I have just had one of those annoying phone calls where the person on the other line is trying to sell you something, in this case a television channel. The caller probably detests his/her job more than you or I hate these types of phone calls. (Believe me, I’ve worked in a call centre in the past).
Despite the salesperson's pleas, the call did not inspire me to buy the product. Instead, it inspired me to compile a list of the Top 10 Most Dreaded Phone Calls one can receive. So let's begin by highlighting the worst phone call of them all and end with the most bearable of these feared calls.
1) A call announcing the death of someone you like has to be the worst telephone call you’ll receive.
2) I can’t imagine getting dumped over the phone is pleasant.
3) A job rejection makes you feel that little bit worse about yourself.
4) Prank calls can be creepy.
5) Someone trying to sell you something over the phone is infuriating.
6) Someone collecting market research is almost as bad.
7) A person asking you to support a charity over the phone makes you feel guilty and cheap if you choose not to donate.
8) Someone who has taken a shine to you calling for a meet-up when you don’t really like them can be awkward.
9) If you are one of those clever people who fellow students rang up at school for the answers to homework in Year 7, that was probably a bit annoying.
10) The more cynical among you might not enjoy a chat with someone calling for your mum/dad before you pass over the phone to the above-mentioned parent.
Having completed my list, I am going to ... ooh hold up, my phone’s ringing.
'Hello.'
'Hello, is that Anisa Kadri?'
'Speaking.'
'Hello Anisa. We’d like to offer you a job at the BBC.'
Okay, I just lied. It was my old school friend Izzy. But she’s lovely. And it wasn’t any of the feared callers listed above thank god.
Bye for now.
Tuesday 20 October 2009
What came first - the CHICKEN or the WOMAN?
The English language is wonderful, but it does do funny things.
A woman probably doesn't associate herself with a chicken when she looks in the mirror. I certainly don’t.
However, language has created a link between us women and this rather frustrating species.
Indeed, there are many ways in which one can refer to a woman using chicken terminology.
Consider the following examples: If someone said to a female, 'hey chick', she wouldn't bat an eyelid.
A man only says he is a 'breast man' or a 'leg man' when talking about parts of the female body or a chicken's anatomy.
A woman goes out on a 'hen night' before a girlfriend's wedding.
Women with attitude and chickens are said to 'strut'.
Flabby arms are described as 'chicken wings.'
So ladies, if anyone ever happens to say to you on a hen night, 'hey chick, I saw you strut in just now and am a bit of a leg man so you would be just my type if you didn't have those chicken wings,' run a mile.
And remember, you are not a chicken.
A woman probably doesn't associate herself with a chicken when she looks in the mirror. I certainly don’t.
However, language has created a link between us women and this rather frustrating species.
Indeed, there are many ways in which one can refer to a woman using chicken terminology.
Consider the following examples: If someone said to a female, 'hey chick', she wouldn't bat an eyelid.
A man only says he is a 'breast man' or a 'leg man' when talking about parts of the female body or a chicken's anatomy.
A woman goes out on a 'hen night' before a girlfriend's wedding.
Women with attitude and chickens are said to 'strut'.
Flabby arms are described as 'chicken wings.'
So ladies, if anyone ever happens to say to you on a hen night, 'hey chick, I saw you strut in just now and am a bit of a leg man so you would be just my type if you didn't have those chicken wings,' run a mile.
And remember, you are not a chicken.
THAILAND: Victim of its own success?
Do you know someone who has been to Thailand? Probably. After all, it’s an extremely popular tourist destination and there are certain sites in Thailand which draw travellers like moths to a flame.
One event backpackers flock towards is the infamous Full Moon Party held in Koh Phangan. Thousands of people, mostly Westerners, rave all night on Haad Rin (Sunrise Beach) absolutely loving it.
Why all the love? Quite simply, there seem to be no rules. The iconic buckets of alcohol sold on the beachfront get the ravers sufficiently inebriated, and a few hours into the night they are romping on the beach and weeing in the sea. While professionals do tricks with fire, the lethal buckets of alcohol are responsible for tourists burning their legs as they attempt to leap over long flaming skipping ropes twenty at a time. And, despite Thailand’s strict anti-drug policy and policemen wandering up and down the beach, there’s still ample opportunity to buy illicit substances if you want them.
A couple of overnight trains away from Koh Phangan and the other South Islands is the city of Chiang Mai, the second biggest in the country. The overnight rainforest treks on the outskirts of the city are a backpacker must. After a difficult hike often led by cheeky tour guides, students stay the night with a Thai tribe. An indoor fire is built and quite an atmosphere is created, with the tour guides and backpackers singing and proceeding to chat away through the night.
