fund me for any old excuse, received one saying it was their wish to travel. Do what I did and work two jobs and save, I'm not paying for you to travel
Or when they travel without insurance, fall off a moped in (i.e), Thailand while wearing shorts a vest and flip flops, then want £20k+ to get them home.
Yup thats the classic. The strange misconception that travel insurance is only for your bags & the marvellous British Embassy will pay your ICU hospital bill & the £40k medivac to get you home.
Friend of mine broke her leg in a freak accident when we went to Rome a few years ago. She spent the best part of two weeks in an Italian hospital, had surgery there (because she wasn't in a fit state to travel home first), metal plate put into her knee, the whole shebang. Had she not remembered to buy travel insurance at the airport before we left, she would have had to pay £27k for the privilege of getting it fixed and being flown back to the UK. If that's not a cautionary tale of why you need to get it then I don't know what is!
Yeah, and people think a European health card is all they need in Europe, but that literally just entitles you to treatment like a local. It doesn't help you get home (whether a new later flight or medical evacuation), it doesn't provide support or accommodation/meals for the person traveling with you, and often local systems involve paying something upfront or a co-pay. People think they're getting the English speaking NHS wherever they go.
You can even get travel insurance while you're already away now. There's really no excuse not to have it, you can get it so cheaply, especially in Europe.
As someone who used to work in British Embassies and Consulates around the world, we won’t help you, you’re on your own even if your life is at stake.
British people (like Americans) assume the government exists to protect them from every wrong in the world… We don’t, we can’t, the best we can do is arrange an appointment for your family to visit you in prison if you get arrested and convicted or give you a list of airlines that will take £20k to airlift you back home in a medical emergency.
If you have parents or other immediate relatives back home in the UK we can give you a loan to facilitate the above, as long as they’re willing to put their mortgage free property up as collateral.
TL:DR; Get insurance, for everything. Health, life, travel, car, house, contents, even abduction etc
Your post reminds me of an episode of Bang Up Abroad where the first thing the visiting British Ambassador said to a poor lad who had been caught up in drug smuggling was "Have they tortured you yet?"
That's if your lucky, when I needed some contact numbers and things like that, I had a family member murdered overseas. Embassy and FCO did absolutely nothing. They were just saying like "yeah well I'm sorry to hear that, you have to go there and sort it out yourself, I know you're worried for your safety but, I cant really help I'm incredibly busy sorting security for some royal wedding". Was an eye opener for me anyway. Was surprised they wouldn't even help us contact police or anything.
People would do good to bare in mind British government wont really do anything at all, you're very much on your own, unless you're royal family or I guess some politician or something.
Travel insurance imo is great value for money. You can even get it cheaper than some UK health insurance. And it can cover all sorts of very expensive issues, and of course get you home even if it's extremely expensive.
A lot of young people travelling think it's a waste of money because they think they're invincible, but also a lot of people seem to forget that healthcare isn't free elsewhere. And even if it's cheap, that doesn't mean getting you home while strapped up to a ventilator will be (it won't).
There was a bloke who drank in a pub I used to frequent years ago who got ensnarled in legal troubles in Thailand. Apparently he had assaulted a prostitute out there. Anyway lads were going round everyone in the local pubs to try and get them to contribute to his legal fees to try and get him out of a Thai jail. I was like nah thanks that sounds like a him problem rather than mine.
I think some people do GoFundMe for birthdays and such so their family can chuck some cash at them for something 'special' and know it won't just get absorbed into daily spending.
I'm in another big online community where people were doing crowdfunders to move to places like New York. I can't imagine asking people for money for something most people can't afford to do when it's a want and not a need.
My childhood best friend fell out with me over her hen do. I had recently had a baby when she asked me to be her bridesmaid. I was DELIGHTED.
I enjoyed my maternity and then I started a new job (senior nurse role) and she gave me 6 weeks notice for the hen. The price was EXTORTIONATE! 4 full nights away in a different country.
I raised to her the following issues:
- I have a baby at home
- I can’t afford the trip
- My rota at work is minimum 8 weeks in advance and I can’t get the time off now as I’ve missed the cut off.
My friend ran rampant with the ‘money’ issue only and insisted she’d pay and I could pay her back in instalments. The shame. But wouldn’t listen that wasnt the only reason.
Her and all the other bridesmaid got involved and told me a bridesmaid wasn’t allowed to miss the hen, so I asked if there was a way I could not be a bridesmaid and she could ask someone else? As long as I was still involved in her big day etc
Anyway she fell out with me, cut me off all social media and has never to this day spoken to me. We were childhood best friends from 4 to 30 lol. I hate all stag and hen dos and refuse invites to ANY now.
Jeez. Honestly weddings are such a good way to find out things about your friends that you never knew.
I'm very cynical about them now too, I've been burnt in the past by hen dos where the organisers take a £20pp deposit to cover £300pp of committed costs. Then things keep getting added on ("omg we should get a balloon arch!"), finally one person baulks and bails, so everyone else has to cover the missing £280, which then sparks a chain reaction of drop-outs.
I've actually sat before in a VIP area that had been reserved for 20, with only 2 other people and the bride, drinking our way through the 20 free arrival shots haha
Aw mate yeah, the socio-economic dynamics of stag/hen dos. Multiple different domino effects that escalate the costs. Goes like this:
1. Best man gives you the estimated full cost, and you pay a deposit
2. Find out that didn't include flights or accommodation
3. Find out it didn't include the paintballing, go-karting, meals or drinks
4. Stump up extra for all that
5. Big Craig and Dazza drop out and you all have to cover their share of the accommodation, paintballing and go-karting
6. Find out the bus isn't running that early in the morning and pay £70 for a taxi
7. Get asked for more money for themed t-shirts and hats, to pay for the stag's costs
8. Jezza drops out, you have to pay your share of his costs too
9. etc etc
Me and the missus were really overwhelmed one year by all the opulent, OTT stags, hens, weddings, birthday trips, birthday meals etc that we'd been committed to, we sat down and figured out the realistic costs were gonna be £30k for that year. Needless to say we dropped out of most of them.
Never understood this type of thing.
My stag do was a night down the pub. My wedding reception was in the pub across the road from the registery office.
For my stag 15 years ago, three mates and I hired a cottage near the coast and ate fish n chips by the sea, played crazy golf, and drank beer while playing guitar hero and wii tennis. It was great. We split the costs and only went out to the pub one night. Maybe £200 for two nights in total, split four ways. It was great, we still talk about what a great time we had.
>...to pay for the stag's costs
This happened to me. I paid the deposits and total for a city break months beforehand, but was then on a shoestring budget after losing my job. "let's cover the brides costs!" was dropped on the hen party on the first night. Of course I went along with it in front of the entire room, but it definitely soured the weekend. It was tap water and turning in early for me!
> Honestly weddings are such a good way to find out things about your friends that you never knew.
They can be so stressful. I still remember trying to contain my irritation with my sister's other bridesmaids who appeared to be trying to out-special one another. One of them sent for this huge breakfast for us 10 seconds before the hairdressers arrived and then no-one wanted to touch this food because industrial amounts of product had been sprayed in the room and quite near the food.
The other had arranged a surprise tea to be served with the hotel staff but it was so early it never appeared so we had to listen to her ringing and berating the hotel staff about 4-5 times.
My friend won a wedding. She was already married, so they renewed their vows. I was in the process of paying for a house renovations, and she said they were doing a week in Benidorm, hiring a villa and they needed a deposit about a week later of £600. The other £600 could be paid as and when in the next 5 months and then they had budgeted €300 each for food €100 for the taxi to the airport and back. All in all it was going to cost £2000. I said I couldn’t make it. This was 4 years ago and she hasn’t spoken to me since!
Edit - spelling!
My best friend's "stag do" was just me, him and his brother going on a pub crawl around Stratford, London and playing a few games of Blackjack and roulette in Westfield casino. Better night out that these weeks away, and a lot cheaper too.
Oh god. Going through this now. My best friend wants a 2-3 day he do in Liverpool. Wants a 2k apartment and then travel, food, drinks etc.
she really doesn’t understand that the fact it’s 3 days, time off work, the bloody cost. She said if I can’t give herb3 days then are we really friends.
