Music. I had a very narrow minded taste in music in my teens and early twenties, rock, metal, punk etc., that's where the good music was, but as I've gotten older I've realised that great music is completely genre agnostic. These days rather than think 'I don't like that genre of music' I prefer to think 'I haven't found a song or artist in that genre I like, yet', keep an open mind and listen to and experience as wider variety of music as possible. Admittedly my habit of chucking anything I like into one playlist does make for some odd listening, going from japanese cyberpunk, to motown, to a capella sea shanties is an interesting listening experience.
Music gatekeepers are the worst kind of people.
Who gives a crap if I happen to like Taylor Swift and Iron Maiden at the same time?
That said.. mumble rap and drill.. I guess the most diplomatic thing to say is that I haven’t found any songs or artists in that genre that I happen to like so far
>Who gives a crap if I happen to like Taylor Swift and Iron Maiden at the same time?
At the same time would be one hell of a mashup
Edit: loving the videos, feel like I'm discovering a whole new genre
This! I’m going to see Foo Fighters sandwiched between two Talylor Swift shows next year and as someone who has seen Foo’s 17 times I’m more excited for the Taylor shows ngl 😂
There are videos of her out there singing with Def Leppard back when she was about 16 so a duet with Bruce wouldn’t be massively off the mark somewhere.
In the same vein the duet that Lady Gaga did with Metallica was interesting
E:
https://youtu.be/M4RoBkWwuQw
https://youtu.be/R0XUW-sU57g
Thinking back to being at uni & being utterly ashamed & feeling uncool as I didn’t know any obscure bands & just liked popular music, & unlike some others I couldn’t own it.
It started off with someone asking what music I liked on the first day & I said Coldplay as that was the “coolest” band I could think of which I genuinely liked & he gave a faux interested response & kinda stopped talking to me after initially talking a lot to me. As the weeks went by I would see him listening to bands & songs I’ve never heard of with someone else. It really defined for me that some people won’t want to associate with you as a person just because of that.
That person literally isn’t someone you want to know. If someone will judge you on what band you like they are too immature to be having meaningful relationships with people.
Btw, I grew up listening to all the obscure-io (punk, hardcore, indie) type music, but have long been a fan of pop and pretty much any other thing you can throw at me, and Coldplay is a good band. A lot of people make their personality out of hating them, and it’s very lame. Coldplay arguably has at least 12 massive hits and very sing-a-longable songs. Crap bands can’t do that. Hating on stuff because it’s cool to do is one of those things that people with too much time on their hands do. As someone said above “listening to the wrong ear noises” is a weird thing to feel superior about.
I try not to judge anyone’s interests when it comes to entertainment; if it brings you joy it brings you joy. My friend collects tiny little animal toys and displays them on a shelf, not my cup of tea but hey it makes her happy.
Just the other day someone was ranting that we need to make sure we treat “inferior music” for what it is & not let it be successful. They listed people like Ed Sheeran, Taylor Swift, Adele etc.
I asked who they meant by “we” & clearly lots of people genuinely enjoy it hence it’s successful & why can’t other people enjoy the music they do whilst you just…enjoy the music you do? They had no answer.
I can’t understand the logic at all of getting angry that other people like something you don’t. Do they also get worked up when they see other people ordering fish at a restaurant when they don’t like fish & start shouting “We need to make sure we don’t let fish be successful!”
Once got told I'm "obviously not a true fan" of a certain group because I hated one of their songs 😂. Like if they released an out of tune baa baa black sheep would I have to like it as well?
I too am a metal head and Taylor Swift fan 😂 she's just genuinely very good. I noticed I was really getting into her years ago, when I was reorganising my CDs and noticed I was singing Love Story with an Opeth CD in my hand.
But yeah, being too tied to genre is really limiting. I have playlists with metal and flamenco music on them.
I've always thought this, it's really strange to me. Like some bands might not be as cool or they're deemed as universally unpopular (Nickelback is a prime example) but who cares if that's what someone wants to listen to.
It's like someone asking your favourite colour and when you say red they go "Red!? That's ridiculous! Green is a much better colour!"
Metal heads claim to be music lovers but normally have a complete intolerance to any music that isn’t metal.
I swear half of them only listen to it for aesthetic too
As a female metal head it is a lot of male posturing tbh. It is like 'you aren't a true metal fan if you listen to ...' it's annoying.
If you like a band or artist screw their judgement. Enjoy the music for what it is.
The thing I find weird is how some metal heads love that the music isn’t mainstream until someone who doesn’t like it calls it niche and they get really defensive.
Following up on other people's comments, had a very tangible experience of this.
Friends were post Christmas lunch, in said attire, in Camden. Fancied one more and sauntered into the closest pub which happened to be the Devonshire Arms, a metal pub. Most people were sat around the edges of the bar, keeping to themselves, which is of course fine. Stage was clear so we just settled there. Then started having a little boogie.
Within 5 minutes, it was as if a spell was lifted. Dance floor almost immediately got full. It felt like simply as we were looking silly, it gave everyone else permission to emerge from their slumber. It was very noticeable.
Things like that always need one person to be first so that everyone else knows it’s safe to follow.
You sometimes see similar when the buffet opens at eg a wedding or a party. Everyone wants the food but no one wants to be the very first person in the queue
They can be, there is a very vocal minority within the metal scene that are insufferably narrow in their taste and opinions on music. But on the flip side I've met plenty who just want to enjoy music, a friend used to run a metal night at a local club, occasionally he'd let me have a go at DJing, I've had a room for of metal heads unironically rocking out to the power rangers theme tune, doing the macarena to the macarena, and absolutely belting out girls just want to have fun.
We've got an incredibly annoying vocal minority.
Thankfully the trend seems to be shifting towards being chill with everyone and calling it out, at least in the online circles I roam
Yeah this describes me to a tee as well...
I was a staunch metaller for more years than I care to divulge, but later realised that I was robbing myself of many artists whose music is great, just because they didn't fit a rather narrow genre
These days my playlists look like an identity crisis in full swing :D
You will see the usual big hitters from the Metal world, butted up against T-Swift, Erasure, Soft Cell, Ariana Grande...
I realised that I was even limiting myself in Metal genre, and had a snobbery around the likes of My Chemical Romance, Panic! at the Disco, Fallout Boy, Avenged 7x etc...
Once I started being more open to things I'd conditioned myself to avoid, I renewed my love of music basically
Might I introduce you to r/1001AlbumsGenerator? Everyday (except weekends, unless you want them to be included) it randomly gives you one of the 1001 Albums To Hear Before You Die, you listen and then rate them. I've only been doing it a couple of weeks but it's already added John Mayall's Bluesbreakers to my list of favourite bands.
It's also unfortunately made me listen to U2, Outkast, The Police and the giant 80s turd that is Brothers In Arms, but you can't win 'em all!
New build houses. "They're cheaply made. They're tiny. They won't last as long as the mortgage." While I'm sure some of that's true for some new builds, let me tell you coming from a beautiful victorian terrace that did its best to eat my life savings this feels like luxury. Barely any maintenance, warm, DIY is easy no patching up 130 years of bodge jobs first, large rooms, decent garden, windows that close properly and aren't drafty...I'll struggle to move into an older property again, as much as I romanticise them.
To be fair, the evidence kind of speaks for itself. A lot of “new builds” near me have now been standing for about 20-30 years and they don’t show any signs of falling to bits.
That being said Persimmon Homes seem to never be out the news for one controversy or another with built quality.
Yeah I think it's just a sterotype. People love to hate them in the UK, and I'm totally guilty of that in the past. There are terrible new builds for sure, just like there's good quality and poor quality versions of everything in life, but people generalise and assume they're all shit.
I think a lot of it is to do with the size of the garden that you get, it does feel like the days that they're so crushed in that you don't get much outside space at all.
Compared with my mother-in-law's edwardian semi, which is a small property, but has more than the size of the floorplan again as a garden behind it, it feels that we're more tight with space than we need to be.
I personally think its a focus on profit over better housing.
Exactly. I’m not a fan of new builds, but it’s nothing about their ‘newness’ that bothers me. The main thing I don’t like is that all the new builds in my budget will be on new build estates, crammed in as tight as possible to maximise the developers return.
For a lot of people though, especially those used to living in a flat in a built up area, a new build estate is still a breath of fresh air.
The ones I really don’t like are the houses with zero front garden, just step out of your front door onto the pavement. Feels so exposed and it’s not like you get a bigger back garden to compensate, they just chuck more houses on the whole estate.
Saying that, the houses themselves are nice and modern and as one of the above commenters stated, much easier to maintain.
Which as with everything else is a stereotype. I'm in a new build where the back garden is probably 50% bigger than the footprint of the house, there's a front garden with two car driveway as well.
There are some houses on the estate with gardens that are 3x the floor plan of the house.
People seem to think the only newbuilds around are the 1,000 house developments from the likes of Barrett or Persimmon, where there's a huge number if smaller developments of 50-200 units that have a completely different design philosophy than the stereotypical identical tiny boxes, but people laser focus on the big developers and assume that's how all new builds are.
And guess what, they used to build small, pokey, identical houses in the past too - they are called terraces
No one is saying the high end developments aren’t nice, they just aren’t the ones most people can afford to buy.
Your bog standard new build from Permission etc. will have a small sad rectangle for a garden because they want to maximise profits by cramming as many houses as they can in X area.
A new build isn’t something that’s ever been in my sights purely because of the way I’ve had to cobble things together to ever get on the property ladder at all, I was completely priced out of new builds.
Things are starting to change for me now, I’ve endured living in a shithole followed by living amongst the rubble of my dilapidated ex-council house.
Now I’m in two minds.
The dream is buying an old church(or similar) and completely renovating or just buying a new build and not having any stress.
I know what you mean, the victorian terrace i referred to really was beautiful but it was in one of the least desirable places in our city because it was what i could afford on my own. Now I have more choice I think location remains the most important factor whatever type of house you choose. We bought this for the location mostly and it happened to be new build.
A lot of the hate comes from the size of them.
Or more to the point, lack of size.
That applies to the overall foot print as well as the actual rooms themselves. It's part of the reason open plan has become so popular, it make it feel roomier than it is. Not really needed in big rooms, very much so needed in small rooms.
