Zero Situational Awareness

People cutting across the bottom of a descending escalator. There is nowhere for the people coming off the escalator to go except into them.

People who want to get on a train or tram but stand right in the way of the people getting off and seem surprised at the concept that someone might be getting off.

What particularly annoys me is when a group of 4/5 people gather around the self service tils. Yet only one of them is buying something.

A lot of them here in the UK use the pavement. I used to get angry whenever I saw a video of some bike thief with bolt cutters stealing them. Now I find it deeply cathartic.

In general, I think it's phones and the inability of a lot of people to just not be checking their phone every few minutes. It's pathetic to be honest. Our kitchen at work is tiny. I asked some lad there to let me through twice. He ignored me so I shoved him.

It's everywhere. I went to see a film in the middle of last week. Almost everyone on the tube was buried in their phone. I didn't even bring mine as I didn't see the point. I've seen people just stop in the middle of narrow staircases to take their stupid device out and start swiping. I've nearly been hit in my home town by motorists on their phone while driving.

I notice a difference between men and women in this regard. Women are far more caught up in their own lives and taking care of their families to care about annoying strangers. Men, tend to be more concerned about what strangers think. This may be simply some kind of evolutionary trait reimagined for modern times.

Often I'd see a couple standing on one step, blocking the whole escalator and invariably it's the man who will either step out of the way of people trying to walk or he will guide the woman out of the way. Same goes for walking on the street or blocking doorways.

Families taking up the whole width of the footpath is very annoying. Again, often it'll be a couple of women nattering away and some children on the side - all totally oblivious to people coming towards them. Mothers with kids just think they're more important than anyone in my experience.

she said the curious thing was that it was overwhelmingly men who did this

Sadly, not that curious at all: a real eye opener for me was hearing a TED talk some years ago by a trans woman called Paula Stone Williams about the differences she found navigating the world "as a woman" compared to as a man. Things like finding that men in her train or plane seat would always assume that she'd misread her seat number and not them, whereas that had been a rarity before she transitioned. I suddenly discovered that so many things that irritated me in that sort of random social interactions had been happening to me because I was a woman.

(It's long but quite funny - and as I say, an eye opener.)

Separately, people on phones, of both sexes, are a different thing but a real menace. I suspect that young women are more often offenders in that regard, but it can be both. I've started just not moving out of their way.

It's even worse when someone is blocking a path or an aisle, they see you coming towards them, and make the massive effort of moving about 2mm thinking that will be enough.

I don't get how anyone can think it's ok. Has she never had to manoeuvre a pram or a buggy on a path made impassible by selfish car drivers? Not to mention the problems that causes for the visually impaired? I'd make that a serious traffic offence if I could.

If everyone walked on the left on a footpath the phone thing wouldn't be so much of a problem. Looking down at the phone whilst walking in the middle of the footpath is a double crime. Punishable by my shoulder hitting your head.

More than once I have been on narrow roads and met a vehicle stopped in the road and somebody leaning in the window blabbing with the driver and his bum stuck out blocking the road so you can't get by. When he feels ready he will slowly straighten up and let you get by.