A trip to the waterfall, an elephant ride, white water and bamboo rafting are also included in this reasonably priced trek. There are plenty of booths around Chiang Mai to book your tour.
When backpackers get to the capital, Bangkok, they tend to stay as close to the buzzing Koh Sahn Rd. as is possible. Plenty of clothes stalls, eateries and bars line this road. If bartering for cheap prices and purchasing your very own pair of Thai fisherman’s pants/fake Havaianas flip flops is not enough, occasionally an elephant is led down this road which you can pay to feed. Poor elephant.
The experiences of Thailand detailed above paint a lively picture. But is it sad that a generic route has been mapped out for backpackers, both for our own enrichment and for the Thai people? The hypocrisy of many indigenous people reducing their culture to easily-packaged money-making schemes is a sad reality.
Travel website, Road Junky Travel, recently placed Thailand as the number one backpacker destination: 'Everything is cheap, everything is available. You want drink beer, you want banana pancake, you want Thai massage, you want see tribe hill people, you want rent beach chalet, you want DVD, you want bungee jump, you want lady boy?' Added to this list could be: 'you want temple, you want sex show, you want boat trip to Maya Beach for 400 baht (£7.32), where The Beach with Leonardo DiCaprio was filmed including food, equipment for snorkelling and a stop at Monkey Island?' Admittedly, the Thai experience can sometimes be superficial, but at least it is fairly easy to travel around the country. It might be argued that this makes Thailand a good place to go for a first-time traveller - a gap year student perhaps.
On leaving Thailand, and having experienced its exotica and having had an awesome time, some questions remain. By the majority of us taking the same route, are we being unoriginal? Does the manifestation of Western supremacy and the hypocrisy of Thai people catering for us students while their weak currency prevents many of them from travelling themselves taint our experience? Or might some of us not even think about these issues and be looking forward to raving UK style in preparation for a second trip to Koh Phangan’s official Full Moon Party? The choice is yours.
One event backpackers flock towards is the infamous Full Moon Party held in Koh Phangan. Thousands of people, mostly Westerners, rave all night on Haad Rin (Sunrise Beach) absolutely loving it.
Why all the love? Quite simply, there seem to be no rules. The iconic buckets of alcohol sold on the beachfront get the ravers sufficiently inebriated, and a few hours into the night they are romping on the beach and weeing in the sea. While professionals do tricks with fire, the lethal buckets of alcohol are responsible for tourists burning their legs as they attempt to leap over long flaming skipping ropes twenty at a time. And, despite Thailand’s strict anti-drug policy and policemen wandering up and down the beach, there’s still ample opportunity to buy illicit substances if you want them.
A couple of overnight trains away from Koh Phangan and the other South Islands is the city of Chiang Mai, the second biggest in the country. The overnight rainforest treks on the outskirts of the city are a backpacker must. After a difficult hike often led by cheeky tour guides, students stay the night with a Thai tribe. An indoor fire is built and quite an atmosphere is created, with the tour guides and backpackers singing and proceeding to chat away through the night.
A trip to the waterfall, an elephant ride, white water and bamboo rafting are also included in this reasonably priced trek. There are plenty of booths around Chiang Mai to book your tour.When backpackers get to the capital, Bangkok, they tend to stay as close to the buzzing Koh Sahn Rd. as is possible. Plenty of clothes stalls, eateries and bars line this road. If bartering for cheap prices and purchasing your very own pair of Thai fisherman’s pants/fake Havaianas flip flops is not enough, occasionally an elephant is led down this road which you can pay to feed. Poor elephant.
The experiences of Thailand detailed above paint a lively picture. But is it sad that a generic route has been mapped out for backpackers, both for our own enrichment and for the Thai people? The hypocrisy of many indigenous people reducing their culture to easily-packaged money-making schemes is a sad reality.
Travel website, Road Junky Travel, recently placed Thailand as the number one backpacker destination: 'Everything is cheap, everything is available. You want drink beer, you want banana pancake, you want Thai massage, you want see tribe hill people, you want rent beach chalet, you want DVD, you want bungee jump, you want lady boy?' Added to this list could be: 'you want temple, you want sex show, you want boat trip to Maya Beach for 400 baht (£7.32), where The Beach with Leonardo DiCaprio was filmed including food, equipment for snorkelling and a stop at Monkey Island?' Admittedly, the Thai experience can sometimes be superficial, but at least it is fairly easy to travel around the country. It might be argued that this makes Thailand a good place to go for a first-time traveller - a gap year student perhaps.
