And here’s another thing I hate…
December 8th, 2008It is almost 9 years since I first arrived on these shores. In that time I have adapted relatively easily to life in the UK - my youthful addictions to Ladybird books and Enid Blyton, The Goodies and The Good Life, Number One and the NME prepared me well for all that Britain had to throw at me.
But there are still some things that I truly do not like or understand about this country.
- The total absence of powerpoints from British bathrooms. I thought that Australia was a health and safety obsessed nanny state when it came to these things, but why British Building Regulations assume that people will automatically use their hair dryers while in the shower if there is a powerpoint in the bathroom is beyond me.
- The general propensity to wash up in a bucket in the sink, rather than in the sink itself. Why??!!
- Voting on Thursdays. If you want to increase voter turn out, then switch election day to Saturday. This frees more people up for both voting and campaigning, and as an added bonus you can stay up all night watching the results without fear of having to go to work with a hangover and two hours sleep the next day.
- People complaining about the weather. I don’t mind people talking about the weather - it is something that affects us all and is a very convenient tool for small talk afterall. But it’s not that bad. There are few hurricanes, tsunamis, bushfires, earthquakes or randomly erupting volcanoes; you don’t have to sleep rolled up in towels because it’s so humid you sweat lying still; it isn’t completely dark for several months of the year; the seasons don’t blend into one constant mush of mildness; you don’t risk skin cancer everytime you leave the house without Factor 36 sunscreen on etc. etc. The weather is not that bad. And it is not a good enough reason alone to immigrate.
- The combination of Daily Mail winge culture and British net migration out of the country. It is socially acceptable amongst a large proportion of the population to moan about ‘PC gone mad’ and ‘floods of immigrants destroying traditional culture’ whilst at the same time unironically eyeing up house prices in France and Spain. Drives me mad.
That’s enough for one week. Feel free to defend or just explain. Please.