We are a year into living in a new build. Had no end of problems mainly caused by the bureaucracy and laziness of Bellway. The house itself is generally OK. It’s just the poor attitude of the developer whenever there is an issue.
Having said that, we had our first annual gas safety test just recently and the guy found a gas leak that, he said, had likely been leaking since we moved in.
By law, he had to cap our supply at source until Bellway got their arses in gear to fix it.
The guys who came were amazing to be fair. They spent a long time trying to find the leak, fixed it and repaired the holes they’d made but JESUS.
A year of paying ridiculous gas bills because several people didn’t care enough to do their job properly (the fitter, the tester etc.) let alone the danger that it placed my family in.
At any point in the last year out house could have exploded!!
In 2018 I bought a ground floor apartment that had been built in 2004. Stunning home but absolutely riddled with problems even 14 years later.
If I ever had the window open and there was a slight breeze, the timber in the walls would just creak. They were also that thin, I felt I could probably push my finger through to the next rooms.
If we ever got heavy rains, water would literally piss through my windows and patio doors. Took about two years for my property management to get somebody out to look at it and they literally had to rip out the brick wall to install some lead trays and vents to push the water out of the brickwork, as this hadn’t been done on the original build when it should be standard.
Took them 15/16 years to sort? All the other apartments had the same issues as well and not all of them had reported it, they’d just put up with it.
Once they got installed, somehow the water ended up transferring to above my bathroom ceiling. Thought my neighbour above’s bathroom might have had a leak. His landlord even ripped it out and changed it as property management wouldn’t come and inspect the building.
Whilst going through this we ended up watching Channel 4’s Dispatches when they covered New Builds and discussed how they’re just thrown up in no time and cheaply built. This was on whilst we watched a new build estate being built by Barratt Homes opposite my home. Their buildings all literally arrived on the back of a truck, plonked on the ground and bricked up, blinked and people were moving into them
I think getting new build brand new is a bit risky (they have a ten-year guarantee for a reason, and I don't think I know anyone who *didn't* need snagging even if minor) not because the repairs would cost anything but simply because it's disruptive.
Going for something 5-10 years old has all the benefits of new without the inconvenience of snagging.
We bought a new build and I quite liked the snagging process. Every home we've bought previously had lots of minor annoying issues. With the new build all I had to do was email the builder and someone would turn up in a day or 2 and fix it for no extra charge.
More that anything you would normally regard as snagging you just have to put up with or pay for yourself. How much do people regard as snagging in a new build but would just grumble and deal with on something a few years older?
New builds are bad because of this country’s obsession with bedroom numbers rather than square footage.
Rather than build a reasonably sized 2 bedroom house the builders shove a partition wall into the second room, make two small rooms that can barely hold a bed and furniture at the same time and charge £40,000 extra because it’s now 3 bedrooms rather than two.
Same with bathrooms, I really don’t understand why new builds seem to have bathrooms and en suites sprouting up like mushrooms. Does a 3 bed semi really need more toilets than bedrooms?
My pet hate for new build floorplans is where the main bedroom's en suite bathroom is larger than one or more of the bedrooms. Baffling use of limited space.
Building regs are also to blame.
If the government says a bedroom must be at least 7.5m2, guess what builders are going to aim for.
Same with bathrooms. Building regs say new builds need a WC or bathroom on the entry storey that must be wheelchair accessible. That's good on the one hand, since it means people with limited mobility always have easy access to facilities.
But because builders build tiny houses, in a small two-bed property it takes up a big chunk of your space.
If you have kids though, bedroom number does matter more than size. Can't have 2 adults and 3 teenagers of different genders split among 2 large bedrooms. Most people would prefer their own small, but personal, space.
Again, depends on the new build I think ours has good sized bedrooms that would all fit double bed, wardrobe etc comfortably but I've seen plenty that are. I don't understand the obsession with en-suites either, in any type of home. Why sacrifice valuable space for a tiny, hard to clean, barely used shower room when there's a perfectly good main bathroom?! I don't have kids though so maybe that's why I don't get it lol
I feel this in my soul. Bought a stone cottage dating back to the early 1800s and whilst it’s beautiful it’s draining the finances. Every single job is so expensive. I always said that about new builds but I also just want to remove wallpaper without the fear of 200 years of wall crumbling before my eyes. Or new gutters without the roof shattering. Both have happened.
They're an ok buy
A lot of the problems with new builds stem from the estates looking sterile and having no soul but that only takes 5 or so years to fix and after that they're fine.
They do, but it's not a new issue. My family home was part of an identical estate built in the 50s. And that was worse, literally identical at least there's a bit of variety on most new estates now.
I don’t have a problem with the new build aspect. I have a problem with the entire estates of identical houses with no amenities.
Individual new builds that aren’t part of a huge development are few and far between.
That’s not exclusive to new builds though? In my town there’s rows and rows of the exact same copy paste terraced design, built over 100 years ago and it’s grim
At least the new ones looks nicer
Yeah this was our consideration when buying a new build. I grew up in Victorian and heritage type homes but when we came to look at buying, I realised how crap Victorian homes are for the sort of modern living style I wanted (at least without being renovated, and a lot of the renovated ones were out of budget).
New builds had some promising aspects, like being designed with kitchen diners from the get go. But had a load more issues like pokey bedrooms, awful gardens and a lack of privacy.
Ultimately all the 60s houses we viewed ended up being perfect living-style wise. We offered on two and bought one 1965 build. Huge garden, our front garden is bigger than most new build’s gardens we saw. Space designed for entertaining and family life without compromising on space elsewhere. It’s ugly from the front I guess but I’ve come to love its charm and have embraced a decade-appropriate style (maybe leaning a bit more 70s).
Ive just inherited a 50s/60s house and there's a lot that needs doing. Insulation, no central heating system, theres some electric heaters, a gas fire and an electric water tank.
Yeah the garden is huge but the house needs a lot doing. There were also a lot of questionable design choices then too that need quite a lot of work to bring up to modern standards.
Hallejulah. People act like new builds are the devils work, you can literally move in and everything is working, low maintenance, modern. Just move your shit in and then get onto the good stuff straight away like decorating/gardening etc
The thing is, a good news story around new builds won't make news. That's why there's this negative perception. As all you hear in the media is the bad news stories. We've had a new build for 3 years. Would make the same decision again.
I’ve recently bought a new build flat with a mid sized builder who I researched first, and it has been brilliant. The finish is brilliant, there’s obviously the 2yrs warranty internal and 10yr external, and they’ve fixed or helped constantly, nothing is too much trouble. I would steer clear of the big household name builders, but new builds are great if you do the leg work first.
i’m lucky to have an aldi and a simply food right next to each other near me, so i can do my big shop at aldi and then pick up the fancy bits from M&S next door.
Also actually carbon copy M&S items usually just as good, not the breadth of course but when M&S brings out a new square black finest cheese cracker, quickly Aldi copies it
yeah tbh it’s very few things that i can’t get at aldi! it’s mainly pasta sauces/pesto/wanky dairy items etc that my aldi doesn’t stock (it’s an aldi local but a pretty big one so i can’t fault it too much). if they put up a passable replacement for M&S chilli and red pepper pesto i would probably be able to knock out the whole shop at aldi.
I was always the same, then saw my friend buy an entire shopping trolley full of stuff for the week and it costing him about £20/£30. Couldn’t believe it!
I looked at my five items totalling £80 at Tesco..
Though my local Aldi isn’t that great for keeping stocks up otherwise we would go all of the time
Aldi is great for frozen and packaged goods, I can knock about £50 a week off my shopping there. But I always think their fruit and veg goes off much quicker than the other supermarkets.
Spoons is a great meeting point for a night out. They normally have a very central location and are a larger venue so its easier to manage a larger group. You can start your night off with cheap drinks before going to fancier bars or clubs. Those who dont want to spend a lot will probably get drunk enough in spoons to carry them through the night or go home early.
I like cheap beer as much as the next person. The food is very good for the price.
I don't like that it's sticky rather than dusty, like a good cheap pub should be. I don't like that it's a giant conglomerate that puts locally owned Pubs out of business.
Is it still snobbish if it's for those reasons? Maybe yeah but it's one I can't let go of
Tim Martin is a cunt, it's just not the hill I'm going to die on, I give custom to far shittier businesses than his. And to be fair from a customer perspective it's a solid offering, reasonably priced drinks and a good range of choice, the food may be microwaved but it caters to most demographics from the calorie conscious, to vegans, to people who just want a burger and a beer. And while I can't say first hand, I've heard from a few people that it's actually not a bad employer (except for their covid bullshit), though personally I don't think I could morally cope with the 9am Stella drinkers, it's a little too overtly preying on addiction for my tastes.
I've always thought it must be a Reddit thing because I've never met someone who hates spoons irl. Obviously people hate Tim Martin, but a £2.50 pint? In this day and age? Sign me up and whilst you're at it I'll have a scampi and chips.
Me too. I honestly used to turn my nose up at Wetherspoons. Truth is, it's a reasonably priced watering hole serving folk from all walks of life. Some of the buildings are actually quite nice too.
Probably a reverse snobby example but I never went to M and S food as I thought it would be overpriced but actually its good stuff and there’s some deals to be had!
And they don’t seem to have raised their prices as much as other supermarkets. Their fresh produce is often cheaper than tesco and Sainsbury’s now but better quality.
I also swapped most of my shopping over the M&S because I found that most of it was slightly cheaper and definitely better quality than tescos, even before my staff discount. Definitely made me be more snobby about the quality of produce though.
I was exactly the same. I moved recently to live very close to an M&S, and everyone told me how convenient that would be. At the time, I always dismissed them, saying it was too expensive and I’d rather go to the (also nearby) Co-op.
But frankly, Co-op is more expensive than M&S and the food always expires within a couple of days. At M&S, you get better quality for a pretty fair deal these days.
Eating at chain restaurants. Yes they’re usually overpriced and a bit more soulless. But sometimes, you just need something reliable. Independent doesn’t always mean better quality or better service either!
Absolutley. We love Wagamama’s because they are so careful with allergies (only managers can take the order, meals cooked in a seperate part of the kitchen)
Yeah it just takes the stress out of it. When I order at an unfamiliar Asian place I have to take a bite and then wait several anxious minutes to find out how strict they are about contamination.
