Bug List

My bug list is as follows:

1. One of the first things that comes to mind that bugs me is that many of UF's business courses are entirely online (including this one). It makes sense that ENT 3003 is online, and I'm only take it while studying abroad because it *is* online. However, other classes, like Economics, Stats, Accounting, Management, and Marketing all have online lecture, meaning that there's no real need to go to class in-person. I feel that this takes away from the college experience in some ways, despite its benefits.

I think this bug exists primarily because there are simply too many students to accommodate in a normal classroom setting, and having the lectures offered online is an efficient alternative, even though it creates a disconnect between the students, the professors, and the campus.

2. Another is Frontier Communications, the company that recently acquired Verizon's cable and internet business across the US. This change affected my family dramatically when, for the first time since we moved to Florida, we experienced an internet outage that lasted for several days, and wasn't resolved smoothly or easily.

This probably happened because Frontier is still working out kinks in the system since the switch from Verizon to their company, but I also believe that Frontier's sheer incompetency may have been an additional factor in causing the outage that affected several metropolitan areas across the nation.

3. My laptop can hardly hold a charge anymore, and if I'm to use it for any extended period of time, I have to always bring my charger with me. The laptop usually dies with a few hours of usage without it.

I think this bug exists because our battery technology may not be as good as our developments in other areas of technology yet, and it could also be due to "planned obsolescence", in that companies intentionally make their products worse and worse over time, in order to encourage people to buy new products, which allows the company to make more profit.

4. The bus routes that service my apartment complex, 38 and 34, are often too crowded and slow to get to campus and it results in trips that can last over 40 minutes, and that negatively impacts my schedule on every day I have class.

I think this is mainly due to the huge population of students that use these routes, and possibly poor planning and scheduling on the part of the RTS service, which should have enough buses running the route that this doesn't happen.

5. I'm 21 years old and many of my friends still have yet to turn 21, meaning that I can get into bars and clubs in Gainesville and beyond that they cannot, and it severely limits the amount of options we have when we go out.

This is due to many bars and clubs not letting people in under 21, but on a larger scale, the federal drinking age limit, which is 21. I believe that 21 is an arbitrary age that is unnecessary and causes more trouble than its worth, especially when you look at other countries and see that the age limit is much younger and they have much less alcohol-related problems among their population.

6. School acceptance standards for transfer students. I recently had a friend, with an exceptional work ethic and solid grades, attempt to transfer to UF. He had all of the credentials to be accepted as a transfer, or so I thought. He was denied admission and now his options for the future are more limited than before. 

This is probably due to the acceptance standards set by the school to which students apply, but I believe that the standards for transfer students should be different, especially for those who excel in their time before transferring to another institution.

7. Our standards of healthcare and healthcare coverage in US, specifically the exorbitant costs associated with any form of medical treatment. I recently had a friend who needed to take an ambulance after a rough night out, and while he ended up being fine, he was still charged over $500 for the ride in the ambulance. If something was seriously wrong, the costs would've been even higher, and I think that the fact that healthcare companies profit off of those who need medical attention is truly unfortunate.

This probably happens because, at the end of the day, the primary concern for most companies is profit, and medical care and services have become one of the most profitable industries to work in.

8. The insane amount of school loyalty and pride that I see among some members of our student body, as well as others. I often see people that I know let their school loyalties get in the way of their friendships, especially during football season, and can turn from simple school pride into elitism and ill-will towards people, just because of where they go to school.

I think that this happens because many students think its okay to judge someone based off of where they went to school, and make assumptions based off of that knowledge. I think that, at the end of the day, we're all students and we're all just trying to improve ourselves, learn more, and secure a brighter future after college.

9. Tipping in United States versus other countries around the world makes the US system look arbitrary and strange, and I personally think it doesn't make a lot of sense. An example is that in the UK, tipping is very casual and not nearly as much percentage of a service as it is in the US, and it not something that is frowned upon when someone doesn't tip.

It's hard to think of the reason for why tipping happens the way it does in the US, but a reason could be that the minimum wage is purposely lower for those who work in tip-oriented positions, and this could be because a cultural belief among Americans that those in service positions deserve to be rewarded based on how much effort they put in.

10. Air travel, while it's allowed people travel faster than ever before, has turned into a hassle that many people, myself included. While I know that I'm very fortunate to be able to travel, I wish that the experience of flying itself was better because it seems like most airline companies, like the medical companies I mentioned earlier, are primarily concerned with profits, and not their customers. A recent flight I was on appeared to offer many different services and goods to make the flight more enjoyable, but nearly all of them came with hidden, subversive fees that seemed like they were designed to trick their customers into spending more money that they actually intended.

This probably happens for the same reasons that the medical companies have, in that nearly all companies are primarily concerned with profit in today's world, and that the customers come second after the money that is made.