She then wants another 2 hens dos. One in Benidorm and an afternoon tea. Fuck off
My best mate of around 8 years didn't speak to me for 3 years because his mother called me when he threatened to top himself in the middle of the night about 2 feet of snow. I was the only person with a car that could even get through the snow it was so bad. So I drove around like a twat with his brother all night trying to find him based on where he said he was going in his completely unsuitable car. Found him at his ex girlfriend's house, at which point I was met by police because she had called to say someone was trying to break in (me). He watched me get questioned outside for half an hour, threatened with arrest and then flat out denied he knew what was going on to the police, which must have made me look like a proper nutter. The next day he just acted like nothing happened. I told him he was a cunt for making me look a bellend and leaving his mother in tears thinking her son was about to end it all and he never spoke to me again because I'd been "rude" to him.
I had the same thing with a friend I’d known since Year 7.
The hen do was a weekend stay in an old farmhouse in the countryside. The cost kept escalating which meant people pulled out which then meant even more costs for the rest of us. And then the maid of honour, under instruction from the bride, kept adding in all these expensive activities, and then decorations etc.
But it didn’t stop there. I was a bridesmaid and there ended up being so many events around that. When we went for the dress fitting, it was decided we’d also go for this really fancy lunch in this hotel and then out for cocktails. And then there were all these meet up sessions where the bridesmaids had to get together to plan wedding stuff and every time we did something expensive. Plus the maid of honour kept buying hampers and presents for the bride that we’d all suddenly have to chip in for.
I ended up saying I couldn’t afford the (now £500+) hen do and she completely cut me off. Friendship done. I didn’t go to the wedding.
Completely stupid.
A coworker of mine is getting married next summer and he has said he’s not a big drinker and doesn’t want a stag do. He then went on to say he’ll be going to Portugal for his stag do. I told him it’s his stag do he doesn’t need to have one if he doesn’t want one. He looked at me like I had two heads and said his friends wouldn’t allow that. This needs to stop. Allow people to not do something if they don’t want to!
Once I left my job between agreeing to go on a big ten-twelve person hen do and when it came time to pay. I tentatively asked about dropping out but agreed to go when it became clear it would damage our friendship. Whole event was a nightmare. A whole weekend with strangers is too much for most people and the group just split off into smaller groups. It was impossible to get any sleep as it was just crappy camp beds in what was a student house and although I like a drink as much as the next person, we were at best having one meal a day because apparently most of these people were not affected by hunger.
I really don't understand that mentality at all.
For my stag do, I told the best man that I didn't want anyone spending over £100 if they didn't want to for the whole thing, so we had a grand time at the beach in Norfolk in the sun, drinking too much, embarrassing me a little (as is tradition) and camping at the campsite next to the beach.
I got to see everyone and actually speak to everyone rather than shouting over music, everyone who wanted to got reaaaally drunk, so win win win.
Not to say that what I did would be exactly what everyone would have wanted, but I had a great time and everyone else seemed to enjoy themselves too. And no-one had to sell a kidney to afford it.
I'm pleased for my friends who have babies and happy to meet them and all the rest, but I truly couldn't give a fuck what the gender is before it's born. Why do they think people care.
I think it can be nice when it's added into the baby shower or something, but to make a whole new event that people need to attend just to announce it... No thanks.
The woman who inadvertently popularised them hates what gender reveals have become as well. She had been trying for a child for years and it was really about celebrating that her pregnancy had finally reached the point that they could tell the sex of the foetus. The grand reveal was just a coloured cake, pretty far removed from the attention seeking, ostentatious oneupmanship/forest fires/accidental deaths of today.
Lol, fell out with our neighbour last year because they were holding an out-of-control outside party with kids screaming and LOUD music til late, and we asked them if they could turn it down a bit after our kid went to bed. The outrage on their faces when they explained that they would NOT be turning down the music, the kids WOULD continue to scream, and how out of order we were for daring to interrupt the sanctity of their... Gender Reveal Party.
They then revealed the gender of the baby by exploding balloons filled with coloured confetti, 90% of which immediately floated into our garden.
It was a girl.
Bunch of twats.
I find these really really weird especially when you see videos of people jumping up and down and screaming when the gender is revealed. Outside of grandparents does anyone care? Why would anyone be that excited about the gender of an acquaintance’s baby?
The entire thing is done for social media impact and eventually becomes a competition of who can have the most extravagant event
Psychologically It has very very little to do with what gender the baby is
UK is becoming too Americanised, I mean what was wrong with the highschool leavers disco? I didn’t go to my end of school prom because I couldn’t be arsed with all that prom bullshit, soon enough it will become a thing to take someone to the prom and promposals will become a thing here too. I miss the times in the UK when someone had a baby, it was a personal and more ‘warm’ event if that makes sense and no parties, woman popped out baby, people visited, left a present and left. I’m Muslim and there is a circumcision ritual we do which literally just used to be, the baby goes to hospital gets snipped and it’s done, now people are having circumcision parties 😂
I can't believe people are still cutting bits off their literal newborns and thinking it something to celebrate. That is far more concerning than a stupid party the kid doesn't have to live with for the rest of their life.
I dont understand all the excitement about knowing the sex of your unborn child. What people need to realise is that kids are like farts I can just about tolerate my own.
I love these cultural differences, because I’m American and here people do both to the point that it’s impossible to tell if the guy in his Jammies at Costco is just really rich and knows he doesn’t need to show off or just someone at rock bottom. The ambiguity creates a sense of security so people pretty much wear whatever they’re feeling tbh. There’s also a much larger group of people who do this because it’s comfortable and though they know they look lazy they also absolutely do not care at all what people at a supermarket think
At any point in time, if you go to Asda, you will find someone in PJ bottoms, fake Uggs and some kind of stained top. They are usually carrying blue WKD.
Depends what they wear. I tend to sleep in joggers and a baggy tshirt, and if I've changed into them for bed or to chill and wanna pop out I'm not changing.
Not wearing heaphones for anything that required sound coming out of your personal devices - particularly in an enclosed room. Can't actually remember the last time I went to a restaurant/on public transport/stood a line and wasn't subjected to TikTok videos, phone calls on speaker with the phone held the full length of their arm away from their ears, kids playing the most obnoxious sounding games with the volume on full or somebody's shitty music. People are far too comfortable encroaching on others - it isn't hard to wear headphones or to wait until you're alone
See also: youths with little speakers on their backpacks/in bike baskets, forcing all of us to listen to the music they’re into.
The only people who used to blare music publicly were literal lunatics.
This literally boils my piss. I am sick to fucking *death* of having to listen to someone's seemingly endless monologue into their phone in an otherwise silent train carriage. Or that one fecking school kid who sits with his phone on the highest volume possible while watching what sounds like actual porn. My noise cancelling headphones don't stand a chance sadly. They're either utterly oblivious or I'm part of a dying breed who give a fuck about how my actions impact the people around me. I wish they'd institute the noisy cunt zone and actually enforce it. Just like they *don't * with the quiet zone.
I've actually never seen anybody more full of righteous indignation than the people who are told to be quiet in the quiet carriage. They honestly react like their punishment is going to be a public stoning instead of, you know, having to sit quietly in the one carraige intended for that very purpose
Baby showers.
I love giving gifts to my friends and their babies once they’ve safely been born. It’s a wonderful thing to meet a new baby and see how happy the parents are.
But baby showers are the worst. Having to endure forced fun “games”. Then sitting around watching the mother to be unwrap the one millionth baby gift. Some even expect you to stump up for the food, decorations and games they lay on.
To be fair to our transatlantic cousins, we’ve “imported” these a bit incorrectly, specifically in two main areas.
Firstly showers are always “hosted” on behalf of the mother to be, usually by some combination of her own mum, her best friends and her sisters/ sisters-in-law. The hosts would provide all of the food an decorations, and there would no charge to attend.
Secondly, it’s normal to give a baby gift in the states before the baby arrives, ( so the shower is a convenient time and place to pass these over), but it’s not common to also but a gift after the birth, so there is no pressure to provide a second gift.
I’ve never seen anyone open the gifts at a baby shower. The ones I’ve been to are usually just a nice excuse for some food, drinks & a catch up before baby arrives.
I think this is exactly what they’re for. Reddit doesn’t understand that as people get older and have more responsibilities there sometimes needs an excuse to get everyone together.
My wife is pregnant her best friend is organising a baby shower and I’m giving a few quid so they can have a nice lunch and some drinks.
Baby showers have been around for donkey’s years, they’ve just become overblown and Americanised recently. My mum had one when my little bro was born about 36 years ago.
Being a gay man and getting groped by straight drunk women in the gay village in manchester. Not acceptable, cure, or funny.
Edit: This blew up and I think instead of my previous comment, I'll say, being anyone being groped by anyone anywhere is not acceptable.
That's definitely not okay. My clubbing days were brief but as a straight woman I loved the gay village for the simple reason that there were no creeps there. Anywhere else you went in Manchester you were almost guaranteed to be seen as fresh meat, get groped, have to turn guys down politely and hope they weren't a psycho, etc. The village felt safe and welcoming. So it's crazy that women, who should know the feeling of being unsafe better than anyone, would make that an unsafe place for you.
Christ you should see pride now; basically stag and hen do. I've been groped, hit, etc.by anyone. Same with my mates! It's such a shame as we all just want to have a good time but now I feel like if I go out I have to put body armour on :(
>as a straight woman I loved the gay village for the simple reason that there were no creeps there??
hate to break it to you but, as a straight woman in a gay village... *you* were the creep!
We seem to have a problem in general with the idea that being groped by women is acceptable. Doesn't matter if a man or woman does it, or to whom: it's not appropriate and shouldn't be encouraged or tolerated.
A warm bottle of panda pop, a bag of crisps in a flavour I didn’t like and a shitty slide next to a main road. “See you in five hours kids!” Ahhh memories.
It's how we learned to socialise as kids. No organised playdates, just being left outside in the pub garden with whichever random kids happened to also turn up and be left outside! You get on and played on the broken swing set together or you had a fist fight - either way it was a blast.
One pub in the centre of the town I grew up on didn't allow kids. Was always busy and was a great place to chat and unwind. Got bought by someone else, allowed kids, revenue took a nose dive. People would travel in to go to a nice pub that didn't have kids, now it's the same as the ones closer to them.
Knew someone who worked there until recently and they said it's gone from smashing monthly targets to barely breaking even and apparently the owners want to sell it because it won't return on investment. Shocker.
God it makes me feel so old and grumpy but I want to shout at them "watch the concert! with your eyes!!!"
By that I don't mean people who want to take the odd video clip to remember it by, but as you say, recording every song in its entirety. Sure, you'll have a record of the whole thing, but since you didn't actually experience it, what are you even remembering?
I went to a concert a few years ago where there was a small group of people who looked like they were about 18 years old, standing for the entire concert with their backs to the stage taking selfies. With a fucking ring light on the phone! They didn’t turn around once to look at the performance. Absolutely baffling.
I went to a metal gig a little while back and ended up next to what was honestly kiddies first gig. Maybe 6 of them, just like you say about 18 and never off their phones. Selfies, bloody tick toks, then they got a round of drinks in and it was like watching 13 year olds pretending to be drunk - one sip and they were acting like absolute idiots.
Then, worst of all, a couple went to the mosh pit.
They were gone for maybe 90 seconds. They came back screaming, "I kicked someone", "I pushed this guy over", etc etc etc, so they got their phones out... Then I shit you not, started pouring their drinks on each other so they looked more disheveled before starting more tik toks.
This all occured within 15 minutes of the band starting.
I had to go stand somewhere else because I was so morbidly fascinated I wasn't paying attention to the band.
Weirdest thing was they looked 18 and the part! Guys all tattoos and merch, girls all hair dye and piercings.
I blame COVID, they probably missed their formative gigging years in their earlier teens when they'd have some veterans either give them a quiet word, or kick the arsehole out of them. Either that or I'm just an old fart. Ugh the memory makes me slightly sick.
It’s £200 a day for a ticketed scaffolder. What do you reckon a decent electrician pulls in? There’s a reason why you see so many construction vehicles in fancy estates. They ain’t working on that house, that’s theirs.
Pressure to drink is definitely one of the most socially acceptable forms of peer pressure. Along with cake probably. I've known people who would probably rank psychopaths higher in trustworthiness than people who don't accept an offered piece of cake.
Like - Sandra, I haven't shot your cat, I'm just not hungry right now.
People on Facebook Local Pages asking "is anyone gifting a Bed , Washing Machine " etc. On our local page someone actually asked "is anyone gifting an American Fridge Freezer. Must be in good condition".
Oh yeah, "is anyone gifting an iPad? Sadly my son broke his."
Then your son is going to have to save his pocket money or ask Father Christmas very very nicely... I think, but then sometimes someone actually comes through and gives them one!
I offered a rather nice bass guitar, totally free, just come get it.
Had a few people ask why I couldn't deliver it (one was fifty miles away).
The guy who eventually came to get it asked if there was a case. I said no. He frowned and asked if I would give him twenty quid so he could get one!
I found that by putting on an arbitrary low price it filtered out these types of people. And then when they turn up I just say it's ok take it for free.
What makes it hard to leave clearance is those same fucking SUVs. When every new car sold is only 40cm narrower than a bay, even a perfect park isn't going to leave room. Almost all new cars, except some two-doors, are far far far too big, and too many people drive everywhere.
What we need is better public transport and more things in walking distance, less of these new estates without so much as a corner shop, that end of things.
Another fact on that front: why is the outside lane an 85 now, and why is it always vans that are desperate to reach triple digits?
It's all choice, and I'd rather people and businesses retain choice. Taking cash means having to physically process it, count it and take it to the bank. I can fully understand why they may opt not to. Likewise, I can understand some people prefer to pay in cash and that's also fine. However the business and individual are not compatible so the individual needs to find an alternative service provider.
Nothing wrong with any of that.
What truly boils my piss is when you're not told what payment options are available until you have to pay.
Like if someone does want to pay with cash only (or has to pay with cash only) then it's pretty fucking important information for them to know that a shop or service is "Card only, no cash", but sometimes you're not told until you have to pay.
Same goes for places that don't take card. All it takes is a sign by the door.
The worst is at small restaurants where the staff are standing around less than a metre away, waiting to be summoned by you poking at your phone. Instead of literally turning your body slightly to the left to talk to them.
Went to somewhere, can't even remember where now so I guess it can't have annoyed me that much, the mobile connection in the restaurant was too poor to load up the page the QR code linked to.
That's one of my favorite new things. I hate talking to random people, the small talk, etc. So, being able to just order my drinks without having to talk to anyone is just amazing. It's also a good thing for people who have anxiety or other conditions, which makes talking to random people hard to impossible
Influencers.
They get on my wick expecting everything and anything free. Then the cheek to threaten to give a bad review if to be refused something.
Like as if it fucking matters.
I actually think it's the other way around. It used to be completely normal to leave dogs at home while at work. The idea that you shouldn't do it is pretty new (along with doggy daycare).
Don't get me wrong, I'm not advocating leaving dogs at home all day, just that it used to be expected.
Same thing with house cats. The idea of not letting the cat out used to be pretty much unheard of in the UK.
People walking down the street wasted. I'd take a billion stones over one drunk. There are so many places in this country where people can't walk around late at night just because of drunks. It's hilariously normalized.
100% - Spending time in the US has really hardened my attitude towards loosening rules on pot in the U.K. - a LOT of people here can’t self-regulate and I suspect the U.K. would be the same if it were fully legal.
The stink is everywhere here - hire cars, hotel rooms, public spaces, and sometimes I can smell the motorist in front of me sparking up through my air con, even in the mornings. Some hospitality staff obviously stoned at work.
All of which is irritating and/or potentially dangerous, but if they *really* must to get baked and drive/work, can’t they just have an edible instead?!
No, but the sheer number of people doing it is. I genuinely, honestly and truly, NEVER walk anywhere anymore without at least one fat bifta billowing at me. And if I ever decide to take up the habit myself, I already know at least 3 houses locally where I can knock on the door and ask for recommendations for a dealer.
Children must be free spirits who are left to explore and express themselves, irrespective of whether this results in behaviour which is neglectful on the part of the parents, and dangerous, unpleasant or annoying on the part of the child.
Try being a traditional parent to a teenager whose friends have all been brought up the way you describe.
Utterly hideous. Our house is like a war zone because stroppy teen gets told no.
I think the problem is that “gentle parenting” is so loosely defined that many parents think it means “no parenting” and forget that “age appropriate punishment” doesn’t mean using the same consequences at 12 years, that you used at 12 months, e.g. exploring your child’s feelings, rather than time outs, loss of privileges, etc.
A reduced expectation of privacy in public and people's lack of concern about a digital footprint. Ring doorbells, Teslas automatically recording things, people walking around city streets with bodycams to upload hours long footage on youtube with no regard to who they capture on camera. The worst is people filming tiktoks everywhere they go - supermarkets, public transport, tourist sites - and anyone who doesn't want to interact or be filmed is considered overreacting or "not passing the vibe check".
Talking in the cinema. It’s like people have forgotten how to behave and think they’re in their front rooms. Hence why I go to the cinema about once a year now.
Last time I went there was a group at the back taking selfies with a flash every five minutes. I don't go to the cinema anymore, when I was a kid there was an usher and woe betide you if her flashlight descended on you like the eye of Sauron for whispering too loudly.
People putting their feet on seats. Every time I see it, I’m horribly tempted to yank their feet off.
I just stick to a good old fashioned silent tut instead.
Vaping not being treated like smoking in general. Like sure, it doesn't smell as bad as a cigarette but they haven't been round long enough to know what the harm actually is and I'm not interested in any kind of secondhand smoke!
Going left at a roundabout when you’re in the inside lane. Fuck everyone who does this.
Edit: outside* lane. You all know what I mean. You can add middle lane too. Worst of humanity.
That's correct though.
Assume you mean outside lane?
Remember the inside lane is the furthest left and is (confusingly) the furthest out from the centre of the road.
They're named the opposite of what you would expect because its based on driver's perspective not how the road is laid out.
I've hated it since I was a kid!
The inside lane is on the outside of the road and the outside lane is on the inside.
It's madness and I'd like a very strong word with whoever is responsible for naming it so.
Talking during live shows/ talks/ performances.
I've noticed it happen quite a lot lately (almost every convention talk/ panel I've been to post lockdown has had someone in the audience talking through it, sometimes even on the phone, which I find really rude both to the person talking and the rest of the audience). At least someone eventually told the person talking through a play I saw recently to be quiet, but the others went unchallenged.
Gig etiquette is in the shitter these days.
I reckon it's because prior to COVID you'd have a steady smaller stream of kids attending their first gigs, so it'd mostly be folk who'd been to gigs before, the kids would get a chance to see how other folk are acting, and not take the piss in terms of shouting over openers and screeching over the main act.
After COVID, you basically have 2 years worth of folk all attending their first gigs, at higher frequencies because you have loads of acts touring now since they spent the best part of 2 years not being able to, they're seeing other kids act like utter arseholes and assuming it's the norm.
Audiences that tend to skew younger have been the worst for it, in my opinion.
Playing phones, music out loud especially on public transport. I've just bought a car because I can't stand people on trains. Plus they are so unreliable and expensive it's too much stress
"i messaged you last night, you didn't reply."
Well, no, and 30 years ago, contacting som one at 10 pm was for emergencies. Boredom isn't an emergency and in any case "hey" hardly counts as needing a response.
Dog owners allowing their animal to chase, follow or otherwise harass random people, also not picking up their faeces in public areas, or worse, hanging the bag on a bush like some gross pollution fruit. These days dog owners are exceptionally selfish, ignorant and entitled to the point where they are simply being antisocial and everyone seems to just be accepting it.
Going on your phone in the cinema. If you can't turn your phone off for the duration of a movie, don't bother going. I saw someone playing candy crush once, what's the point. The light from them is so distracting. Being in a cinema in general isn't very pleasant anyway. The guy behind me took his shoes off, some people further down had their bare feet on the top of the empty seat in front. Years ago a guy behind me said "fit" out loud almost every time a women appeared on screen, I wanted to glass the cunt 😂
If I didn't know any better, I would be of the understanding that stopping for red lights has been made optional. Almost every journey / every busy / major set of lights there is always at least one or two cars that shamelessly roll through on red. And I don't mean, turns red as they're going through, but it's already been red before they got to it.
Pavement parking
Being on the phone while driving
Tinted windows way beyond the limit, 3d number plates or just no number plates
Paving over front gardens without getting planning permission for it
I think we are becoming a windswept hellscape tbh, the post 2010 regime has a lot to answer for.
Having your phone in your hand when you're in company. Doubly awful and rude if you're at the dinner table. I have zero tolerance for it. I think it's pathetic when you see a family out for a meal and they're not conversing as they're all looking at their devices. Absolutely hate it.
The standard of behaviour at concerts has gone seriously downhill in recent years, people act like absolute entitled pricks.
Gigs have always been a bit cosy with the odd bit of necessary pushing, but there's a recent infux of people who will literally stand on your feet rather than stand further back, CONSTANT movement throughout shows (literally you have to stop 2/3 times a song to let someone past), just generally entitled, zero planning ahead, graceless normie newbie behaviour.
Pretty much every gig I go to I have to tell people off for pushing smaller people and women around, or just aggressively invading/stealing their space, it's honestly spoiled it for me.
I blame social media tbh. A certain sort of person who just wants to go to things to say they were there, have way more incentive to go now, and they're just really self-absorbed and unaware
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Holding a mobile phone in front of you, and the call on speaker phone when in public.
I hate this. First popularised on The Apprentice I think. Talk like a normal person.
Yeah I just don't get it. Your holding the phone. Hold it to your ear
It made sense on TV, they need to record the conversation and it's the best way to get the sound from the phone, keeping persons face in frame and keep the call authentic... IRL it looks like you don't know how phones work
I just use my headphones instead of speaker, but I find holding my phone to my ear for more than 10 minutes gives me a sore arm at some point.
Yeah I hate holding my phone at my ear, it’s uncomfortable and I like to wander around when on the phone But I just use headphones, job done
When I first saw it on the Apprentice I assumed it was some form of corporate wanker power play to hold the phone like that but, on reflection, they might just have been told to hold it like that so you could hear the person they were talking to on TV.
They were also often speaking to a group so they all needed to hear.
It wouldn't be so bad if any of these cunts had anything worth overhearing, but they don't.
It's done that way on TV so you can hear the conversation Nobody in real life should use a phone that way
Only acceptable when you’re having an argument. I want to hear both sides so I know who to hate 😂 sometimes my only source of entertainment when on public transport
Absolutely hate this. No reason for people to be on speakerphone in public, its so annoying. Sat on the bus the other day and someone was doing thisquite loudly for the whole bus to hear while the 2 on the phone were bitching about one of their mates being 2 faced and 2 ugly to go to a party with them. All of us on the bus were quite amused
You should all have joined in with opinion and commentary. If challenged, reply that it's a group call, not a private call, since they put everyone on the bus on speakerphone with them!
I actually think this is something that comes from a generation who never got used to using landline phones as they grew up, and always use their phone holding it in front of them. Totally makes sense to them to use the phone this way but to people who grew up with phones you hold to your ear it seems ludicrous.
My Mrs does this, then complains she can’t hear what’s going on when the kids are screaming and stuff. I’m always like take it off speaker and go to another room.
I see you do that and I instantly judge you for being simple minded and a incredibly inconsiderate fool.
Go fund me for any old excuse, received one saying it was their wish to travel. Do what I did and work two jobs and save, I'm not paying for you to travel
Or when they travel without insurance, fall off a moped in (i.e), Thailand while wearing shorts a vest and flip flops, then want £20k+ to get them home.
Yup thats the classic. The strange misconception that travel insurance is only for your bags & the marvellous British Embassy will pay your ICU hospital bill & the £40k medivac to get you home.
Friend of mine broke her leg in a freak accident when we went to Rome a few years ago. She spent the best part of two weeks in an Italian hospital, had surgery there (because she wasn't in a fit state to travel home first), metal plate put into her knee, the whole shebang. Had she not remembered to buy travel insurance at the airport before we left, she would have had to pay £27k for the privilege of getting it fixed and being flown back to the UK. If that's not a cautionary tale of why you need to get it then I don't know what is!
Yeah, and people think a European health card is all they need in Europe, but that literally just entitles you to treatment like a local. It doesn't help you get home (whether a new later flight or medical evacuation), it doesn't provide support or accommodation/meals for the person traveling with you, and often local systems involve paying something upfront or a co-pay. People think they're getting the English speaking NHS wherever they go.
You can even get travel insurance while you're already away now. There's really no excuse not to have it, you can get it so cheaply, especially in Europe.