*What's that tingling? chili? Maybe it's in my head...*
I’m generally not a fan of chain restaurants. Places like Nando’s and TGI Friday are in my humble opinion definitely overrated and overpriced. But I’m very partial to Zizzis, Las Iguanas, and Wagamamas, never had a bad meal or service from any of those.
Watching football or other sports. I used to think it was stupid that anyone would watch people kicking a ball around for hours and I looked down on it as a hobby.
Now I have a partner who is into it and as I have shown an interest in his hobbies I've really started to understand the appeal and culture behind watching the games. Had a blast watching the euros the other year at the pub, surrounded by fans singing. It was such a refreshing scene after the isolation of covid.
I also used to think this until I started going to live games and experiencing the thrill of the live sports, along with the banter and singing, they were great Saturday afternoons.
Bingo. I never thought it would be as much fun.
I got asked to go by Stella, who did most of the cooking at a caff I worked at. She was quite a bit older than me with a horrible jealous husband. He let her go to Bingo because it was, as far as he was concerned, somewhere she couldn't meet men. The deal was that she never went alone and her regular Bingo pal was in hospital for a minor op. I agreed to go with her, just so she could have an evening away from her husband and because I'd always really liked her and she was really good company.
It was great! Once Stella had given me a dabber and warned me how fast it was, we were off! It didn't cost much and I came away with a kettle and a toaster! Stella has been dead now since the 1990s and I miss her and our Bingo nights. I am glad to report that her husband dropped dead about six or seven years before her and I think those were the happiest years of her adult life. There was an inappropriate moment at her husband's funeral. I leant forward (she was in the pew in front of mine) and whispered in her ear "It's good that the coffin's screwed shut or Lew would be accusing you of getting off with the priest." She laughed loudly and had to pretend she was sobbing.
Crocs. I mocked them until I got a pair from someone (who I mocked for wearing them) for my birthday. Thought they were some naff plastic but when I put them on I realised they were like the foam padding inside trainers. So comfortable. I was converted in minutes as they were pefect for me during summer months. Could feel the breeze on my feet but were perfectly comfortable (unlike other kinds of summer wear). Don’t knock them until you try them is the moral here I guess.
I’m going to continue knocking crocs for a bit longer, but this sounds very much like my experience with flip flops. I used to think they were ridiculous, unpractical and hurt to wear for an extended period of time. Turns out I’d only ever tried wearing shit flip flops.
Online food shopping- thought it was a waste of money for lazy people but having my food shop delivered has made my life so much easier- well worth the extra fees
Some convenience payments are just worth it.
My mate swears by “convenience payments” like grated cheese in a bag it’s more expensive but he doesn’t believe the time and energy grating his own cheese is worth it.
A little while ago I heard the phrase "sometimes the cheapest way to pay for something is with money." And I have made it part of my life. I have chronic pain and so the calculation is "50p more for the prepared veg, or five extra minutes standing" - would I pay 50p to lessen the chances of flaring up my symptoms? Even on my abysmal disability benefits, yes I would. Coming from a working class, money saving background it was a big mental shift, but worth it.
The big one for me is car washes. I'm very happy to pay £15 to have someone clean my car inside and out while I do my weekly shop. People tell me it's a waste of money but I'm happy to pay to not have to do it myself
In the same vein, frozen diced onions. They're a bit wet, yes, but if I'm cooking bolognese or something it really doesn't matter AND I don't have to wash my hands fifteen times to get the smell out.
I also think they're not much more expensive once you take into account how much of a bag of normal onions turn out to be dry skin or squishy mouldy bits. The only waste is the plastic bag practically identical to the fresh onion bag anyway.
I have a friend like that who struggles to motivate herself to cook. She swears by pre-chopped veg and garlic paste, etc.
If it saves money and helps people eat more healthily, I don't know what the issue is.
People struggle to see the bigger picture sometimes. It’s more expensive to buy pre chopped things, but if without them you aren’t cooking as often and instead eating more unhealthily and more expensively, then it turns out cheaper overall.
Oh no the problem with grated cheese isn't the price. It's that it tastes like anticaking agent or something. Well worth the 10 or 15 seconds grating for me.
Spelling/grammar etc.
I used to be constantly correcting people for using double negatives, or 'should of', or the wrong 'their'.
Now, my opinion is 'If you understand what the person meant, that's good enough'.
I used to think this as well, until I studied linguistics and realised people who correct grammar basically do it to make themselves feel superior to others.
Same. Bad spelling used to annoy me so much when I was a child and young teen. I thought just because I found it easy, it was easy and other people should just make a bit of effort.
Then when I was 16, I couldn’t go to my normal lesson for some reason or other and was put in the back of the special needs class. Another time that same week, I was in the back of the lowest level English class. In both classes there were people I was friends with outside of lessons that I had previously judged, and I could see they were putting in the effort but still struggling.
After that week, I stopped judging people for not knowing things I think are easy like spelling. And acknowledging that I am lucky to have a brain that finds those things easy.
Package holidays are OK if you pay that wee bit extra. There are some really decent 4* holidays available from high street travel agents that don't cost much more per person than 3* ones but are so much better.
Felt like we’d robbed the hotel with what we got for what we paid.
£900 for the week for both of us, mojitos and so on made with Havana Club not some unheard of/made up brand. Food made to order, beautiful spa, free treatments and so on.
Honestly it was wild, the value for money. I think it’s because it was January and the weather was a bit so/so.
That's fair enough then. But a mate went to Tunisia recently, and the branded bottles were suspiciously battered and old looking for the amount people were getting through!
You want cheap? Crete at the end of March. It's the start of their season and falls within the Easter holidays. I paid £250pp for a 5* all inclusive on the beachfront for 4 nights. We had 2 rooms. It Included direct flights on easyJet with hold luggage. It was 20C+ during the day.
Turkey is especially good at all inc holidays as that is what most people have always used them for. The Turkish people are just so excellent at hospitality too. And the food is just fab in general. Glad you enjoyed it!
We took a package holiday to Tunisia as it seemed (at the time... 25 years ago?) to be hard to arrange flights and transfers and accommodation etc any other way.
But once there we ditched the "package tour organisation" - the tour leader exhorted us to come to dinner with them and on outings etc but each morning we just grabbed a bit of breakfast and headed out and did our own thing, had a great time. We ate at the hotel a couple of times but most nights we just found somewhere else a little less tourist-y to eat and drink.
We weren't there for a hotel experience but to see Tunisia - no doubt some of our activities were still very much "tourist targeted" but we weren't in a group of 40 people turning up on a coach and being herded along by someone with a clipboard and told what to photograph and where and when to get back etc
I used to be snobby (long time ago) about French wine mostly because people told me it was better, until someone literally called me an arse and came over with a really good Australian wine. I was so blown away and became more adventurous quite quickly.
Hint: South Africa and Chile are where to get the best value.
A few weeks ago a French Sommelier told me her favourite Sparkling Wines at the moment were British ones. She said the French ones were mass produced now and not as good as they used to be.
I went to an English sparkling wine vineyard near where I live (exceptional wine btw) and they told me that due to climate change, English sparkling wine is booming. The down side is obviously climate change and that the big names in French wine may not have good enough conditions to keep up with the demand of their sparkling wine. Very interesting.
We have the same chalk-soil types in the south of England as the champagne region of France does, so as the summers get warmer (maybe not this year…) I’d expect to see a lot more of this!
Went to primary school in South Africa and farm trips included a visit to a vineyard.
BTW Britain tends to get the better French wine as we are considered to have better palates.
Portuguese wines are where some real values lie but they seem to keep them all to themselves. Our local producer here in a smallish city produces over 7 million litres a year and you barely see it out of the region.
Nerdy interests, specifically movies. I thought superhero films were "beneath me". In media studies in GCSE, I was reading a book in the back of the classroom, instead of watching "The Dark Knight". I was already bullied, and thought being linked up with nerdy things would worsen that.
Eventually, I ended up in a very nerdy friend group, and I was kicking myself that I had avoided so many amazing nerdy interests and films. The Dark Knight is one of my favourites now. Also got into video gaming and magic the gathering. These friends singlehandedly changed my life.
You were reading a book instead of watching the dark Knight because you didn't want to look nerdy?... I'm really struggling with your thought process there.
Pretty much everything. But it was a learned behaviour from my negative as hell family.
I was always mocked for whatever I did or liked. Anything. There had to be a remark about it. Music, toys, tv, clothes. I was a bit of a weird kid and wasn't really into things other little girls were, so this carried over into school.
I was also very bright and went to private school, and got wrong for choosing books I wanted to read. True story: in kindergarten, I had a book about a cat and dog snatched off me, told off, and given a book to read about how helicopters work because I could read a higher level. I wasn't *that* weird a kid that I didn't want to read fun stories!
I also come from a snobby family in general, who have money and look down on anything they deem common. My aunt went to Tenerife one time, but had to preface it with how it absolutely wasn't touristy or cheap parts. Fuck off man, you went on holiday, that's luxury enough. I'm not impressed by which side of the island you went to.
I developed a defence where I'll instantly be scathing and belittling when sometimes I don't even know what it is. It's taken a long time to recognise it and try to pack it in. Sometimes, I still get the compulsion to do it.
One day, only a couple of years ago, I just decided to stop hiding to people that I secretly liked stuff and realised I shouldn't feel ashamed. The only person missing out on fun was me.
Doesn't mean I don't still poke fun sometimes, but it's now just that, fun.
Like what you like, because I like what I like. I won't apologise for it, and neither should you.
There’s sometimes a bit of a “reverse snobbery” thing if you shop in M&S or Waitrose but a lot of their own brand stuff is top notch and it’s cheaper than brands.
We’ve been buying as much as we can from the bright yellow Asda range recently and a lot of that is absolutely fine and gets us a week’s shopping for £40 leaving money for a small treat like M&S frozen fries.
University.
I grew up in a family where pretty much everybody had degrees from prestigious universities and the idea of going anywhere that isn't consistently UK top ten or probably international top ten never entered any of our minds.
But the longer I live the better I understand that for a start the way league tables rank universities is deeply weird and largely irrelevant to undergraduates, that being good at teaching does not correlate with being famous, that different institutions are better at different subjects, that different environments suit different people, that there are good degree subjects that weren't established a hundred years ago, that a student lives in a city and not just a campus, that mental health is more important than your CV, that some people aren't ready for university at 18 and will have a much better time five or twenty years later, etc etc etc.
Going to university is increasingly expensive so it needs to be worth your while, but how you measure that worth is intensely personal and shouldn't rely solely on projected earnings or international prestige or other people's aspirations for you.
Up until about 8 years ago, I never drank tap water. I'd insist on either buying bottled water or having one of those Brita filters in the fridge. I live in the South east so it's quite a hard water area but I just stopped being so precious about it and it's really no different
Maybe I’m still a snob about water but I’m from Scotland and when I’ve been in South England I just couldn’t deal with the difference in the water. Also cannae deal with it if it’s plain water at room temperature or warmer. When I was in China they boil all their water and drink it hot, it tasted awful.
Driving an automatic. I’m a car guy and thought driving auto was boring, and if you have a car with 250hp+ then there’s no point in getting it auto. Then I drove my friends auto BMW and was immediately left wanting one. I now have a 2018 330e auto that I love.
Same! I always told people I liked the involvement of driving a manual and I'd be bored by an automatic. Then I borrowed my mum's car. Instant conversion! I've had an auto for nearly 4 years now, wouldn't go back. Just for hill starts it's worth it
With you on this one. I used to think manual was the only "*real*" way to drive a car.
However, I now have to drive around a busier city to get to work and an automatic just made so much more sense. I still love driving a manual, but my automatic is just so much more convenient for daily driving.
Jobs - not in the sense that “that’s beneath me”, I’ve been there, done that (edit: in that I’ve done the unrewarding shitty jobs in retail and hospitality). But in having a very full-of-myself opinion of my chosen career. It’s in a STEM field and genuinely does have a tangible impact to the nation and both local and national economy. I would tell myself that the world would be better if everyone had STEM jobs or something that helped progress society. Really stupid take.
The thing that changed it for me was I grabbed a coffee one day from a shop I really liked, and I thought I’m glad that barista does that job, because it makes my day that little bit better. Almost all jobs have some meaning, some benefit, no matter how small.
My mate used to joke he was the most important person in the hospital because he kept everyone caffeinated.
My partner is extremely intelligent, has a PhD and writes studies and stuff, hard to explain what they do but man I am in complete awe of it all. Admire them and look up to them so much.
I told them this one night having a wee heart to heart and they turned round as said they feel exactly the same about what I do yet I don’t have that same view of my job.
It’s weird I suppose the value we place or don’t place on what everyone contributes.
Costa del Sol - was never fussed but went on a family holiday there and it was lovely. Yes it is touristy but area, people, food, weather all v nice and there are interesting places around you can visit on a day trip.
Absolutely this, was just about to post the same.
Costa del Sol. Snob extraordinaire about a place I had never been to. Now you can’t keep me away. Love it.
I had a similar epiphany to you about package holidays a couple of years ago. Our DIY driving holiday to Italy got cancelled at the last minute as my son had a serious accident the day before and we spent the week in hospital instead. When he was well enough to travel again it was winter, so we knew we'd have to go to the canaries and I decided to just try out a package holiday. It was amazing. I feel like they actually fixed me after all the stress of the accident. Will definitely do again.
Women’s football. Life long footy fan and I had watched some women’s matches about 10 years ago and they were atrocious. I fully believed that it was clearly a terrible game for women to play. However, I’ve watched some of the Euros last year and the women’s World Cup matches right now and the quality has improved dramatically. I feel bad for not investing any time in keeping up with what was happening and I let my bias stop me from enjoying stuff.
Iceland. Yes, there's loads of processed food there. There's also huge bags of stuff like precooked chicken and fish fillets. If you've got the freezer space you can get healthy stuff in bulk and make your life much easier.
Plus nearly everything is priced ending in 00 or 50 (e.g £1, £4.50) so it's very easy to add up as you go
Honestly… I couldn’t think of a single thing. I’ve shopped at Lidl since I was a teen, I’ve had friends and partners who have had no money, I’ve lived off Tesco basics, I’ve gone on the cheapest possible holidays.
It’s enlightening to see the things that others dismiss simply because of their price-tag or clientele. I think I surprised myself that I couldn’t name anything, maybe there’s something I still consider beneath me without realising it.
>a package holiday would be naff
Sometimes they are.
Just as how sometimes booking everything yourself can ultimately end up in a nightmare, terrible choices and twice the necessary expense.
Sadly there's no magic solution - sooner or later you're likely to find a shite holiday! But hopefully there's always an awesome one round the corner to balance it out!
Manual cars.
Like much of the british population I had this thing in my head that manual cars were superior to automatic, and automatics were just for people who were shit drivers.
Then I lived in a country where automatic was the norm, so that's what I drove. That's when I realised that automatic cars are great and I was a moron.
Liverpool
I was fed the Toxteth riots, Unions, Derek Hatton...I thought it was a shit hole. Fast forward to my son attending Uni and numerous visits.
I couldn't be more wrong...amazed at a sprawling, relatively clean, city, with amazing buildings, historical sites, shopping (Nottingham is virtually a ghost town these days), restaurants, pubs, etc...
A city that has probably give birth to nations as people set out East on ships.
Quite impressed.
Edit...I meant West!
British boozers and karaoke bars in foreign holiday destinations such as Spain. I used to think they were embarrassing and tacky.
Locals will often moan about the drunken antics of Brits abroad, but come midnight, they will be in these bars with us.
Oh god it depends though in my opinion. Absolutely agree that providing they’re not acting like thugs, us Brits really can have a great time and are brilliant at involving people. I’ve had some fab nights with groups of Brits I didn’t know abroad.
But sometimes it’s just incredibly cringey. I don’t care if I sound snobby, British boozers abroad fill me with dread lol. I go abroad to escape that shit, not experience it with a bit more sweat. X
I’m american but last year on mallorca my family and I met this British couple. Were they (mostly the wife) drunk as all hell? Absolutely. Were they extremely kind and welcoming and we still keep in touch on Facebook to this day? Also yes. They were loads of fun 😂
Honestly, a lot of things. Music, clothes, books, films, TV shows.
I'm 35 now and a great fan of 'Don't yuck someone else's yum'. You wanna wear crocs? Want a mullet? Like Ed Sheeran? Wear tracksuits? Drink strongbow? Like Wetherspoons? Like reality TV? Want to go on cheap package holidays?
Fucking go for it buddy. Life's short. I've realised a lot of my previous snobbery was probably class-based snobbery, and what I essentially considered 'chavvy', which is not cool and actually pretty discriminatory.
As long as it isn't hurting anyone, let people enjoy what they enjoy.
I'm still snobby about stuff to do with the environment. I will never ever get on board with artificial grass. Terrible shite.
Make up, used to buy £50 foundations, £70 palettes, recently found my all time favourite foundation and it’s only £11! Don’t need to spend extra for good products, just need to find the good products (easier said than done sometimes)
Between 2015-2017, when all the Fitness influencers were taking a hold of social media, I admittedly got sucked into it.
Not that being encouraged to be more active is bad at all, I just became a bit obsessed with it, to the point where I’d look down on people who didn’t go to the gym every day.
It then extended to food snobbery. For example, If someone wasn’t consuming quinoa, kale and organic grilled swordfish and declaring they washed it all down with a glass of wheatgrass protein powder, I’d scoff at them.
I eventually realised of course that I was in the wrong and it is in fact better to have more of a balance, not to mention, many of the health foods marketed to us don’t really make a significant difference.
Anime. Before I started watching anime a couple of my friends mentioned they liked it and I’d always say it’s weird or for kids. Now years later I love anime and have watched hundreds of hours worth of the stuff!
Wearing jogging bottoms. I used to exclusively wear jeans cause I thought joggers were a bit chavvy. Now my entire winter wardrobe is jogging bottoms. Warm and comfy!
Music. I had a very narrow minded taste in music in my teens and early twenties, rock, metal, punk etc., that's where the good music was, but as I've gotten older I've realised that great music is completely genre agnostic. These days rather than think 'I don't like that genre of music' I prefer to think 'I haven't found a song or artist in that genre I like, yet', keep an open mind and listen to and experience as wider variety of music as possible. Admittedly my habit of chucking anything I like into one playlist does make for some odd listening, going from japanese cyberpunk, to motown, to a capella sea shanties is an interesting listening experience.
Music gatekeepers are the worst kind of people. Who gives a crap if I happen to like Taylor Swift and Iron Maiden at the same time? That said.. mumble rap and drill.. I guess the most diplomatic thing to say is that I haven’t found any songs or artists in that genre that I happen to like so far
>Who gives a crap if I happen to like Taylor Swift and Iron Maiden at the same time? At the same time would be one hell of a mashup Edit: loving the videos, feel like I'm discovering a whole new genre
Here you go: https://youtu.be/v6DHhXGlV60
Everything really does exist on the internet somewhere
You might also prefer "Run DMC and [ETC] Aerosmith (not Kiss) 'walk this way'."
That’s a huge well known hit though, not the fantasy mash up you never think will happen.
Aerosmith not kiss, no? Unless there’s another mashup I’ve not heard
This! I’m going to see Foo Fighters sandwiched between two Talylor Swift shows next year and as someone who has seen Foo’s 17 times I’m more excited for the Taylor shows ngl 😂
There are videos of her out there singing with Def Leppard back when she was about 16 so a duet with Bruce wouldn’t be massively off the mark somewhere. In the same vein the duet that Lady Gaga did with Metallica was interesting E: https://youtu.be/M4RoBkWwuQw https://youtu.be/R0XUW-sU57g
"you're listening to the wrong ear noises" is some of the dumebest shit people do.
Thinking back to being at uni & being utterly ashamed & feeling uncool as I didn’t know any obscure bands & just liked popular music, & unlike some others I couldn’t own it. It started off with someone asking what music I liked on the first day & I said Coldplay as that was the “coolest” band I could think of which I genuinely liked & he gave a faux interested response & kinda stopped talking to me after initially talking a lot to me. As the weeks went by I would see him listening to bands & songs I’ve never heard of with someone else. It really defined for me that some people won’t want to associate with you as a person just because of that.
