Why is it that?……..Part 6………’The Curse of The Checkout’

There are a lot of small, inexplicable irritations that occur in our lives on a daily basis. As you probably know (if you’ve been following this blog) I have been serializing them in my ‘Why is it that?’ Series.

So today, I am pulling out an old classic – a chestnut, which affects me anytime I go shopping anywhere around the world.

Picture The Scene: The Supermarket

So I’ve just wasted spent 45 minutes trying to find a parking space, and sifting through endless aisles of food in search of my refrigerator’s ‘bare essentials.’

Despite promising myself (each and every time) that I will get a more interesting variety of foods upon my next visit – I end up leaving with the same 5 items which permanently reside in my threadbare refrigerator……..Brown Bread, Philadelphia Cheese, Cucumber, Tabasco Sauce - and of course – a large stash of Diet Cokes…..

So there I am – flustered, frustrated, irritable and ready to make as swift an exit as possible.

And then it hits.

Probably the hardest, most stressful decision for any prospective shopper…..

Which Queue (or Checkout Line) should I join?…..

Why is it that?……Part 5……Toxy’s Airplane Adventure

Whenever I fly to destinations outside of the Middle East, I always try to take night flights. I love leaving Kuwait in the depths of the night and waking up – after a peaceful night’s sleep – in a new country, rested and refreshed.

I’m currently in Milan, Italy.

Since there are no direct flights from Kuwait to Milan, my best option was to take the Lufthansa flight via Frankfurt leaving Kuwait at 2:20 am.

I was looking forward to checking out the Lufthansa planes as I’ve heard a lot of good things about them. Wireless Internet, reclining beds, excellent food were just some of the plaudits I kept hearing about.

I boarded the plane and took my seat.

After a quick fiddle with the multitude of buttons on the seating console, I was pretty disappointed to find that the ‘beds’ in Business were rubbish in comparison to ‘beds’ on British Airways.

I pushed back as hard as I could, but the seat only reclined to the guy (who was sitting behind me’s) knees. Unless there were some hidden button that I missed – there was no ‘bed’ to be found on this flight.

I got the laptop out and gave the airwaves a quick scan in search of the much fabled ‘wireless internet’….no luck….nothing found.

Edit: Ifound out that the ‘beds’ and the internet are only available on the newer planes. Deary me….

Oh well, I really wasn’t too bothered, it was fast approaching 3:15 am and I was tired and ready to sleep.

The cabin was pitch black and the only noise was from the distinct humming of the engines. I made myself comfortable, wrapped the cover around me and closed my eyes….

Why is it that?……Part 4……..My Al Fanar Nightmare

Every single time I go to Al Fanar Mall – I dread one thing……The entrance to that ridiculous under ground Parking Lot.

I’ve had recurring nightmares about the same issue – that **!#*$* barrier!

Every time I drive into that parking lot, I dread hearing the inevitable ‘crunching’ sound of my Car rim against that utterly useless, utterly pointless ‘barrier’ which is ‘chilling’ on the side of the road.

It’s as if the idiot the Engineer who designed it thinks we all drive mini’s or bicycles. What about the SUV Drivers Mr. idiot Engineer? Didn’t you think of us?

Take a look at the above picture, have you ever seen a more stupidly designed parking entrance?

Have the planners not seen those little yellow ‘bubbles’ which do the exact same thing as a barrier, cost a quarter of the price – and most importantly avoid the need to tear your rims to shreds?

The funny thing is that even though Fanar is by far the worst culprit, it seems like the same buffoon also designed the entrances to many of Salmiya’s Malls eg. Marina and Zahra Complex which also have unbelievably tight entrance / exits.

There are so many irritations in life which could be avoided with just a teeny, weeny bit of thought. If only….

Why is it that?….. Part 3….Attack of the BHF’s

So I decided to go to the cinema yesterday night and watch ‘Casino Royale,’ the new James Bond Movie.

I took my seat, switched my phone to silent, reclined in the semi-comfortable seat, sipped on my cold water and awaited the beginning of the movie.

All was very good in Toxy’s hood…….until….

Why is it that?….. Part 2

It seems like every single time I want to make a right turn on a slip road – there is always that ONE SINGLE CAR which blocks my path to the free road.

I am then forced to wait an additional 2 -3 minutes (in complete frustration) for absolutely no reason at all.

What I don’t understand is why the streets planners don’t measure the exits by car lengths. Every time I am stuck at these junctions, I think of that cartoon image of that poor donkey with a carrot dangled over his head. So close….yet so infuriatingly far.

Why is it that?….. Part 1

There are a lot of inexplicable actions and instances that occur in our lives on a daily basis.

-Most irritations are mundanely predictable, most irritations can never be resolved.

-Some things that humans do are plainly weird, some things that humans do are simply nonsensical.

I’m going to try and serialize them on this blog for future reference. I’m going to try to mix nonsensical behavior with everyday irritations.

Question one lies below: