Frustration

A list of things that bother me

The prompt for this week was frustration. I kept my eyes peeled for things that frustrated me and Jesus Christ am I a cantankerous prick.

Naja, here it is. It was fun to write, I hope it’s fun to read.

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The prompt for this week is ‘Frustration’. As usual, I integrated the word completely and saw 10,000 things that frustrate me.

In the spirit of trying something new, I’m putting it all in a list. I'm sure it could be neatly summarised in two points: People that are not me, and People that are me, but where’s the fun in that?

So, let’s get cracking. In no official order, a bunch of things that frustrate me:

1. Being late. I hate being late, but it frustrates the fuck out of me when people don’t respect each other’s time and honour commitments

2. Using the convenience of technology to change plans. I don’t care if you think something better has come up, you had a plan, and sending a message in real time to say you’re changing it doesn’t make it less annoying, or you less of a flake

3. Not using the convenience of technology to advise a) you’ll be late or b) that your plans have changed. A) and b) are frustrating enough, but if you say nothing it’s much worse

4. (Real-time inspiration) Remaining in a small space, where sound is amplified, with a screaming child, when the possibility exists to go three metres away and be outside to let those wails run free. I know, I know, ‘Tell me you don’t have kids, without telling me you don’t have kids’, which will definitely make the list

5. People who use ‘Tell me you don’t have kids, without telling me you don’t have kids’ as a way to invalidate the opinions of non-child-havers on the topic of child-rearing, or life, generally. Should I start answering ‘Tell me you have unprotected sex without telling me you have unprotected sex’ every time you talk about your kids? If a smoker tells you that smoking is unhealthy, is their opinion invalid? 

6. The realisation that my tolerance and acceptance also needs to be given to the side of me that is bothered by all of these things

7. People who are politically active, yet complain about how broken the political system is. If you are active within the structure of something broken, it should be clear that your actions are contributing to the broken thing. Go and build something totally new outside of it and let the broken system fall into the pages of history without taking your efforts with it

8. While I’m on the subject: conservative politics and progressive politics. Both left and right are old, boring, and of the past. Trying to champion them today is only dividing all the people who don’t agree all the way with either camp, which is the vast majority of mankind

9. Pronouncing the word ‘niche’ as though it’s written ‘Nitch’. It’s not. It rhymes with ‘quiche’

10. Identification with a thing: be it a group, a sport team, an ideology, a political space, a job, you name it. Even your name, now that I mention it. You were a child and you shit your pants, but you don’t identify with that BECAUSE NONE OF IT IS PERMANENT. Get away from this obsessive need to fit in through identification, go and stand alone

11. People who agree without thinking for themselves. People who disagree without thinking for themselves. People who can’t/won’t/don’t/ think for themselves

12. People who wait for their turn to talk, rather than listening to what is being said

13. The understanding that most of this frustration comes from the fact that I can’t identify with or understand these people, and that when I can, I hate myself

14. Realising how much I am like my parents, the bad and the good, and seeing just how much still needs to be done to arrive at the true Self

15. The uncertainty that follows the suggestions that such a thing exists without having direct personal experience of it. See point regarding ‘without thinking for themselves’

16. Buying a ‘middle’ firmness toothbrush only to subsequently develop heat-sensitivity from using said brush, and needing to buy another tooth brush immediately

17. Ending a piece in the top third of a page. The conservationist in me sees it as a waste and drives me to keep going (actual paper, not typed pages. The internet has rendered the idea of pages redundant)

18. Being unable to stop the flow of ideas that follows that drive, only to land on the top third of the very next page

19. People who take calls in public on speakerphone. God forbid you take a video call in public. Same principle as ‘baby screaming inside’. Use headphones, hold the phone to your ear (or get off the call until you’re in private), generally respect the fact that nobody else wants to hear what you or your call partner has to say

20. The realisation that the above point can be perfectly applied to absolutely everything I’ve ever written

21. Digital nomads who live in cheap countries and want to pay with everything by card. Understand that your actions are making it more expensive for locals and, long-term, for you and any future digital nomads

22. Card payment culture generally. I watched a guy pay for his €2 espresso with a card this morning, without a moment's hesitation. We have an EXACT coin for that transaction, and the bank doesn’t need to get paid for you handing it over. I bet he’s also ‘politically active’ and decries the capitalist system as it stands

23. People who go to cafes and ask if they have WiFi before saying hello, looking at the menu, or generally showing the slightest bit of interest in the business, the offer, or the people. Get a portable router and let other people enjoy the coffee and the quiet

24. Usage of pronouns as a part of your LinkedIn/ZOOM title/any other general identifying information. See earlier point regarding identification

25. Ohhhh people who use cafes as a place for ZOOM meetings. Fuck these people!

26. People who piss all over toilet seats in cafes and make no effort to clean up after themselves. Either you’re leaving it to the next poor prick who needs the toilet (annoying) or you’re leaving it to someone getting paid minimum wage (you’re an asshole)

27. The dawning understanding that a great deal of stuff pisses me off

28. The sound of the Berlin emergency vehicles.

That’s enough. I’m at the bottom third and I see that this can go on forever. It’s been fun. 

Oh, one more, given the date of writing:

1.        People who say ‘May the Fourth be with you’ on the Fourth of May