What gives you the ick?
These five nuisances will definitely invoke a reaction
Art by Rachel De Freitas
As fun as life can be at times, a lot of things can give you the ick — something that makes you want to cringe, gag, or crawl up a wall. Maybe even all three, simultaneously.
Sometimes, plenty of people share a certain ick. Other times, it’s something so specific you’re probably the only one to get these feelings. Whether it’s something a lot of other people have or something that’s just me, here’s what gives me the ick.
Public displays of affection
From small acts like kissing in public to something more noticeable like talking in a way that should be left in a certain type of room, everyone knows how couples like to show they love each other. However, it can be too much for some people, including me.
We get it, the couple loves each other and, for some reason, they want to show off that love in public. If I happen to wander around and see a couple show off that love, I immediately want to move ahead as fast as possible or turn the other direction.
Talking too loud
As I’m sure we all know, some people tend to talk at a higher volume than they probably should.
I acknowledge this makes me sound like an old person, but trust me, I don’t need to know about other people’s plans to get wasted and speed on the streets while I’m on public transit or waiting in a line.
Sometimes, you just want to run a roll of tape across their mouth. Just shut up and think about what you’re saying, please and thanks.
iPhone elitists
As someone who has owned Android phones for over 10 years, hearing random strangers and even some friends talk about how special having an iPhone is makes me tune them out.
While I occasionally get involved in discourse about Android being better as a joke, I really don’t care what type of phone people have. However, others think having an iPhone makes them automatically superior to those without one. This goes to the point that I will just ignore them while they ramble on about the one or two features the newest iPhone model has that incrementally helps them in life.
Congratulations on spending over $1,000 on an iPhone model that most-likely has less features than the previous version. I’m sure it’ll last less than a year before they have to buy the next version which will likely be more expensive and less useful.
Country music
I’ll be honest, I don’t know why country music specifically gives me the ick, I just know I shudder on the inside whenever I hear it.
I grew up listening to mostly rap and hip-hop, and I currently listen to Japanese music. I don’t know if that contributes to my disdain for it, I just know I’ll continue avoiding that music genre like the plague.
Customers coming in 10 minutes or less before closing
I speak from working maybe too long in retail, but customers coming in right before closing will always drive me insane.
I still don’t get how a shop can be open for 10 hours throughout the day and yet so many people decide to come in when it’s closing time. Then, they decide to throw products on the ground, leave a mess, and somehow take the longest to decide on what to buy. After all that, they still somehow have the audacity to complain about not getting good customer service.
People like that should be locked up in the shop the entire night to prevent them from being more of a menace to society. I just want to get as far away from them as possible, they probably give me the biggest ick.