On leaving Thailand, and having experienced its exotica and having had an awesome time, some questions remain. By the majority of us taking the same route, are we being unoriginal? Does the manifestation of Western supremacy and the hypocrisy of Thai people catering for us students while their weak currency prevents many of them from travelling themselves taint our experience? Or might some of us not even think about these issues and be looking forward to raving UK style in preparation for a second trip to Koh Phangan’s official Full Moon Party? The choice is yours.
UNIVERSITY: Party Politics vs. Party Time
The Labour and Conservative parties’ conferences recently dominated the news ahead of the general election. Meanwhile, a whole load of students decided against watching the BBC News at Six in favour of a F.R.I.E.N.D.S episode for the billionth time as they ate their dinner.
Nothing wrong with watching F.R.I.E.N.D.S of course - Chandler’s my fave. And one could argue that he would be more fun on a night out (or indeed a night in) than both David Cameron and Gordon Brown.
But does the tendency to watch old repeats instead of the news suggest that current affairs are not too high on the average student’s agenda?
There are of course those students who keep up-to-date with current affairs through the university societies that they join. Becoming a member of one of the uni’s political parties, presenting the news on the radio and protesting are the routes a number of students take to getting their dose of current affairs. Others might do a course like politics or economics that requires knowledge of current affairs. Some may read the news online from time to time.
Nevertheless, it is extremely easy to get caught up in a world of cramming for exams, boozing in preparation for big nights out and chilling with your friends the rest of the time while at university.
Fellow Nottingham University graduate Emma Petela, who now works in politics, agreed that current affairs are of secondary importance to many students, saying: 'If you ask a student about 50p top rate income tax or pension schemes they probably wouldn't have much of an idea what you were talking about. It is my experience that students live inside a bubble into which very few political issues or current affairs penetrate. Until they start to earn a wage and pay taxes the majority do not take that much of an interest in politics or the outcome of an election.'
Perhaps it is different at other universities. For example, Sussex University gained a reputation of liberalism in the 1960s and might draw more politically motivated people to study there.
There are two occasions where I do remember politics being talked about a great deal around Nottingham University. Students conducting a sit-in protest in one of the university’s lecture rooms over events in Gaza were forcibly removed from doing so. However this had the rest of the student body talking about the way in which the protest was quashed more than the political event itself.
The other occasion did concern a major political event - Barack Obama winning the American presidential election. Most of the students I know stayed up to watch the Democratic leader become the first black man to be voted in as American president. Just another excuse to drink of course.
Nothing wrong with watching F.R.I.E.N.D.S of course - Chandler’s my fave. And one could argue that he would be more fun on a night out (or indeed a night in) than both David Cameron and Gordon Brown.
But does the tendency to watch old repeats instead of the news suggest that current affairs are not too high on the average student’s agenda?
There are of course those students who keep up-to-date with current affairs through the university societies that they join. Becoming a member of one of the uni’s political parties, presenting the news on the radio and protesting are the routes a number of students take to getting their dose of current affairs. Others might do a course like politics or economics that requires knowledge of current affairs. Some may read the news online from time to time.
Nevertheless, it is extremely easy to get caught up in a world of cramming for exams, boozing in preparation for big nights out and chilling with your friends the rest of the time while at university.
Fellow Nottingham University graduate Emma Petela, who now works in politics, agreed that current affairs are of secondary importance to many students, saying: 'If you ask a student about 50p top rate income tax or pension schemes they probably wouldn't have much of an idea what you were talking about. It is my experience that students live inside a bubble into which very few political issues or current affairs penetrate. Until they start to earn a wage and pay taxes the majority do not take that much of an interest in politics or the outcome of an election.'
Perhaps it is different at other universities. For example, Sussex University gained a reputation of liberalism in the 1960s and might draw more politically motivated people to study there.
There are two occasions where I do remember politics being talked about a great deal around Nottingham University. Students conducting a sit-in protest in one of the university’s lecture rooms over events in Gaza were forcibly removed from doing so. However this had the rest of the student body talking about the way in which the protest was quashed more than the political event itself.
The other occasion did concern a major political event - Barack Obama winning the American presidential election. Most of the students I know stayed up to watch the Democratic leader become the first black man to be voted in as American president. Just another excuse to drink of course.
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