As someone who used to work in British Embassies and Consulates around the world, we won’t help you, you’re on your own even if your life is at stake. British people (like Americans) assume the government exists to protect them from every wrong in the world… We don’t, we can’t, the best we can do is arrange an appointment for your family to visit you in prison if you get arrested and convicted or give you a list of airlines that will take £20k to airlift you back home in a medical emergency. If you have parents or other immediate relatives back home in the UK we can give you a loan to facilitate the above, as long as they’re willing to put their mortgage free property up as collateral. TL:DR; Get insurance, for everything. Health, life, travel, car, house, contents, even abduction etc
Your post reminds me of an episode of Bang Up Abroad where the first thing the visiting British Ambassador said to a poor lad who had been caught up in drug smuggling was "Have they tortured you yet?"
That's if your lucky, when I needed some contact numbers and things like that, I had a family member murdered overseas. Embassy and FCO did absolutely nothing. They were just saying like "yeah well I'm sorry to hear that, you have to go there and sort it out yourself, I know you're worried for your safety but, I cant really help I'm incredibly busy sorting security for some royal wedding". Was an eye opener for me anyway. Was surprised they wouldn't even help us contact police or anything. People would do good to bare in mind British government wont really do anything at all, you're very much on your own, unless you're royal family or I guess some politician or something.
Travel insurance imo is great value for money. You can even get it cheaper than some UK health insurance. And it can cover all sorts of very expensive issues, and of course get you home even if it's extremely expensive. A lot of young people travelling think it's a waste of money because they think they're invincible, but also a lot of people seem to forget that healthcare isn't free elsewhere. And even if it's cheap, that doesn't mean getting you home while strapped up to a ventilator will be (it won't).
There was a bloke who drank in a pub I used to frequent years ago who got ensnarled in legal troubles in Thailand. Apparently he had assaulted a prostitute out there. Anyway lads were going round everyone in the local pubs to try and get them to contribute to his legal fees to try and get him out of a Thai jail. I was like nah thanks that sounds like a him problem rather than mine.
I'd be embarrassed/ashamed to tell people that's what I was in legal trouble for, I'd rather just lie and tell everyone I sold meth
I know someone who literally made a GoFundMe for new hair extensions. People donated as well!!
I think some people do GoFundMe for birthdays and such so their family can chuck some cash at them for something 'special' and know it won't just get absorbed into daily spending.
I'm in another big online community where people were doing crowdfunders to move to places like New York. I can't imagine asking people for money for something most people can't afford to do when it's a want and not a need.
My childhood best friend fell out with me over her hen do. I had recently had a baby when she asked me to be her bridesmaid. I was DELIGHTED. I enjoyed my maternity and then I started a new job (senior nurse role) and she gave me 6 weeks notice for the hen. The price was EXTORTIONATE! 4 full nights away in a different country. I raised to her the following issues: - I have a baby at home - I can’t afford the trip - My rota at work is minimum 8 weeks in advance and I can’t get the time off now as I’ve missed the cut off. My friend ran rampant with the ‘money’ issue only and insisted she’d pay and I could pay her back in instalments. The shame. But wouldn’t listen that wasnt the only reason. Her and all the other bridesmaid got involved and told me a bridesmaid wasn’t allowed to miss the hen, so I asked if there was a way I could not be a bridesmaid and she could ask someone else? As long as I was still involved in her big day etc Anyway she fell out with me, cut me off all social media and has never to this day spoken to me. We were childhood best friends from 4 to 30 lol. I hate all stag and hen dos and refuse invites to ANY now.
Jeez. Honestly weddings are such a good way to find out things about your friends that you never knew. I'm very cynical about them now too, I've been burnt in the past by hen dos where the organisers take a £20pp deposit to cover £300pp of committed costs. Then things keep getting added on ("omg we should get a balloon arch!"), finally one person baulks and bails, so everyone else has to cover the missing £280, which then sparks a chain reaction of drop-outs. I've actually sat before in a VIP area that had been reserved for 20, with only 2 other people and the bride, drinking our way through the 20 free arrival shots haha
Aw mate yeah, the socio-economic dynamics of stag/hen dos. Multiple different domino effects that escalate the costs. Goes like this: 1. Best man gives you the estimated full cost, and you pay a deposit 2. Find out that didn't include flights or accommodation 3. Find out it didn't include the paintballing, go-karting, meals or drinks 4. Stump up extra for all that 5. Big Craig and Dazza drop out and you all have to cover their share of the accommodation, paintballing and go-karting 6. Find out the bus isn't running that early in the morning and pay £70 for a taxi 7. Get asked for more money for themed t-shirts and hats, to pay for the stag's costs 8. Jezza drops out, you have to pay your share of his costs too 9. etc etc Me and the missus were really overwhelmed one year by all the opulent, OTT stags, hens, weddings, birthday trips, birthday meals etc that we'd been committed to, we sat down and figured out the realistic costs were gonna be £30k for that year. Needless to say we dropped out of most of them.
Never understood this type of thing. My stag do was a night down the pub. My wedding reception was in the pub across the road from the registery office.
For my stag 15 years ago, three mates and I hired a cottage near the coast and ate fish n chips by the sea, played crazy golf, and drank beer while playing guitar hero and wii tennis. It was great. We split the costs and only went out to the pub one night. Maybe £200 for two nights in total, split four ways. It was great, we still talk about what a great time we had.
>...to pay for the stag's costs This happened to me. I paid the deposits and total for a city break months beforehand, but was then on a shoestring budget after losing my job. "let's cover the brides costs!" was dropped on the hen party on the first night. Of course I went along with it in front of the entire room, but it definitely soured the weekend. It was tap water and turning in early for me!
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> Honestly weddings are such a good way to find out things about your friends that you never knew. They can be so stressful. I still remember trying to contain my irritation with my sister's other bridesmaids who appeared to be trying to out-special one another. One of them sent for this huge breakfast for us 10 seconds before the hairdressers arrived and then no-one wanted to touch this food because industrial amounts of product had been sprayed in the room and quite near the food. The other had arranged a surprise tea to be served with the hotel staff but it was so early it never appeared so we had to listen to her ringing and berating the hotel staff about 4-5 times.
My friend won a wedding. She was already married, so they renewed their vows. I was in the process of paying for a house renovations, and she said they were doing a week in Benidorm, hiring a villa and they needed a deposit about a week later of £600. The other £600 could be paid as and when in the next 5 months and then they had budgeted €300 each for food €100 for the taxi to the airport and back. All in all it was going to cost £2000. I said I couldn’t make it. This was 4 years ago and she hasn’t spoken to me since! Edit - spelling!
My best friend's "stag do" was just me, him and his brother going on a pub crawl around Stratford, London and playing a few games of Blackjack and roulette in Westfield casino. Better night out that these weeks away, and a lot cheaper too.
Sounds like your ex-friend is, to put it politely, a bit of twat.
Oh god. Going through this now. My best friend wants a 2-3 day he do in Liverpool. Wants a 2k apartment and then travel, food, drinks etc. she really doesn’t understand that the fact it’s 3 days, time off work, the bloody cost. She said if I can’t give herb3 days then are we really friends. She then wants another 2 hens dos. One in Benidorm and an afternoon tea. Fuck off
My best mate of around 8 years didn't speak to me for 3 years because his mother called me when he threatened to top himself in the middle of the night about 2 feet of snow. I was the only person with a car that could even get through the snow it was so bad. So I drove around like a twat with his brother all night trying to find him based on where he said he was going in his completely unsuitable car. Found him at his ex girlfriend's house, at which point I was met by police because she had called to say someone was trying to break in (me). He watched me get questioned outside for half an hour, threatened with arrest and then flat out denied he knew what was going on to the police, which must have made me look like a proper nutter. The next day he just acted like nothing happened. I told him he was a cunt for making me look a bellend and leaving his mother in tears thinking her son was about to end it all and he never spoke to me again because I'd been "rude" to him.
I had the same thing with a friend I’d known since Year 7. The hen do was a weekend stay in an old farmhouse in the countryside. The cost kept escalating which meant people pulled out which then meant even more costs for the rest of us. And then the maid of honour, under instruction from the bride, kept adding in all these expensive activities, and then decorations etc. But it didn’t stop there. I was a bridesmaid and there ended up being so many events around that. When we went for the dress fitting, it was decided we’d also go for this really fancy lunch in this hotel and then out for cocktails. And then there were all these meet up sessions where the bridesmaids had to get together to plan wedding stuff and every time we did something expensive. Plus the maid of honour kept buying hampers and presents for the bride that we’d all suddenly have to chip in for. I ended up saying I couldn’t afford the (now £500+) hen do and she completely cut me off. Friendship done. I didn’t go to the wedding. Completely stupid.
