Annoying Things
1. What annoys you about living where you live now?
Well I can name plenty of nuisances (phiền toái) in my neighbourhood. First, it is the loud confabulation (nói chuyện) of my neighbours, who seem to always scream at eat other when chatting. Next, their frequent karaoke singing bothers me (phiền tôi) so much because they enjoy very high volume sounds when singing, and my house has no sound-proof glass door.(cửa kính cách âm) So it is all about noise pollution you can say that I have to endure (chịu đựng) at my place.
2. What annoys you about taking trains to work?
I have never taken any train to work, but I can imagine the main inconvenience of this way of commuting. First, it involves many transits (quá cảnh, trạm trung gian) like taking the bus to the train station, then after the train trip, taking the bus or walking to the destination, and it is the same on the way home. It is the time consuming travel that makes me uncomfortable. As for the train trip itself, I will have nothing to complain if that happens in such countries as Australia or France; however, the train cars are packed like sardines (chật như nêm cối) in Japan is unacceptable for me because all four sides of each person will be touched by other passengers. I saw scenes in which, the train station staff have to forcefully push in the last person who still has his belly, or his foot sticking out and blocking the closure of the door. It is like everyone has to suck their belly in (hóp bụng lại) to fit into the train car. It is unbearable. (không thể chịu đựng được)
3. What annoys you about driving a car?
There is nothing more annoying when driving a car than going around the city center for ages (rất lâu) to look for a parking space. When facilities on the streets for temporary parking are full, or allow a maximum of 30-minute stop, it is barely enough for you just to hop to a coffee shop and stand the line to get your drink. Nothing else you can do in half an hour. So the shortage of parking facility in the downtown area (trung tâm thành phố) is a real problems that drives people nuts (làm tức điên)
4. What annoys you most about living at home with your family?
Well, it may be the lack of privacy, when my business attract attention of my mom so much that I feel as if she wanted to know my stuff inside out (tất tần tật từ trong ra ngoài). Fortunately, apart from that, everything else is enjoyable.
5. Do you think you have habits that annoy other people?
I don’t know. I often think for others when I do something, but if I multitask (làm nhiều thứ cùng lúc) too much, I may just do my stuff and leave some mess for others unnoticeably. I remember the other day I moved my mom’s bike to walk my bike out, but instead of putting it back to the corner, I just drove away with lots of arrangement for my stops on the way to work. That day my mom complained about my recklessness (thiếu cẩn trọng) in leaving her bike right in the middle of the house.
6. Does it annoy you when people kiss in public?
For a short romantic kiss to show love and care, I would definitely support it, but for sexually provoking kiss (hôn gợi dục) with tongues and groping, (sờ soạng) I strongly object to it. (phản đối)
7. Do you get annoyed when someone cuts in front of you (chen ngang khi bạn đang xếp hàng chờ) when you are waiting in line?
I will get mad at them and will straightforwardly request (yêu cầu thẳng thừng) that they get out of my way. For such rude people, they don’t deserve polite words, and I don’t think they understand etiquette (phép lịch sự) for me to have a better attitude to them than throwing at them a curt request.(lời yêu cầu cụt lủn)
8. What are some new pet peeves (điều phiền toái) you have as a result of recent technology (i.e. cell phone use)?
Well, I have a special love and appreciation (đánh giá cao) for new technological advancements, so I hardly had any complaint about them. The only pet peeve I have is the incompatibility between my computer softwares. They cannot work together, and that leaves my job undone. For example, I need Endnote plug-in to be activated in Microsoft Word for me to use the cite-while-you-write function of Endnote, but whenever I turn the Microsoft word on, it requires me to turn off Endnote. That forces me to use another computer for doing the citation and reference of my research papers. That is a really big nuisance when I have to jump back and forth between the desk top at the library and my laptop for a single simple task of citing.
9. What annoying habits does your best friend have?
I remember sharing the room with one of my best friends. He had the messy habit back then, and messed everything up in the room. I spent lots of time rummaging about the room (xới tung phòng lên) just to find something I could fetch (đi lấy và đem về) even in total darkness because I remembered where I put it. However, my roommate always reorganized the stuff and moved things around, which drove me mad at times. Later on I had to accept the fact that I couldn’t change his habit, and if I wanted to continue sharing the room with him, I had to get used to that habit and stop complaining. We finally spent 2 years living together in peace.
10. Does smoking bother you?
Yes, a lot. I consider smokers as selfish people if they smoke in front of non-smokers. Everyone knows smoking may kill, and every doctor advise against smoking. Unfortunately, to enjoy their cigarette for their tobacco addiction, smokers harm the surrounding people when they are fully aware of the consequence of their deed. That’s why smoking bothers me, but the smokers themselves bother me even more.
11. Do you get annoyed when other people display bad manners? Give some examples.
I just smile and step away, because I don’t want to get entangled in (dính vào rắc rối) the mess these people create when they are too ignorant (ngu muội) to tell right from wrong. When people act out from their nature, there is not much one can do to correct it. Therefore, I don’t believe that it works for the correction of bad manners like rudeness, selfishness, hasty judgment, greed, or aggressiveness. I believe avoiding those people will save me from the consequences they will definitely cause.
12. What is the most annoying thing for you?
I feel the most annoyed when people keep trying to cheat me when I recognize it right away in their first attempt. I usually receive calls offering free trips to Da Lat, which is followed by the attempt to retrieve my credit card number. What reason on Earth do they need my credit card number for apart from for hacking my account? I was so sick of those immoral cheaters, going around to just scam people. How they can live a happy life when constantly committing fraud (phạm tội lừa đảo) like that, I am wondering.
13. Can annoying someone be a good thing?
How can it be? It just sows the seed of hatred (gieo mầm cho sự ghét bỏ) and develop defense in others to protect themselves from the annoyance.
14. If something is annoying you, what do you usually do?
Well, it depends on my mood at that time. I am not very good at controlling my temper.(kìm chế cảm xúc) I know that it is best to cleverly resolve problems, but when things do get on my nerves, (làm tôi cáu) I would explode in reaction because whatever I complain about at that moment will be undeniably right. However, I know that telling right from wrong won’t work most of the time, so I mainly choose to go away from the source of annoyance rather than getting involved in any useless altercation. (đôi co cãi vã)
15. What are some things that car drivers do that annoy you?
Well, when car drivers compete for the way with motorbike riders, they may not understand the hazard (nguy hiểm) and the scare of collision (nỗi sợ va chạm) they push the bikers into. Therefore, I hate car drivers who do not know how to give way for bikers as much as bikers who do not give way to cyclists and pedestrians.
Honking the horn (bóp còi) so frequently and unnecessarily is also a sign of impatient and disrespect of motorists. It is like shouting into a loudspeaker next to people’s ear. That’s why I loathe (ghét) that action, too.