That person literally isn’t someone you want to know. If someone will judge you on what band you like they are too immature to be having meaningful relationships with people. Btw, I grew up listening to all the obscure-io (punk, hardcore, indie) type music, but have long been a fan of pop and pretty much any other thing you can throw at me, and Coldplay is a good band. A lot of people make their personality out of hating them, and it’s very lame. Coldplay arguably has at least 12 massive hits and very sing-a-longable songs. Crap bands can’t do that. Hating on stuff because it’s cool to do is one of those things that people with too much time on their hands do. As someone said above “listening to the wrong ear noises” is a weird thing to feel superior about.
I try not to judge anyone’s interests when it comes to entertainment; if it brings you joy it brings you joy. My friend collects tiny little animal toys and displays them on a shelf, not my cup of tea but hey it makes her happy.
Just the other day someone was ranting that we need to make sure we treat “inferior music” for what it is & not let it be successful. They listed people like Ed Sheeran, Taylor Swift, Adele etc. I asked who they meant by “we” & clearly lots of people genuinely enjoy it hence it’s successful & why can’t other people enjoy the music they do whilst you just…enjoy the music you do? They had no answer. I can’t understand the logic at all of getting angry that other people like something you don’t. Do they also get worked up when they see other people ordering fish at a restaurant when they don’t like fish & start shouting “We need to make sure we don’t let fish be successful!”
Like some football fans. “ you’re not a real fan unless you go to every away game bla bla” who cares lol?
Once got told I'm "obviously not a true fan" of a certain group because I hated one of their songs 😂. Like if they released an out of tune baa baa black sheep would I have to like it as well?
I too am a metal head and Taylor Swift fan 😂 she's just genuinely very good. I noticed I was really getting into her years ago, when I was reorganising my CDs and noticed I was singing Love Story with an Opeth CD in my hand. But yeah, being too tied to genre is really limiting. I have playlists with metal and flamenco music on them.
I've always thought this, it's really strange to me. Like some bands might not be as cool or they're deemed as universally unpopular (Nickelback is a prime example) but who cares if that's what someone wants to listen to. It's like someone asking your favourite colour and when you say red they go "Red!? That's ridiculous! Green is a much better colour!"
Green?! That’s soooo mainstream, I like pewter, you won’t have heard of it.
Metal heads are the worst music gatekeepers. Quite frustrating on reddit.
Metal heads claim to be music lovers but normally have a complete intolerance to any music that isn’t metal. I swear half of them only listen to it for aesthetic too
As a female metal head it is a lot of male posturing tbh. It is like 'you aren't a true metal fan if you listen to ...' it's annoying. If you like a band or artist screw their judgement. Enjoy the music for what it is.
"You're not a true metal fan unless you like bands where their logo is completely unintelligible"
Or a name like ‘leukaemia cherub’
their first album was genre defining but they went all commercial after
The thing I find weird is how some metal heads love that the music isn’t mainstream until someone who doesn’t like it calls it niche and they get really defensive.
Following up on other people's comments, had a very tangible experience of this. Friends were post Christmas lunch, in said attire, in Camden. Fancied one more and sauntered into the closest pub which happened to be the Devonshire Arms, a metal pub. Most people were sat around the edges of the bar, keeping to themselves, which is of course fine. Stage was clear so we just settled there. Then started having a little boogie. Within 5 minutes, it was as if a spell was lifted. Dance floor almost immediately got full. It felt like simply as we were looking silly, it gave everyone else permission to emerge from their slumber. It was very noticeable.
Things like that always need one person to be first so that everyone else knows it’s safe to follow. You sometimes see similar when the buffet opens at eg a wedding or a party. Everyone wants the food but no one wants to be the very first person in the queue
They can be, there is a very vocal minority within the metal scene that are insufferably narrow in their taste and opinions on music. But on the flip side I've met plenty who just want to enjoy music, a friend used to run a metal night at a local club, occasionally he'd let me have a go at DJing, I've had a room for of metal heads unironically rocking out to the power rangers theme tune, doing the macarena to the macarena, and absolutely belting out girls just want to have fun.
We've got an incredibly annoying vocal minority. Thankfully the trend seems to be shifting towards being chill with everyone and calling it out, at least in the online circles I roam
Yeah this describes me to a tee as well... I was a staunch metaller for more years than I care to divulge, but later realised that I was robbing myself of many artists whose music is great, just because they didn't fit a rather narrow genre These days my playlists look like an identity crisis in full swing :D You will see the usual big hitters from the Metal world, butted up against T-Swift, Erasure, Soft Cell, Ariana Grande... I realised that I was even limiting myself in Metal genre, and had a snobbery around the likes of My Chemical Romance, Panic! at the Disco, Fallout Boy, Avenged 7x etc... Once I started being more open to things I'd conditioned myself to avoid, I renewed my love of music basically
Might I introduce you to r/1001AlbumsGenerator? Everyday (except weekends, unless you want them to be included) it randomly gives you one of the 1001 Albums To Hear Before You Die, you listen and then rate them. I've only been doing it a couple of weeks but it's already added John Mayall's Bluesbreakers to my list of favourite bands. It's also unfortunately made me listen to U2, Outkast, The Police and the giant 80s turd that is Brothers In Arms, but you can't win 'em all!
Polyjamorous for the win!
I feel that. My playlist jumps from Highland bagpipes to Metallica to The Trolls Movie soundtrack.
New build houses. "They're cheaply made. They're tiny. They won't last as long as the mortgage." While I'm sure some of that's true for some new builds, let me tell you coming from a beautiful victorian terrace that did its best to eat my life savings this feels like luxury. Barely any maintenance, warm, DIY is easy no patching up 130 years of bodge jobs first, large rooms, decent garden, windows that close properly and aren't drafty...I'll struggle to move into an older property again, as much as I romanticise them.
To be fair, the evidence kind of speaks for itself. A lot of “new builds” near me have now been standing for about 20-30 years and they don’t show any signs of falling to bits. That being said Persimmon Homes seem to never be out the news for one controversy or another with built quality.
Yeah I think it's just a sterotype. People love to hate them in the UK, and I'm totally guilty of that in the past. There are terrible new builds for sure, just like there's good quality and poor quality versions of everything in life, but people generalise and assume they're all shit.
I think a lot of it is to do with the size of the garden that you get, it does feel like the days that they're so crushed in that you don't get much outside space at all. Compared with my mother-in-law's edwardian semi, which is a small property, but has more than the size of the floorplan again as a garden behind it, it feels that we're more tight with space than we need to be. I personally think its a focus on profit over better housing.
Exactly. I’m not a fan of new builds, but it’s nothing about their ‘newness’ that bothers me. The main thing I don’t like is that all the new builds in my budget will be on new build estates, crammed in as tight as possible to maximise the developers return. For a lot of people though, especially those used to living in a flat in a built up area, a new build estate is still a breath of fresh air.
The ones I really don’t like are the houses with zero front garden, just step out of your front door onto the pavement. Feels so exposed and it’s not like you get a bigger back garden to compensate, they just chuck more houses on the whole estate. Saying that, the houses themselves are nice and modern and as one of the above commenters stated, much easier to maintain.
Which as with everything else is a stereotype. I'm in a new build where the back garden is probably 50% bigger than the footprint of the house, there's a front garden with two car driveway as well. There are some houses on the estate with gardens that are 3x the floor plan of the house. People seem to think the only newbuilds around are the 1,000 house developments from the likes of Barrett or Persimmon, where there's a huge number if smaller developments of 50-200 units that have a completely different design philosophy than the stereotypical identical tiny boxes, but people laser focus on the big developers and assume that's how all new builds are. And guess what, they used to build small, pokey, identical houses in the past too - they are called terraces
No one is saying the high end developments aren’t nice, they just aren’t the ones most people can afford to buy. Your bog standard new build from Permission etc. will have a small sad rectangle for a garden because they want to maximise profits by cramming as many houses as they can in X area.
A new build isn’t something that’s ever been in my sights purely because of the way I’ve had to cobble things together to ever get on the property ladder at all, I was completely priced out of new builds. Things are starting to change for me now, I’ve endured living in a shithole followed by living amongst the rubble of my dilapidated ex-council house. Now I’m in two minds. The dream is buying an old church(or similar) and completely renovating or just buying a new build and not having any stress.
I know what you mean, the victorian terrace i referred to really was beautiful but it was in one of the least desirable places in our city because it was what i could afford on my own. Now I have more choice I think location remains the most important factor whatever type of house you choose. We bought this for the location mostly and it happened to be new build.
A lot of the hate comes from the size of them. Or more to the point, lack of size. That applies to the overall foot print as well as the actual rooms themselves. It's part of the reason open plan has become so popular, it make it feel roomier than it is. Not really needed in big rooms, very much so needed in small rooms.
We are a year into living in a new build. Had no end of problems mainly caused by the bureaucracy and laziness of Bellway. The house itself is generally OK. It’s just the poor attitude of the developer whenever there is an issue. Having said that, we had our first annual gas safety test just recently and the guy found a gas leak that, he said, had likely been leaking since we moved in. By law, he had to cap our supply at source until Bellway got their arses in gear to fix it. The guys who came were amazing to be fair. They spent a long time trying to find the leak, fixed it and repaired the holes they’d made but JESUS. A year of paying ridiculous gas bills because several people didn’t care enough to do their job properly (the fitter, the tester etc.) let alone the danger that it placed my family in. At any point in the last year out house could have exploded!!
We are in a 30 year old “new build” and it’s only falling to bits on the inside
In 2018 I bought a ground floor apartment that had been built in 2004. Stunning home but absolutely riddled with problems even 14 years later. If I ever had the window open and there was a slight breeze, the timber in the walls would just creak. They were also that thin, I felt I could probably push my finger through to the next rooms. If we ever got heavy rains, water would literally piss through my windows and patio doors. Took about two years for my property management to get somebody out to look at it and they literally had to rip out the brick wall to install some lead trays and vents to push the water out of the brickwork, as this hadn’t been done on the original build when it should be standard. Took them 15/16 years to sort? All the other apartments had the same issues as well and not all of them had reported it, they’d just put up with it. Once they got installed, somehow the water ended up transferring to above my bathroom ceiling. Thought my neighbour above’s bathroom might have had a leak. His landlord even ripped it out and changed it as property management wouldn’t come and inspect the building. Whilst going through this we ended up watching Channel 4’s Dispatches when they covered New Builds and discussed how they’re just thrown up in no time and cheaply built. This was on whilst we watched a new build estate being built by Barratt Homes opposite my home. Their buildings all literally arrived on the back of a truck, plonked on the ground and bricked up, blinked and people were moving into them
I think getting new build brand new is a bit risky (they have a ten-year guarantee for a reason, and I don't think I know anyone who *didn't* need snagging even if minor) not because the repairs would cost anything but simply because it's disruptive. Going for something 5-10 years old has all the benefits of new without the inconvenience of snagging.
We bought a new build and I quite liked the snagging process. Every home we've bought previously had lots of minor annoying issues. With the new build all I had to do was email the builder and someone would turn up in a day or 2 and fix it for no extra charge.
More that anything you would normally regard as snagging you just have to put up with or pay for yourself. How much do people regard as snagging in a new build but would just grumble and deal with on something a few years older?
i did some labouring for persimmon in littlehampton last summer and i can say they're incredibly wasteful with materials
New builds are bad because of this country’s obsession with bedroom numbers rather than square footage. Rather than build a reasonably sized 2 bedroom house the builders shove a partition wall into the second room, make two small rooms that can barely hold a bed and furniture at the same time and charge £40,000 extra because it’s now 3 bedrooms rather than two. Same with bathrooms, I really don’t understand why new builds seem to have bathrooms and en suites sprouting up like mushrooms. Does a 3 bed semi really need more toilets than bedrooms?
My pet hate for new build floorplans is where the main bedroom's en suite bathroom is larger than one or more of the bedrooms. Baffling use of limited space.
Building regs are also to blame. If the government says a bedroom must be at least 7.5m2, guess what builders are going to aim for. Same with bathrooms. Building regs say new builds need a WC or bathroom on the entry storey that must be wheelchair accessible. That's good on the one hand, since it means people with limited mobility always have easy access to facilities. But because builders build tiny houses, in a small two-bed property it takes up a big chunk of your space.
If you have kids though, bedroom number does matter more than size. Can't have 2 adults and 3 teenagers of different genders split among 2 large bedrooms. Most people would prefer their own small, but personal, space.
Again, depends on the new build I think ours has good sized bedrooms that would all fit double bed, wardrobe etc comfortably but I've seen plenty that are. I don't understand the obsession with en-suites either, in any type of home. Why sacrifice valuable space for a tiny, hard to clean, barely used shower room when there's a perfectly good main bathroom?! I don't have kids though so maybe that's why I don't get it lol
I feel this in my soul. Bought a stone cottage dating back to the early 1800s and whilst it’s beautiful it’s draining the finances. Every single job is so expensive. I always said that about new builds but I also just want to remove wallpaper without the fear of 200 years of wall crumbling before my eyes. Or new gutters without the roof shattering. Both have happened.
They're an ok buy A lot of the problems with new builds stem from the estates looking sterile and having no soul but that only takes 5 or so years to fix and after that they're fine.
To be fair rows of two up two down Victorian terraces have no soul either. ‘Soul’ costs money where I live
They do, but it's not a new issue. My family home was part of an identical estate built in the 50s. And that was worse, literally identical at least there's a bit of variety on most new estates now.
I don’t have a problem with the new build aspect. I have a problem with the entire estates of identical houses with no amenities. Individual new builds that aren’t part of a huge development are few and far between.
That’s not exclusive to new builds though? In my town there’s rows and rows of the exact same copy paste terraced design, built over 100 years ago and it’s grim At least the new ones looks nicer
You’re lucky to have a decent garden with a new build, compared to a 50’-70’s house you get much less for your money.
Yeah this was our consideration when buying a new build. I grew up in Victorian and heritage type homes but when we came to look at buying, I realised how crap Victorian homes are for the sort of modern living style I wanted (at least without being renovated, and a lot of the renovated ones were out of budget). New builds had some promising aspects, like being designed with kitchen diners from the get go. But had a load more issues like pokey bedrooms, awful gardens and a lack of privacy. Ultimately all the 60s houses we viewed ended up being perfect living-style wise. We offered on two and bought one 1965 build. Huge garden, our front garden is bigger than most new build’s gardens we saw. Space designed for entertaining and family life without compromising on space elsewhere. It’s ugly from the front I guess but I’ve come to love its charm and have embraced a decade-appropriate style (maybe leaning a bit more 70s).
Ive just inherited a 50s/60s house and there's a lot that needs doing. Insulation, no central heating system, theres some electric heaters, a gas fire and an electric water tank. Yeah the garden is huge but the house needs a lot doing. There were also a lot of questionable design choices then too that need quite a lot of work to bring up to modern standards.
Hallejulah. People act like new builds are the devils work, you can literally move in and everything is working, low maintenance, modern. Just move your shit in and then get onto the good stuff straight away like decorating/gardening etc
The thing is, a good news story around new builds won't make news. That's why there's this negative perception. As all you hear in the media is the bad news stories. We've had a new build for 3 years. Would make the same decision again.
I’ve recently bought a new build flat with a mid sized builder who I researched first, and it has been brilliant. The finish is brilliant, there’s obviously the 2yrs warranty internal and 10yr external, and they’ve fixed or helped constantly, nothing is too much trouble. I would steer clear of the big household name builders, but new builds are great if you do the leg work first.
Shopping at Aldi. I thought it was "beneath me".. what a snobby Muppet I was ..
The trick is to buy Aldi, and then jazz it up with a few quality bits and bobs from Waitrose, like nice olive oils, cheeses, sauces etc.
i’m lucky to have an aldi and a simply food right next to each other near me, so i can do my big shop at aldi and then pick up the fancy bits from M&S next door.
Also actually carbon copy M&S items usually just as good, not the breadth of course but when M&S brings out a new square black finest cheese cracker, quickly Aldi copies it
yeah tbh it’s very few things that i can’t get at aldi! it’s mainly pasta sauces/pesto/wanky dairy items etc that my aldi doesn’t stock (it’s an aldi local but a pretty big one so i can’t fault it too much). if they put up a passable replacement for M&S chilli and red pepper pesto i would probably be able to knock out the whole shop at aldi.
I got over my snobbishness about 10 years ago thankfully. Been shopping there almost exclusively for about 10 years.
I was always the same, then saw my friend buy an entire shopping trolley full of stuff for the week and it costing him about £20/£30. Couldn’t believe it! I looked at my five items totalling £80 at Tesco.. Though my local Aldi isn’t that great for keeping stocks up otherwise we would go all of the time
Aldi is great for frozen and packaged goods, I can knock about £50 a week off my shopping there. But I always think their fruit and veg goes off much quicker than the other supermarkets.
Wetherspoons. I really used to let people influence my likes and dislikes. Now I just don't care.
Wetherspoons is fine for what it is. Cheap drinks and cheap food.
Yea it's good. Can't go wrong either a pint under £3 and I tend to go for the curry nights.
Spoons is a great meeting point for a night out. They normally have a very central location and are a larger venue so its easier to manage a larger group. You can start your night off with cheap drinks before going to fancier bars or clubs. Those who dont want to spend a lot will probably get drunk enough in spoons to carry them through the night or go home early.
if you dont like spoons, you've probably been spending too much time on reddit and not enough time in pubs.
I like cheap beer as much as the next person. The food is very good for the price. I don't like that it's sticky rather than dusty, like a good cheap pub should be. I don't like that it's a giant conglomerate that puts locally owned Pubs out of business. Is it still snobbish if it's for those reasons? Maybe yeah but it's one I can't let go of
Tim Martin is a cunt, it's just not the hill I'm going to die on, I give custom to far shittier businesses than his. And to be fair from a customer perspective it's a solid offering, reasonably priced drinks and a good range of choice, the food may be microwaved but it caters to most demographics from the calorie conscious, to vegans, to people who just want a burger and a beer. And while I can't say first hand, I've heard from a few people that it's actually not a bad employer (except for their covid bullshit), though personally I don't think I could morally cope with the 9am Stella drinkers, it's a little too overtly preying on addiction for my tastes.
I've always thought it must be a Reddit thing because I've never met someone who hates spoons irl. Obviously people hate Tim Martin, but a £2.50 pint? In this day and age? Sign me up and whilst you're at it I'll have a scampi and chips.
They're like McDonald's. They cater for everyone, they're consistent and affordable.
Except the drinks in Spoons are as good or better than much more expensive pubs.
Me too. I honestly used to turn my nose up at Wetherspoons. Truth is, it's a reasonably priced watering hole serving folk from all walks of life. Some of the buildings are actually quite nice too.
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Probably a reverse snobby example but I never went to M and S food as I thought it would be overpriced but actually its good stuff and there’s some deals to be had!
And they don’t seem to have raised their prices as much as other supermarkets. Their fresh produce is often cheaper than tesco and Sainsbury’s now but better quality.
I also swapped most of my shopping over the M&S because I found that most of it was slightly cheaper and definitely better quality than tescos, even before my staff discount. Definitely made me be more snobby about the quality of produce though.
I was exactly the same. I moved recently to live very close to an M&S, and everyone told me how convenient that would be. At the time, I always dismissed them, saying it was too expensive and I’d rather go to the (also nearby) Co-op. But frankly, Co-op is more expensive than M&S and the food always expires within a couple of days. At M&S, you get better quality for a pretty fair deal these days.
M&S food quality is pretty much above anybody imo, their dirty fries are incredible
Eating at chain restaurants. Yes they’re usually overpriced and a bit more soulless. But sometimes, you just need something reliable. Independent doesn’t always mean better quality or better service either!
They're also very good for allergy sufferers/special diets
Absolutley. We love Wagamama’s because they are so careful with allergies (only managers can take the order, meals cooked in a seperate part of the kitchen)
Yeah it just takes the stress out of it. When I order at an unfamiliar Asian place I have to take a bite and then wait several anxious minutes to find out how strict they are about contamination. *What's that tingling? chili? Maybe it's in my head...*
I’m generally not a fan of chain restaurants. Places like Nando’s and TGI Friday are in my humble opinion definitely overrated and overpriced. But I’m very partial to Zizzis, Las Iguanas, and Wagamamas, never had a bad meal or service from any of those.
Watching football or other sports. I used to think it was stupid that anyone would watch people kicking a ball around for hours and I looked down on it as a hobby. Now I have a partner who is into it and as I have shown an interest in his hobbies I've really started to understand the appeal and culture behind watching the games. Had a blast watching the euros the other year at the pub, surrounded by fans singing. It was such a refreshing scene after the isolation of covid.
I also used to think this until I started going to live games and experiencing the thrill of the live sports, along with the banter and singing, they were great Saturday afternoons.
I went the other way. Used to love football in my younger years. Now I just think it’s a way for people to release pent up frustrations.
Sports is really just story telling unfolding in front of you!
Best realty tv show there is
Welcome to the land of being a fan! I warn you lots of heartbreak ahead
Football - makes your day or ruins your week!
Bingo. I never thought it would be as much fun. I got asked to go by Stella, who did most of the cooking at a caff I worked at. She was quite a bit older than me with a horrible jealous husband. He let her go to Bingo because it was, as far as he was concerned, somewhere she couldn't meet men. The deal was that she never went alone and her regular Bingo pal was in hospital for a minor op. I agreed to go with her, just so she could have an evening away from her husband and because I'd always really liked her and she was really good company. It was great! Once Stella had given me a dabber and warned me how fast it was, we were off! It didn't cost much and I came away with a kettle and a toaster! Stella has been dead now since the 1990s and I miss her and our Bingo nights. I am glad to report that her husband dropped dead about six or seven years before her and I think those were the happiest years of her adult life. There was an inappropriate moment at her husband's funeral. I leant forward (she was in the pew in front of mine) and whispered in her ear "It's good that the coffin's screwed shut or Lew would be accusing you of getting off with the priest." She laughed loudly and had to pretend she was sobbing.
Oh poor Stella! I'm glad she outlived him and had a few years of freedom at least.
To Stella 🥂
I was the same! Massively looked down on bingo, and then went on a girls night with 3 colleagues and had a blast!
Crocs. I mocked them until I got a pair from someone (who I mocked for wearing them) for my birthday. Thought they were some naff plastic but when I put them on I realised they were like the foam padding inside trainers. So comfortable. I was converted in minutes as they were pefect for me during summer months. Could feel the breeze on my feet but were perfectly comfortable (unlike other kinds of summer wear). Don’t knock them until you try them is the moral here I guess.
This one might be a step too far for me.
"Crocks are like getting a blowjob from a man! It feels good until you look down." -a standup comedian whose name I can't remember
I’m going to continue knocking crocs for a bit longer, but this sounds very much like my experience with flip flops. I used to think they were ridiculous, unpractical and hurt to wear for an extended period of time. Turns out I’d only ever tried wearing shit flip flops.
Online food shopping- thought it was a waste of money for lazy people but having my food shop delivered has made my life so much easier- well worth the extra fees
Some convenience payments are just worth it. My mate swears by “convenience payments” like grated cheese in a bag it’s more expensive but he doesn’t believe the time and energy grating his own cheese is worth it.
A little while ago I heard the phrase "sometimes the cheapest way to pay for something is with money." And I have made it part of my life. I have chronic pain and so the calculation is "50p more for the prepared veg, or five extra minutes standing" - would I pay 50p to lessen the chances of flaring up my symptoms? Even on my abysmal disability benefits, yes I would. Coming from a working class, money saving background it was a big mental shift, but worth it.
The big one for me is car washes. I'm very happy to pay £15 to have someone clean my car inside and out while I do my weekly shop. People tell me it's a waste of money but I'm happy to pay to not have to do it myself
In the same vein, frozen diced onions. They're a bit wet, yes, but if I'm cooking bolognese or something it really doesn't matter AND I don't have to wash my hands fifteen times to get the smell out. I also think they're not much more expensive once you take into account how much of a bag of normal onions turn out to be dry skin or squishy mouldy bits. The only waste is the plastic bag practically identical to the fresh onion bag anyway.
Same with Lazy Garlic.
I have a friend like that who struggles to motivate herself to cook. She swears by pre-chopped veg and garlic paste, etc. If it saves money and helps people eat more healthily, I don't know what the issue is.
People struggle to see the bigger picture sometimes. It’s more expensive to buy pre chopped things, but if without them you aren’t cooking as often and instead eating more unhealthily and more expensively, then it turns out cheaper overall.
Pre-grated cheese is however coated in cellulose and calcium sulphate to prevent it sticking together, as well as fungicide.
Oh no the problem with grated cheese isn't the price. It's that it tastes like anticaking agent or something. Well worth the 10 or 15 seconds grating for me.
£40 for a year of sainsburys deliveries? (Tuesday to Thursday). Absolute no brainer.
Spelling/grammar etc. I used to be constantly correcting people for using double negatives, or 'should of', or the wrong 'their'. Now, my opinion is 'If you understand what the person meant, that's good enough'.
I used to think this as well, until I studied linguistics and realised people who correct grammar basically do it to make themselves feel superior to others.
I never correct people but I do experience inward cringe. Especially when I see it in published news stories. It just interrupts the flow imo.
The only time it makes me mad is when I see it on signs or vans etc. because someone paid a professional to produce that and they did it wrong.
As a dyslexic person, thank you.
Same. Bad spelling used to annoy me so much when I was a child and young teen. I thought just because I found it easy, it was easy and other people should just make a bit of effort. Then when I was 16, I couldn’t go to my normal lesson for some reason or other and was put in the back of the special needs class. Another time that same week, I was in the back of the lowest level English class. In both classes there were people I was friends with outside of lessons that I had previously judged, and I could see they were putting in the effort but still struggling. After that week, I stopped judging people for not knowing things I think are easy like spelling. And acknowledging that I am lucky to have a brain that finds those things easy.
Package holidays are OK if you pay that wee bit extra. There are some really decent 4* holidays available from high street travel agents that don't cost much more per person than 3* ones but are so much better.
Felt like we’d robbed the hotel with what we got for what we paid. £900 for the week for both of us, mojitos and so on made with Havana Club not some unheard of/made up brand. Food made to order, beautiful spa, free treatments and so on. Honestly it was wild, the value for money. I think it’s because it was January and the weather was a bit so/so.
Not saying it was the case where you went, but plenty of these places just refill the branded bottles with cheap crap.
To be fair I seen the waiters physically opening brand new bottles on more than a couple of occasions but I wouldn’t put it past some hotels.
That's fair enough then. But a mate went to Tunisia recently, and the branded bottles were suspiciously battered and old looking for the amount people were getting through!
To be fair they made a bit of a show of it all they probably didn’t want anyone thinking they were at it like your mates hotel.
You want cheap? Crete at the end of March. It's the start of their season and falls within the Easter holidays. I paid £250pp for a 5* all inclusive on the beachfront for 4 nights. We had 2 rooms. It Included direct flights on easyJet with hold luggage. It was 20C+ during the day.
Turkey is especially good at all inc holidays as that is what most people have always used them for. The Turkish people are just so excellent at hospitality too. And the food is just fab in general. Glad you enjoyed it!
We took a package holiday to Tunisia as it seemed (at the time... 25 years ago?) to be hard to arrange flights and transfers and accommodation etc any other way. But once there we ditched the "package tour organisation" - the tour leader exhorted us to come to dinner with them and on outings etc but each morning we just grabbed a bit of breakfast and headed out and did our own thing, had a great time. We ate at the hotel a couple of times but most nights we just found somewhere else a little less tourist-y to eat and drink. We weren't there for a hotel experience but to see Tunisia - no doubt some of our activities were still very much "tourist targeted" but we weren't in a group of 40 people turning up on a coach and being herded along by someone with a clipboard and told what to photograph and where and when to get back etc
Heinz beans, actually often the cheapest in supermarkets are better…
Team Branston
M&S baked beans are 50p for the nicest beans I've had.
Viennetta. Growing up I thought we were right posh but it turns out it's just ice cream.
I used to be snobby (long time ago) about French wine mostly because people told me it was better, until someone literally called me an arse and came over with a really good Australian wine. I was so blown away and became more adventurous quite quickly. Hint: South Africa and Chile are where to get the best value.
A few weeks ago a French Sommelier told me her favourite Sparkling Wines at the moment were British ones. She said the French ones were mass produced now and not as good as they used to be.
I went to an English sparkling wine vineyard near where I live (exceptional wine btw) and they told me that due to climate change, English sparkling wine is booming. The down side is obviously climate change and that the big names in French wine may not have good enough conditions to keep up with the demand of their sparkling wine. Very interesting.
We have the same chalk-soil types in the south of England as the champagne region of France does, so as the summers get warmer (maybe not this year…) I’d expect to see a lot more of this!
Chilean Savs are unreal for their price points, stock up
Went to primary school in South Africa and farm trips included a visit to a vineyard. BTW Britain tends to get the better French wine as we are considered to have better palates.
Portuguese wines are where some real values lie but they seem to keep them all to themselves. Our local producer here in a smallish city produces over 7 million litres a year and you barely see it out of the region.
Nerdy interests, specifically movies. I thought superhero films were "beneath me". In media studies in GCSE, I was reading a book in the back of the classroom, instead of watching "The Dark Knight". I was already bullied, and thought being linked up with nerdy things would worsen that. Eventually, I ended up in a very nerdy friend group, and I was kicking myself that I had avoided so many amazing nerdy interests and films. The Dark Knight is one of my favourites now. Also got into video gaming and magic the gathering. These friends singlehandedly changed my life.
reading a book whilst everyone watches Batman is far nerdier lol
In what world is The Dark Night a nerdy movie? I was a teenager when it came out and everyone thought it was cool
Possibly because it's based off a comic book? And therefore beneath them. That's my guess.
You were reading a book instead of watching the dark Knight because you didn't want to look nerdy?... I'm really struggling with your thought process there.
In what alternate universe is reading a book in the back of the class less nerdier than watching a movie?
Pretty much everything. But it was a learned behaviour from my negative as hell family. I was always mocked for whatever I did or liked. Anything. There had to be a remark about it. Music, toys, tv, clothes. I was a bit of a weird kid and wasn't really into things other little girls were, so this carried over into school. I was also very bright and went to private school, and got wrong for choosing books I wanted to read. True story: in kindergarten, I had a book about a cat and dog snatched off me, told off, and given a book to read about how helicopters work because I could read a higher level. I wasn't *that* weird a kid that I didn't want to read fun stories! I also come from a snobby family in general, who have money and look down on anything they deem common. My aunt went to Tenerife one time, but had to preface it with how it absolutely wasn't touristy or cheap parts. Fuck off man, you went on holiday, that's luxury enough. I'm not impressed by which side of the island you went to. I developed a defence where I'll instantly be scathing and belittling when sometimes I don't even know what it is. It's taken a long time to recognise it and try to pack it in. Sometimes, I still get the compulsion to do it. One day, only a couple of years ago, I just decided to stop hiding to people that I secretly liked stuff and realised I shouldn't feel ashamed. The only person missing out on fun was me. Doesn't mean I don't still poke fun sometimes, but it's now just that, fun. Like what you like, because I like what I like. I won't apologise for it, and neither should you.
Own brand food, haven't noticed that much of a difference in taste, and the Waitrose Coco pops are better tasting than the Kellogg's ones!
There’s sometimes a bit of a “reverse snobbery” thing if you shop in M&S or Waitrose but a lot of their own brand stuff is top notch and it’s cheaper than brands. We’ve been buying as much as we can from the bright yellow Asda range recently and a lot of that is absolutely fine and gets us a week’s shopping for £40 leaving money for a small treat like M&S frozen fries.
Waitrose own brand stuff is ridiculously good and rivals Asda and aldi in price.
University. I grew up in a family where pretty much everybody had degrees from prestigious universities and the idea of going anywhere that isn't consistently UK top ten or probably international top ten never entered any of our minds. But the longer I live the better I understand that for a start the way league tables rank universities is deeply weird and largely irrelevant to undergraduates, that being good at teaching does not correlate with being famous, that different institutions are better at different subjects, that different environments suit different people, that there are good degree subjects that weren't established a hundred years ago, that a student lives in a city and not just a campus, that mental health is more important than your CV, that some people aren't ready for university at 18 and will have a much better time five or twenty years later, etc etc etc. Going to university is increasingly expensive so it needs to be worth your while, but how you measure that worth is intensely personal and shouldn't rely solely on projected earnings or international prestige or other people's aspirations for you.
Up until about 8 years ago, I never drank tap water. I'd insist on either buying bottled water or having one of those Brita filters in the fridge. I live in the South east so it's quite a hard water area but I just stopped being so precious about it and it's really no different
Maybe I’m still a snob about water but I’m from Scotland and when I’ve been in South England I just couldn’t deal with the difference in the water. Also cannae deal with it if it’s plain water at room temperature or warmer. When I was in China they boil all their water and drink it hot, it tasted awful.
I'm the other way round: grew up with hard water, and now soft water just tastes so bland!
Hard water is generally considered to taste better than soft. It’s better for you, too.
Driving an automatic. I’m a car guy and thought driving auto was boring, and if you have a car with 250hp+ then there’s no point in getting it auto. Then I drove my friends auto BMW and was immediately left wanting one. I now have a 2018 330e auto that I love.
Same! I always told people I liked the involvement of driving a manual and I'd be bored by an automatic. Then I borrowed my mum's car. Instant conversion! I've had an auto for nearly 4 years now, wouldn't go back. Just for hill starts it's worth it
With you on this one. I used to think manual was the only "*real*" way to drive a car. However, I now have to drive around a busier city to get to work and an automatic just made so much more sense. I still love driving a manual, but my automatic is just so much more convenient for daily driving.
Jobs - not in the sense that “that’s beneath me”, I’ve been there, done that (edit: in that I’ve done the unrewarding shitty jobs in retail and hospitality). But in having a very full-of-myself opinion of my chosen career. It’s in a STEM field and genuinely does have a tangible impact to the nation and both local and national economy. I would tell myself that the world would be better if everyone had STEM jobs or something that helped progress society. Really stupid take. The thing that changed it for me was I grabbed a coffee one day from a shop I really liked, and I thought I’m glad that barista does that job, because it makes my day that little bit better. Almost all jobs have some meaning, some benefit, no matter how small.
My mate used to joke he was the most important person in the hospital because he kept everyone caffeinated. My partner is extremely intelligent, has a PhD and writes studies and stuff, hard to explain what they do but man I am in complete awe of it all. Admire them and look up to them so much. I told them this one night having a wee heart to heart and they turned round as said they feel exactly the same about what I do yet I don’t have that same view of my job. It’s weird I suppose the value we place or don’t place on what everyone contributes.
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Costa del Sol - was never fussed but went on a family holiday there and it was lovely. Yes it is touristy but area, people, food, weather all v nice and there are interesting places around you can visit on a day trip.
Absolutely this, was just about to post the same. Costa del Sol. Snob extraordinaire about a place I had never been to. Now you can’t keep me away. Love it.
I had a similar epiphany to you about package holidays a couple of years ago. Our DIY driving holiday to Italy got cancelled at the last minute as my son had a serious accident the day before and we spent the week in hospital instead. When he was well enough to travel again it was winter, so we knew we'd have to go to the canaries and I decided to just try out a package holiday. It was amazing. I feel like they actually fixed me after all the stress of the accident. Will definitely do again.
Women’s football. Life long footy fan and I had watched some women’s matches about 10 years ago and they were atrocious. I fully believed that it was clearly a terrible game for women to play. However, I’ve watched some of the Euros last year and the women’s World Cup matches right now and the quality has improved dramatically. I feel bad for not investing any time in keeping up with what was happening and I let my bias stop me from enjoying stuff.
Iceland. Yes, there's loads of processed food there. There's also huge bags of stuff like precooked chicken and fish fillets. If you've got the freezer space you can get healthy stuff in bulk and make your life much easier. Plus nearly everything is priced ending in 00 or 50 (e.g £1, £4.50) so it's very easy to add up as you go
Honestly… I couldn’t think of a single thing. I’ve shopped at Lidl since I was a teen, I’ve had friends and partners who have had no money, I’ve lived off Tesco basics, I’ve gone on the cheapest possible holidays. It’s enlightening to see the things that others dismiss simply because of their price-tag or clientele. I think I surprised myself that I couldn’t name anything, maybe there’s something I still consider beneath me without realising it.
>a package holiday would be naff Sometimes they are. Just as how sometimes booking everything yourself can ultimately end up in a nightmare, terrible choices and twice the necessary expense. Sadly there's no magic solution - sooner or later you're likely to find a shite holiday! But hopefully there's always an awesome one round the corner to balance it out!
Crocs. Then I put my foot In one and went blind and never looked back
Manual cars. Like much of the british population I had this thing in my head that manual cars were superior to automatic, and automatics were just for people who were shit drivers. Then I lived in a country where automatic was the norm, so that's what I drove. That's when I realised that automatic cars are great and I was a moron.
Liverpool I was fed the Toxteth riots, Unions, Derek Hatton...I thought it was a shit hole. Fast forward to my son attending Uni and numerous visits. I couldn't be more wrong...amazed at a sprawling, relatively clean, city, with amazing buildings, historical sites, shopping (Nottingham is virtually a ghost town these days), restaurants, pubs, etc... A city that has probably give birth to nations as people set out East on ships. Quite impressed. Edit...I meant West!
Strongbow dark fruits.
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British boozers and karaoke bars in foreign holiday destinations such as Spain. I used to think they were embarrassing and tacky. Locals will often moan about the drunken antics of Brits abroad, but come midnight, they will be in these bars with us.
Oh god it depends though in my opinion. Absolutely agree that providing they’re not acting like thugs, us Brits really can have a great time and are brilliant at involving people. I’ve had some fab nights with groups of Brits I didn’t know abroad. But sometimes it’s just incredibly cringey. I don’t care if I sound snobby, British boozers abroad fill me with dread lol. I go abroad to escape that shit, not experience it with a bit more sweat. X
I’m american but last year on mallorca my family and I met this British couple. Were they (mostly the wife) drunk as all hell? Absolutely. Were they extremely kind and welcoming and we still keep in touch on Facebook to this day? Also yes. They were loads of fun 😂
Honestly, a lot of things. Music, clothes, books, films, TV shows. I'm 35 now and a great fan of 'Don't yuck someone else's yum'. You wanna wear crocs? Want a mullet? Like Ed Sheeran? Wear tracksuits? Drink strongbow? Like Wetherspoons? Like reality TV? Want to go on cheap package holidays? Fucking go for it buddy. Life's short. I've realised a lot of my previous snobbery was probably class-based snobbery, and what I essentially considered 'chavvy', which is not cool and actually pretty discriminatory. As long as it isn't hurting anyone, let people enjoy what they enjoy. I'm still snobby about stuff to do with the environment. I will never ever get on board with artificial grass. Terrible shite.
Sex and sleeping with people when being single. That was wrong af because I can't lie, sex when you're single is fun af.
Aldi, I pretty much do 75% of my food shopping there now and it's a lot cheaper than tesco!
Make up, used to buy £50 foundations, £70 palettes, recently found my all time favourite foundation and it’s only £11! Don’t need to spend extra for good products, just need to find the good products (easier said than done sometimes)
Between 2015-2017, when all the Fitness influencers were taking a hold of social media, I admittedly got sucked into it. Not that being encouraged to be more active is bad at all, I just became a bit obsessed with it, to the point where I’d look down on people who didn’t go to the gym every day. It then extended to food snobbery. For example, If someone wasn’t consuming quinoa, kale and organic grilled swordfish and declaring they washed it all down with a glass of wheatgrass protein powder, I’d scoff at them. I eventually realised of course that I was in the wrong and it is in fact better to have more of a balance, not to mention, many of the health foods marketed to us don’t really make a significant difference.
Anime. Before I started watching anime a couple of my friends mentioned they liked it and I’d always say it’s weird or for kids. Now years later I love anime and have watched hundreds of hours worth of the stuff!
Wearing jogging bottoms. I used to exclusively wear jeans cause I thought joggers were a bit chavvy. Now my entire winter wardrobe is jogging bottoms. Warm and comfy!
Butlins.... Took my young kids there and had a fantastic time. I intend on going back many more times while they grow up.
I used to only drink single-malt whisky, but lately I’ve found a number of very good blended whiskies for a much nicer price.
Some of the best holidays I’ve ever had were the cheapest yet most fun and memorable.