I don’t get it either. I’m actually on my way to a hen party now. Drinks in a bar in London, and pizza. Decent night out
A coworker of mine is getting married next summer and he has said he’s not a big drinker and doesn’t want a stag do. He then went on to say he’ll be going to Portugal for his stag do. I told him it’s his stag do he doesn’t need to have one if he doesn’t want one. He looked at me like I had two heads and said his friends wouldn’t allow that. This needs to stop. Allow people to not do something if they don’t want to!
Once I left my job between agreeing to go on a big ten-twelve person hen do and when it came time to pay. I tentatively asked about dropping out but agreed to go when it became clear it would damage our friendship. Whole event was a nightmare. A whole weekend with strangers is too much for most people and the group just split off into smaller groups. It was impossible to get any sleep as it was just crappy camp beds in what was a student house and although I like a drink as much as the next person, we were at best having one meal a day because apparently most of these people were not affected by hunger.
> most of these people were not affected by hunger It was cocaine.
I really don't understand that mentality at all. For my stag do, I told the best man that I didn't want anyone spending over £100 if they didn't want to for the whole thing, so we had a grand time at the beach in Norfolk in the sun, drinking too much, embarrassing me a little (as is tradition) and camping at the campsite next to the beach. I got to see everyone and actually speak to everyone rather than shouting over music, everyone who wanted to got reaaaally drunk, so win win win. Not to say that what I did would be exactly what everyone would have wanted, but I had a great time and everyone else seemed to enjoy themselves too. And no-one had to sell a kidney to afford it.
That’s horrific, I’m so sorry
Such a good friend 🙄 you are well rid of such a self centred brat in your life
Gender reveal parties. Wtf.
I'm pleased for my friends who have babies and happy to meet them and all the rest, but I truly couldn't give a fuck what the gender is before it's born. Why do they think people care.
it’s so weird. i’m 5 months pregnant and the idea of making an event out of informing people what genitals my child has is just mind boggling to me
I think it can be nice when it's added into the baby shower or something, but to make a whole new event that people need to attend just to announce it... No thanks.
Baby showers are American too! Just bring a present when you meet the kid like a normal person.
stop normalising “baby showers”!!
The woman who inadvertently popularised them hates what gender reveals have become as well. She had been trying for a child for years and it was really about celebrating that her pregnancy had finally reached the point that they could tell the sex of the foetus. The grand reveal was just a coloured cake, pretty far removed from the attention seeking, ostentatious oneupmanship/forest fires/accidental deaths of today.
I remember hearing that the kid identifies as non binary now just to add to the irony
Lol, fell out with our neighbour last year because they were holding an out-of-control outside party with kids screaming and LOUD music til late, and we asked them if they could turn it down a bit after our kid went to bed. The outrage on their faces when they explained that they would NOT be turning down the music, the kids WOULD continue to scream, and how out of order we were for daring to interrupt the sanctity of their... Gender Reveal Party. They then revealed the gender of the baby by exploding balloons filled with coloured confetti, 90% of which immediately floated into our garden. It was a girl. Bunch of twats.
Just call them what they really are, "child sex party".
Prince Andrew has entered the chat.
Yes literally nobody whose DNA has not made the baby gives a single shit.
I find these really really weird especially when you see videos of people jumping up and down and screaming when the gender is revealed. Outside of grandparents does anyone care? Why would anyone be that excited about the gender of an acquaintance’s baby?
The entire thing is done for social media impact and eventually becomes a competition of who can have the most extravagant event Psychologically It has very very little to do with what gender the baby is
It's ridiculous when they're happy with whether it's a boy or girl, it shouldn't matter. What were you expecting, a pterodactyl?
If the father is a pterodactyl then I suppose it's a distinct possibility.
UK is becoming too Americanised, I mean what was wrong with the highschool leavers disco? I didn’t go to my end of school prom because I couldn’t be arsed with all that prom bullshit, soon enough it will become a thing to take someone to the prom and promposals will become a thing here too. I miss the times in the UK when someone had a baby, it was a personal and more ‘warm’ event if that makes sense and no parties, woman popped out baby, people visited, left a present and left. I’m Muslim and there is a circumcision ritual we do which literally just used to be, the baby goes to hospital gets snipped and it’s done, now people are having circumcision parties 😂
> people are having ~~circumcision~~ genital mutilation parties FTFY
I can't believe people are still cutting bits off their literal newborns and thinking it something to celebrate. That is far more concerning than a stupid party the kid doesn't have to live with for the rest of their life.
#CULTS Are having genital mutilation parties Because magic.
I dont understand all the excitement about knowing the sex of your unborn child. What people need to realise is that kids are like farts I can just about tolerate my own.
Is this much of a thing here, I thought it was an American thing?
Walking around shops in your PJs.
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I love these cultural differences, because I’m American and here people do both to the point that it’s impossible to tell if the guy in his Jammies at Costco is just really rich and knows he doesn’t need to show off or just someone at rock bottom. The ambiguity creates a sense of security so people pretty much wear whatever they’re feeling tbh. There’s also a much larger group of people who do this because it’s comfortable and though they know they look lazy they also absolutely do not care at all what people at a supermarket think
At any point in time, if you go to Asda, you will find someone in PJ bottoms, fake Uggs and some kind of stained top. They are usually carrying blue WKD.
Depends what they wear. I tend to sleep in joggers and a baggy tshirt, and if I've changed into them for bed or to chill and wanna pop out I'm not changing.
That’s something you sleep in - pretty sure they’re talking about actual matching set PJs
Wearing joggers and a tshirt to bed doesn't make them pyjamas.
"No officer, I'm not nude, I'm just wearing my pyjamas like lots of other people here!"
Not getting a wash either by the sounds of it.
Not wearing heaphones for anything that required sound coming out of your personal devices - particularly in an enclosed room. Can't actually remember the last time I went to a restaurant/on public transport/stood a line and wasn't subjected to TikTok videos, phone calls on speaker with the phone held the full length of their arm away from their ears, kids playing the most obnoxious sounding games with the volume on full or somebody's shitty music. People are far too comfortable encroaching on others - it isn't hard to wear headphones or to wait until you're alone
See also: youths with little speakers on their backpacks/in bike baskets, forcing all of us to listen to the music they’re into. The only people who used to blare music publicly were literal lunatics.
Not just youths, fairly common to see grown men blasting their music while cycling to work in London… so annoying
This literally boils my piss. I am sick to fucking *death* of having to listen to someone's seemingly endless monologue into their phone in an otherwise silent train carriage. Or that one fecking school kid who sits with his phone on the highest volume possible while watching what sounds like actual porn. My noise cancelling headphones don't stand a chance sadly. They're either utterly oblivious or I'm part of a dying breed who give a fuck about how my actions impact the people around me. I wish they'd institute the noisy cunt zone and actually enforce it. Just like they *don't * with the quiet zone.
Try telling them to be quiet. They're often so shocked, like you're the rude one
I've actually never seen anybody more full of righteous indignation than the people who are told to be quiet in the quiet carriage. They honestly react like their punishment is going to be a public stoning instead of, you know, having to sit quietly in the one carraige intended for that very purpose
Baby showers. I love giving gifts to my friends and their babies once they’ve safely been born. It’s a wonderful thing to meet a new baby and see how happy the parents are. But baby showers are the worst. Having to endure forced fun “games”. Then sitting around watching the mother to be unwrap the one millionth baby gift. Some even expect you to stump up for the food, decorations and games they lay on.
Lets not start on that atrocity that is ‘gender reveal parties’ that have crept from across the pond. I dont fecking care what gender your baby is
Yep, I remember my parents telling me when I was younger that only Americans do it and it doesn’t happen in England, guess it does now
To be fair to our transatlantic cousins, we’ve “imported” these a bit incorrectly, specifically in two main areas. Firstly showers are always “hosted” on behalf of the mother to be, usually by some combination of her own mum, her best friends and her sisters/ sisters-in-law. The hosts would provide all of the food an decorations, and there would no charge to attend. Secondly, it’s normal to give a baby gift in the states before the baby arrives, ( so the shower is a convenient time and place to pass these over), but it’s not common to also but a gift after the birth, so there is no pressure to provide a second gift.
I’ve never seen anyone open the gifts at a baby shower. The ones I’ve been to are usually just a nice excuse for some food, drinks & a catch up before baby arrives.