// Many of the things that I've talked about so far are broad sweeping bugs that annoy me, so now I'll talk more about the little things that can be annoying "bugs" to me.

11. Often I put my headphones in my pocket, trying to keep them wrapped up in a neat way so that they don't get tangled, but almost every time I take them out to use them, they end up being a nest of wires that take a decent amount of time to untangle and get into working order. 

This probably happens because they're constantly shifting around in my pocket while I'm not using them, and end up becoming tangled without me even realizing that it's happened. Maybe I should change the way I store my headphones.

12. Another small thing that annoys me is when I do a small gesture for someone and they don't say "thank you." If I'm going out of my way to do something for you, especially something that I wouldn't normally do already, the least someone can do is say that. When someone doesn't say "thank you", it makes me think that person is ungrateful and rude.

This probably happens because some people are probably blissfully unaware of their mistakes and what irks others, and also because some people are actually ungrateful and rude, with the former probably accounting for the majority of the reasoning.

13. When I'm browsing the internet, I click on something on when the page loads, and instead it moves and I click on an ad instead, resulting in redirecting me to a new page that I have absolutely no interest.

Honestly, this one probably happens because that's what internet ads are meant to do, to be seen and clicked on in order to advertise and attract new customers. The thing is, I'm generally not interested in anything advertised on websites with these intrusive ads.

14. People who aren't aware of the concept of personal space is another thing that I would consider to be a "bug", and I believe it's a big one with some people. Personal space is very important to most of us, and when someone invades that personal space, it provokes feelings of discomfort, and possibly resentment and/or anger.

This is probably caused by people who don't think before they act, and/or people who have little regard for the concerns and needs of others. It honestly could be attributed to either ignorance or malevolence, in most cases.

15. When people decide to stop walking in the middle of the street, or in an airport or train station. I recently experienced a family who completely stopped in the middle of the airport and blocked an entire section of the walkway, and it was something that really annoyed the people around them, including me.

Again, I think this is because some people are truly unaware as to the consequences of their actions, and may or may not care what those consequences are, even if they are aware.

16. People who drive terribly and/or don't obey common traffic rules. I experience people every time I drive that don't use turn signals, or don't wait their turn at stop signs, or something else that could be considered rude to the average driver. 

I think this is because Americans, for the most part, value their time over anyone else's, and that mentality is reflected strongly in our driving habits and how we act on the road.

17. Another bar-related annoying "bug" is that when I'm at a crowded bar trying to get a drink, and there are people just sitting at the bar with the drinks they already got and taking up space that someone could use in order to get their drinks.

Like I've mentioned many times before, this is something that I think can be attributed to either ignorance or malice on the part of the people sitting at the bar, but probably mainly due to someone being unaware of their actions and their effects.

18. When people are late to a meeting or something that we've scheduled to do at a certain time, and don't let me know ahead of time. It's not that big of a deal if someone lets me know they'll be late beforehand, but when the time goes by and they haven't showed up yet, it feels to me like they don't value my time, or at least not as much as theirs.

This happens mainly with people who don't know how to manage their time properly, and it affects everyone around them when they don't keep to commitments they've made.

19. People who text and/or talk during movies. When I go to pay to see a movie, I don't want to have a bright screen or hear someone's conversation that distracts me and takes away the focus from what I came to see in the first place, the movie. If you're going to come to the movie just to talk or be on your phone, then why did you come in the first place?  

Another malice/ignorance type of cause for this "bug". I think that most people who do this kind of thing in a movie theater don't realize how truly distracting and annoying it can be to those around them, especially if they've never experienced themselves before.

20. People who constantly litter and seem to have no regard for the environment. Just the other day I watched a woman walk down the street, finish eating a bag of chips, and just drop the bag on the ground as she kept walking. Now, more than ever before, has there been an emphasis on protecting the environment and practicing habits that are considered to be "green". While it may not be an issue with immediate effects, sooner or later it'll catch up to us, and we'll regret it if we continue to do these kind of things.

I think this happens because the people who do it have little concern for the well-being of the environment and taking care of it, and it's something that I find to be very annoying because it instantly gives me a negative impression of that person when I see it happen.

When writing this "bug list", I found it somewhat difficult to come up with things that I considered "bugs" in my everyday life. I don't really think about these things too often, and it presented itself in the form of me initially struggling to come with additional things I could write about. My strategy consisted of first writing about "bugs" that I would consider to be more 'big picture' issues, and things that many people are currently faced with. For the second half, I wrote more about small things that I find to be "bugs" in my everyday life, and are things that are relatively inconsequential in the grand scheme of things. Once I was able to focus my thoughts into different categories, it made the assignment easier in that I was able to come up with more things to write about.