h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Ahh buses, put on this earth by councils who wish to to make the pedestrian population feel like prison internees.

Toilet rolls where the end has so much glue on it that half the roll is gone before you get to the unglued bit. Morrisons super soft take note.

I have a radical theory about buses... they were put on this earth to make getting from A to B easier for people who don't have a car.

Sorry, but as a regular bus user I often fail to see a lot of the 'problems' people have with them.

Racists

>>And speaking of buses- in the area where I live most buses have no space for prams, which is irritating in itself, but what's worse is that old ladies always sit in the seats on the few buses that DO accomodate prams, and then look at me all bewildered when I want to put my baby's pram in the designated space<<
Very similar to this is people who put their luggage/buggies/arses in the area reserved for bikes on trains and then get miffed when you politely ask them to move it. I had one guy, young and fit, who put all his luggage in the bike space because he couldn't be bothered to lift it onto the luggage rack directly above. I'm just not having a good week when it comes to my bike and trains

Parents hitting their children in public

Bad parents in general. Shouting "Jordan get the f**k back over here you little s**tbag" isn't how you keep your kids under control.

Agreed that is disgusting

People who don't clear up their dogs poo

Being ill


The fact the whos online list is geting too long to load!

Quark Xpress

For a computer program that's meant to be used by the entire publishing industry it's a d*mn clunky load of sh*te.

Drivers picking their noses and eating it at traffic lights

I agree but I did see one program about this single mum with five kids being advised by a shrink about how keep all her kids under control. The thing is that she was so verbally abusive to her kids that they'd actually been put on the "at risk" register and their behaviour was totally out of control. However as the program progressed it emerged she did care about her kids, but she'd been abused by one of their fathers and was unknowlingly carrying on the cycle. The thing that also emerged is she was unaware of how destructive her own behaviour was and when she was pointed in the right direction she was able to put her life and that of her kids back on track - she also emerged as someone who was actually reasonably intelligent and willing to learn. A blurb at the end of the program said she was now training to become an adviser to people like her. It made me think that maybe not all these horrible parents are actually like that not because they are fundamentally bad people - maybe they just need the right kind of help. It was obvious that this woman had argeed to be on the program because she was at the end of her rope and felt as though her kids behaviour was driving her out of mind and realised things needed to change.

It's a case of education failing again IMO. School is a good opportunity to teach people about social skills training and the like but they teach them things like the boiling points of various elements.

Some people do not seem capable of thought or using a little common sense! Our answer machine is malfunctioning so that it doesn't play a message but it does still play the large *beep*. Someone keeps repeatedly calling and despite hearing the large bleep they keep saying "hello? hello? hello?" for ages. Do they not think that the bloody loud beep is a bit of a hint that they may be calling an answer machine? Or do they think we're standing there just saying nothing for the hell of it?

And another thing, I wish people wouldn't call me and withhold their number. If you really want to talk with me then don't withhold your number!

I agree but at the risk of sounding "Daily Mail" you have to try and impress on people the need for social responsibility and that's hard if don't learn it from day one. You know my gripe about people abandoning shopping trolleys in car parking spaces rather than walk them to a nearbly bay is just a small part of this. It seems that society leaves it to teachers to teach kids how to behave but parents won't back them up when they try. Sadly inept parenting leads to the raising of people who themselves don't have the social skills to be parents. For example in this program - the woman's parents whilst full of praise for the way she'd turned things around seemed to be rude and dismissive of the way she'd lived her life until then, you got the feeling her problems started with them.

Oh yes - it annoys me that people won't leave messages.

"the risk of sounding 'Daily Mail'"

I like that.

I did see the programme you're talking about. The change in her outlook was amazing.

Do you think in the long term it's going to get better or worse? And does anyone really care?

Get your answer machine fixed Guru, and stop having a go at poor bewildered people who just hear a beep when the phone is answered. It may not be that audible after a ringing tone anyway.

RE: mother of five kids.
I think a lot of the teenage mothers (or parents, if they actually have partners) don't have a clue as to how to cope with raising a child. They end up resenting their children for the time they've lost when they could sit around care free with friends and booze all day. I think parenting should be licensed in some cases. I have seen the show you've mentioned and I felt sorry for the woman, but couldn't help but wonder why did she put herself in a situation where she has FIVE kids? Why didn't she stop after one or two?
On my street, which is a council estate, I see young kids wandering about aimlessly, bored, ruining everything in sight, playing on the road, etc. Not far from us there's an army cadettes base, but I don't think many kids go there, or to Scouts or anything like that, 'coz it's not 'cool' nor do their parents support them in going. The parents don't really seem to care much, as long as they get some peace from their kids for as long as possible.