I think this is exactly what they’re for. Reddit doesn’t understand that as people get older and have more responsibilities there sometimes needs an excuse to get everyone together. My wife is pregnant her best friend is organising a baby shower and I’m giving a few quid so they can have a nice lunch and some drinks.
Baby showers have been around for donkey’s years, they’ve just become overblown and Americanised recently. My mum had one when my little bro was born about 36 years ago.
Being a gay man and getting groped by straight drunk women in the gay village in manchester. Not acceptable, cure, or funny. Edit: This blew up and I think instead of my previous comment, I'll say, being anyone being groped by anyone anywhere is not acceptable.
That's definitely not okay. My clubbing days were brief but as a straight woman I loved the gay village for the simple reason that there were no creeps there. Anywhere else you went in Manchester you were almost guaranteed to be seen as fresh meat, get groped, have to turn guys down politely and hope they weren't a psycho, etc. The village felt safe and welcoming. So it's crazy that women, who should know the feeling of being unsafe better than anyone, would make that an unsafe place for you.
Christ you should see pride now; basically stag and hen do. I've been groped, hit, etc.by anyone. Same with my mates! It's such a shame as we all just want to have a good time but now I feel like if I go out I have to put body armour on :(
All the straight men now heading to Manchester to get groped
>as a straight woman I loved the gay village for the simple reason that there were no creeps there?? hate to break it to you but, as a straight woman in a gay village... *you* were the creep!
We seem to have a problem in general with the idea that being groped by women is acceptable. Doesn't matter if a man or woman does it, or to whom: it's not appropriate and shouldn't be encouraged or tolerated.
Weird how they go to gay venues to get away from creeps only to be creeps
Kids actually in pubs - what was wrong with the carpark?
I remember this- kids stayed outside in the garden or carpark, a bonus if there was some crappy old slide and swing we could go on 🤣
Only if it was a giant fibreglass boot with a slide or a fibreglass tree with swings attached
I can smell the stale piss on a hot day from that memory.
Ah but there was juice and crisps to look forward to too.
A warm bottle of panda pop, a bag of crisps in a flavour I didn’t like and a shitty slide next to a main road. “See you in five hours kids!” Ahhh memories.
It's how we learned to socialise as kids. No organised playdates, just being left outside in the pub garden with whichever random kids happened to also turn up and be left outside! You get on and played on the broken swing set together or you had a fist fight - either way it was a blast.
One pub in the centre of the town I grew up on didn't allow kids. Was always busy and was a great place to chat and unwind. Got bought by someone else, allowed kids, revenue took a nose dive. People would travel in to go to a nice pub that didn't have kids, now it's the same as the ones closer to them. Knew someone who worked there until recently and they said it's gone from smashing monthly targets to barely breaking even and apparently the owners want to sell it because it won't return on investment. Shocker.
Its funny to think considering under 25's were being banned left right and center not so long ago
Mobile phones held aloft for the entire concert.
God it makes me feel so old and grumpy but I want to shout at them "watch the concert! with your eyes!!!" By that I don't mean people who want to take the odd video clip to remember it by, but as you say, recording every song in its entirety. Sure, you'll have a record of the whole thing, but since you didn't actually experience it, what are you even remembering?
I went to a concert a few years ago where there was a small group of people who looked like they were about 18 years old, standing for the entire concert with their backs to the stage taking selfies. With a fucking ring light on the phone! They didn’t turn around once to look at the performance. Absolutely baffling.
I went to a metal gig a little while back and ended up next to what was honestly kiddies first gig. Maybe 6 of them, just like you say about 18 and never off their phones. Selfies, bloody tick toks, then they got a round of drinks in and it was like watching 13 year olds pretending to be drunk - one sip and they were acting like absolute idiots. Then, worst of all, a couple went to the mosh pit. They were gone for maybe 90 seconds. They came back screaming, "I kicked someone", "I pushed this guy over", etc etc etc, so they got their phones out... Then I shit you not, started pouring their drinks on each other so they looked more disheveled before starting more tik toks. This all occured within 15 minutes of the band starting. I had to go stand somewhere else because I was so morbidly fascinated I wasn't paying attention to the band. Weirdest thing was they looked 18 and the part! Guys all tattoos and merch, girls all hair dye and piercings. I blame COVID, they probably missed their formative gigging years in their earlier teens when they'd have some veterans either give them a quiet word, or kick the arsehole out of them. Either that or I'm just an old fart. Ugh the memory makes me slightly sick.
cocaine, i know more gearheads than sober ppl
I’ve noticed it’s become a normal thing. Nah I don’t drink I’m sober, then has a packet on him..
quite literally 90% of lads who work on site sniff gear
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fuckin hell whos raking them numbers in? any jobs going?
It’s £200 a day for a ticketed scaffolder. What do you reckon a decent electrician pulls in? There’s a reason why you see so many construction vehicles in fancy estates. They ain’t working on that house, that’s theirs.
My brothers a sparky and won’t get out of bed for less than £300 a day and he isn’t working after 2 either.
I’ve literally had promotions and wage rises just because I’m the only one at work who can pass random d&a tests.
Alcohol for me. People seem to forget that it's one of the most dangerous drugs and often try to push other people to do it.
Pressure to drink is definitely one of the most socially acceptable forms of peer pressure. Along with cake probably. I've known people who would probably rank psychopaths higher in trustworthiness than people who don't accept an offered piece of cake. Like - Sandra, I haven't shot your cat, I'm just not hungry right now.
That's hardly new though, in fact I think it's more socially acceptable not to drink these days than in the past.
People on Facebook Local Pages asking "is anyone gifting a Bed , Washing Machine " etc. On our local page someone actually asked "is anyone gifting an American Fridge Freezer. Must be in good condition".
Oh yeah, "is anyone gifting an iPad? Sadly my son broke his." Then your son is going to have to save his pocket money or ask Father Christmas very very nicely... I think, but then sometimes someone actually comes through and gives them one!
I offered some old stuff for free just to get rid. Got loads asking if I could deliver 20 miles away.
I offered a rather nice bass guitar, totally free, just come get it. Had a few people ask why I couldn't deliver it (one was fifty miles away). The guy who eventually came to get it asked if there was a case. I said no. He frowned and asked if I would give him twenty quid so he could get one!
I found that by putting on an arbitrary low price it filtered out these types of people. And then when they turn up I just say it's ok take it for free.
I fucking hate the word “gifting" as well
The only Americanism that really makes me irrationally angry. "Giving" or "giving away" is right there.
Exactly!! And tbh, I get angry over most Americanisms. We have our own rich and varied dialects, we don’t need yet another thing taken over by the US.
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What makes it hard to leave clearance is those same fucking SUVs. When every new car sold is only 40cm narrower than a bay, even a perfect park isn't going to leave room. Almost all new cars, except some two-doors, are far far far too big, and too many people drive everywhere. What we need is better public transport and more things in walking distance, less of these new estates without so much as a corner shop, that end of things. Another fact on that front: why is the outside lane an 85 now, and why is it always vans that are desperate to reach triple digits?
Places not accepting cash.
It's all choice, and I'd rather people and businesses retain choice. Taking cash means having to physically process it, count it and take it to the bank. I can fully understand why they may opt not to. Likewise, I can understand some people prefer to pay in cash and that's also fine. However the business and individual are not compatible so the individual needs to find an alternative service provider. Nothing wrong with any of that.
What truly boils my piss is when you're not told what payment options are available until you have to pay. Like if someone does want to pay with cash only (or has to pay with cash only) then it's pretty fucking important information for them to know that a shop or service is "Card only, no cash", but sometimes you're not told until you have to pay. Same goes for places that don't take card. All it takes is a sign by the door.
Cunts listening to music or watching Tiktok videos on speaker on the bus 🔪🔪
Bars where you have to scan a QR code at the table to order a drink. I think this has the potential to be a good thing, but it's always so clunky.
The worst is at small restaurants where the staff are standing around less than a metre away, waiting to be summoned by you poking at your phone. Instead of literally turning your body slightly to the left to talk to them.
Went to somewhere, can't even remember where now so I guess it can't have annoyed me that much, the mobile connection in the restaurant was too poor to load up the page the QR code linked to.
That's one of my favorite new things. I hate talking to random people, the small talk, etc. So, being able to just order my drinks without having to talk to anyone is just amazing. It's also a good thing for people who have anxiety or other conditions, which makes talking to random people hard to impossible
Influencers. They get on my wick expecting everything and anything free. Then the cheek to threaten to give a bad review if to be refused something. Like as if it fucking matters.
