Socialising Antisocially?!

source: Pinterest

It has come to my attention recently, that many people feel the need to be on their phones at the same time as spending time with friends.

Let me give you an example:
A few years ago, I met up with a very close friend of mine for the day. I hadn't seen her for a while, so I was really looking forward to spending the day catching up and having a good gossip. She then spent the entire day texting her boyfriend. I felt really......what's the word...... put out. I had made the effort to put the whole day aside for her, but she couldn't do the same for me. What was the point of her even bothering to see me if she was glued to her phone the entire time?

I can't help but wonder, are phones more important to people than their friends?

I work as a waitress in a little seaside restaurant, in a small village in Pembrokeshire. I have noticed through the many hours I've spent there, that so many families sit in silence while they are all gazing at the little screens, that have taken over our lives. Not only that, but many of these families ask me "do you have wifi here?" Our wifi has a reputation of being a little temperamental, but what surprises me is the look of disappointment on the face of the asker at the thought of having to spend the entire evening speaking to their parents.

I mean, God forbid you have to have an actual conversation face-to-face while you're on a family holiday.

I know I have touched on this subject before, with my Look Up  post a few months back, but for some reason, this subject is very close to my heart, and I do not understand why people feel the need to spend the quality face-to-face time they should be having with one person, glued to the piece of plastic in their hands speaking to another.

If I had a boyfriend, and I was spending the day with people that I loved, I would tell him that and if he doesn't understand that, then frankly, he shouldn't be in my life. I think it's controlling, unhealthy and possibly damaging the relationship to be in a constant conversation for all hours of the day. What left do you have to talk about when you see each other?

Obviously, I do see the benefits of mobile phones and being able to reach someone instantaneously. Emergencies, for example. "Help, can you get this spider out of my room please?!" (A genuine text I have sent....)

Does anyone else agree with me here? Am I the only one?

Pet Peeves

Everyone has their little pet peeves, you know, the little things that irritate them. I always try to be positive and look on the bright side of life, but some things really do rub me up the wrong way.
I sometimes feel that I may have a little more than others, so I'm going to share some of them with the rest of the world.

Texting
I absolutely cannot stand the sound of phone buttons when people are texting. Blackberries were the worst for this. When I was in sixth form, pretty much everyone had a Blackberry, and so pretty much everyone had the incredibly irritating clicking sound that went with it. Especially when if we were in class, and we were doing some work quietly, there would always be the click click click click of a blackberry. Now that touch screen phones are all the rage, this particular annoyance doesn't appear quite that frequently.

Rudeness
I doubt I'm alone in this one. People who seem to not hold open a door for you even if you're just a step behind, or people who don't say thank you after you've held open the door, or people who are just plain arsey. I know that everyone has bad days and good days, and some people are nicer than others, and I definitely know that sometimes, you say something that can come across quite rudely, but I try not to do it on purpose. I don't understand how people can be so mean and not give a consideration about other people's feelings. I try to go out of my way to be nice, to hold open doors, to let someone through first, to smile and people, always say please and thank you. Its not difficult, and I just like to think that, maybe, I'll be remembered as the person who picked up that something you dropped that one time. Manners cost nothing.

Head-Patting
I hate it when people pat my head. I think it must have something to do with the fact that I'm short. I'm 5ft 3.5, so I'm not tiny, but I've always been the shortest in my group of friends. I also say stupid things sometimes without meaning to, and people would always go "Aw there there" and follow it up with a pat on the head. I find it incredibly irritating and patronising (see what I did there?). But yeah, please don't do it.

Crumbs
I hate crumbs. Crumbs get everywhere. Crumbs in the butter, crumbs in the marmite, crumbs in the fridge, crumbs on the worktop. No matter how many times you clean them up, they come back.

Whispering
Oooooh, the sound of other people whispering really grates on me. Imagine, you're in a lecture in university, it's quite interesting, starting to actually learn something, and suddenly you can hear "pssspshpsspshhphpssh" from behind. The breathy sound of whispering, I swear it's more distracting than actual talking. This leads me straight onto my next one:

People Not Turning Up to Lectures
Although the Whisperers mentioned above are annoying, at least they made the effort to turn up to the lecture. Everyone has skipped a lecture, you wake up and think "nah, I'm really not feeling it today" and so you don't go. But when it's the same people over and over who don't turn up for the lecture and think it's okay? No, its not okay. You have taken out a massive student loan to pay your £9000 tuition fees, you could at least have the decency to turn up to your lectures. We have 5 lectures a week, 7 hours. It's not that hard. Really.

Practice Room Stealers
Well, stealing isn't quite the right word, but in college, we have a practice room booking system, and there are days where all the rooms get booked very quickly. However, some people don't turn up to their room. If you're not going to go, either cancel it, or don't book it in the first place. Do the rest of us who actually want to practice a favour. Thanks.