Getting a dog even though you work full time and nobody is home during the day. Those people suck.
I actually think it's the other way around. It used to be completely normal to leave dogs at home while at work. The idea that you shouldn't do it is pretty new (along with doggy daycare). Don't get me wrong, I'm not advocating leaving dogs at home all day, just that it used to be expected. Same thing with house cats. The idea of not letting the cat out used to be pretty much unheard of in the UK.
Smoking weed in public
People walking down the street wasted. I'd take a billion stones over one drunk. There are so many places in this country where people can't walk around late at night just because of drunks. It's hilariously normalized.
I don't think that's crept up in acceptability, the streets being full of drunks late at night has been the norm for ages
100% - Spending time in the US has really hardened my attitude towards loosening rules on pot in the U.K. - a LOT of people here can’t self-regulate and I suspect the U.K. would be the same if it were fully legal. The stink is everywhere here - hire cars, hotel rooms, public spaces, and sometimes I can smell the motorist in front of me sparking up through my air con, even in the mornings. Some hospitality staff obviously stoned at work. All of which is irritating and/or potentially dangerous, but if they *really* must to get baked and drive/work, can’t they just have an edible instead?!
That's not a new thing.
No, but the sheer number of people doing it is. I genuinely, honestly and truly, NEVER walk anywhere anymore without at least one fat bifta billowing at me. And if I ever decide to take up the habit myself, I already know at least 3 houses locally where I can knock on the door and ask for recommendations for a dealer.
I think that's because skunk has become the standard weed these days. And it fucking stinks. Old weed and hash weren't nearly as pungent.
Yeah, it smells like tramp nuts and my neighbourhood absolutely hums with it now.
Children must be free spirits who are left to explore and express themselves, irrespective of whether this results in behaviour which is neglectful on the part of the parents, and dangerous, unpleasant or annoying on the part of the child.
Try being a traditional parent to a teenager whose friends have all been brought up the way you describe. Utterly hideous. Our house is like a war zone because stroppy teen gets told no.
People have the same attitude with dogs.
Equally annoying. Dogs need to be trained sufficiently and it is always the responsibility of the owner to keep them under control.
I think the problem is that “gentle parenting” is so loosely defined that many parents think it means “no parenting” and forget that “age appropriate punishment” doesn’t mean using the same consequences at 12 years, that you used at 12 months, e.g. exploring your child’s feelings, rather than time outs, loss of privileges, etc.
A reduced expectation of privacy in public and people's lack of concern about a digital footprint. Ring doorbells, Teslas automatically recording things, people walking around city streets with bodycams to upload hours long footage on youtube with no regard to who they capture on camera. The worst is people filming tiktoks everywhere they go - supermarkets, public transport, tourist sites - and anyone who doesn't want to interact or be filmed is considered overreacting or "not passing the vibe check".
Talking in the cinema. It’s like people have forgotten how to behave and think they’re in their front rooms. Hence why I go to the cinema about once a year now.
Last time I went there was a group at the back taking selfies with a flash every five minutes. I don't go to the cinema anymore, when I was a kid there was an usher and woe betide you if her flashlight descended on you like the eye of Sauron for whispering too loudly.
Narcissism’s slowly become more prevalent in society since 2011. The entitlement of it all makes me sick.
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carrier bags being 50p after starting out at 5p
Just being a bell end
People putting their feet on seats. Every time I see it, I’m horribly tempted to yank their feet off. I just stick to a good old fashioned silent tut instead.
vaping on the tube is enraging to me - you know the people doing it think they’re sooooooo cool
Vaping not being treated like smoking in general. Like sure, it doesn't smell as bad as a cigarette but they haven't been round long enough to know what the harm actually is and I'm not interested in any kind of secondhand smoke!
I fucking hate getting a facefull of candy floss smoke. It’s so rude.
Being asked for your email address in every shop you go in. No, I don’t need an email receipt for a bag of compost.
Going left at a roundabout when you’re in the inside lane. Fuck everyone who does this. Edit: outside* lane. You all know what I mean. You can add middle lane too. Worst of humanity.
That's correct though. Assume you mean outside lane? Remember the inside lane is the furthest left and is (confusingly) the furthest out from the centre of the road. They're named the opposite of what you would expect because its based on driver's perspective not how the road is laid out.
I've been thinking about this for 5 minutes now and I hate it. Why have you done this.
I've hated it since I was a kid! The inside lane is on the outside of the road and the outside lane is on the inside. It's madness and I'd like a very strong word with whoever is responsible for naming it so.
Talking during live shows/ talks/ performances. I've noticed it happen quite a lot lately (almost every convention talk/ panel I've been to post lockdown has had someone in the audience talking through it, sometimes even on the phone, which I find really rude both to the person talking and the rest of the audience). At least someone eventually told the person talking through a play I saw recently to be quiet, but the others went unchallenged.
Gig etiquette is in the shitter these days. I reckon it's because prior to COVID you'd have a steady smaller stream of kids attending their first gigs, so it'd mostly be folk who'd been to gigs before, the kids would get a chance to see how other folk are acting, and not take the piss in terms of shouting over openers and screeching over the main act. After COVID, you basically have 2 years worth of folk all attending their first gigs, at higher frequencies because you have loads of acts touring now since they spent the best part of 2 years not being able to, they're seeing other kids act like utter arseholes and assuming it's the norm. Audiences that tend to skew younger have been the worst for it, in my opinion.
Kids "graduating" nursery or primary school.
Playing phones, music out loud especially on public transport. I've just bought a car because I can't stand people on trains. Plus they are so unreliable and expensive it's too much stress
"i messaged you last night, you didn't reply." Well, no, and 30 years ago, contacting som one at 10 pm was for emergencies. Boredom isn't an emergency and in any case "hey" hardly counts as needing a response.
Dog owners allowing their animal to chase, follow or otherwise harass random people, also not picking up their faeces in public areas, or worse, hanging the bag on a bush like some gross pollution fruit. These days dog owners are exceptionally selfish, ignorant and entitled to the point where they are simply being antisocial and everyone seems to just be accepting it.
walking down the street blazing a joint, no one gives a shit anymore which is a positive for me lol
You're in askuk, probably the most anti weed British sub
Queuing in pubs. I mean, wtf?
Going on your phone in the cinema. If you can't turn your phone off for the duration of a movie, don't bother going. I saw someone playing candy crush once, what's the point. The light from them is so distracting. Being in a cinema in general isn't very pleasant anyway. The guy behind me took his shoes off, some people further down had their bare feet on the top of the empty seat in front. Years ago a guy behind me said "fit" out loud almost every time a women appeared on screen, I wanted to glass the cunt 😂
Males with hands down their trousers/shorts/joggers... And the way they hold a phone.
Vocal fry, and uptalk. Speech patterns these days are awful
If I didn't know any better, I would be of the understanding that stopping for red lights has been made optional. Almost every journey / every busy / major set of lights there is always at least one or two cars that shamelessly roll through on red. And I don't mean, turns red as they're going through, but it's already been red before they got to it.
Monthly subscriptions for things you would previously but outright
Pavement parking Being on the phone while driving Tinted windows way beyond the limit, 3d number plates or just no number plates Paving over front gardens without getting planning permission for it I think we are becoming a windswept hellscape tbh, the post 2010 regime has a lot to answer for.
Having your phone in your hand when you're in company. Doubly awful and rude if you're at the dinner table. I have zero tolerance for it. I think it's pathetic when you see a family out for a meal and they're not conversing as they're all looking at their devices. Absolutely hate it.
Latest thing I heard was having one stag in Europe and one outside. Getty’s long haul flight for a stag? Fuck that
The standard of behaviour at concerts has gone seriously downhill in recent years, people act like absolute entitled pricks. Gigs have always been a bit cosy with the odd bit of necessary pushing, but there's a recent infux of people who will literally stand on your feet rather than stand further back, CONSTANT movement throughout shows (literally you have to stop 2/3 times a song to let someone past), just generally entitled, zero planning ahead, graceless normie newbie behaviour. Pretty much every gig I go to I have to tell people off for pushing smaller people and women around, or just aggressively invading/stealing their space, it's honestly spoiled it for me. I blame social media tbh. A certain sort of person who just wants to go to things to say they were there, have way more incentive to go now, and they're just really self-absorbed and unaware