1. The person who almost runs you over with their bike or skateboard
If you are risky enough to ride a bike between the mass amounts of students walking around campus, can you at least not scare me to death by not steering away from me until the last second? The amount of times I have been afraid of being hit is way too high for the short amount of time I have been here. Please, do us a favor and try to stay away from as many students as you can. Hearing a bike approach right behind you is way too scary.
2. The person who walks right behind you
This is similar to the person on the bike. Whether it be a person or a bike, if anything is directly behind me, I am going to freak out. If you have somewhere to be and I am just going too slow for you, do not ride on my tail until I walk faster. Just walk around me in the first place. Please.
3. The person who wears a skirt to class…in the winter
Why? While all of us are in our sweatpants, jeans and coats complaining about the weather, you’re baring your legs to the cold. This is NOT an act of bravery; this is a wish to get sick. And freeze. Save yourself the trouble and put on some pants, because nobody really cares what anybody looks like in the winter, and no one is going to sympathize with you when you say that you’re cold. Just trying to help you out.
4. The person who actually looks good leaving the gym
Have you ever been at the gym, working hard, and you look in the mirror after the workout and see a sweaty, gross mess? What makes this even worse is when you see that girl whose hair is still perfectly straight and her makeup isn’t running down her face. How is this even possible? Please teach me your ways.
5. The person who holds the door open for you when you are too far away
Holding the door for someone is a common act of courtesy, and we all appreciate it. However, if I am not a few seconds away from the door, PLEASE save me the awkward trouble of jogging over to the door just to accept your act of kindness. It is not worth it, I would rather open it on my own than have to hustle over to take the door from you. Thanks anyway.
6. The person who doesn’t study and still gets better grades than you
We’ve all been there: you’re studying with some people on your floor or from your class, and you’re feeling good about this test. Then, you take it…and realize that that kid who decided not to study did better than you. Once again, teach us your ways. You make the rest of us look dumb for even trying, because we were clearly doomed for failure anyway.
7. The person who sits on your bed while you’re studying
I can attest to this: my dorm has gotten to the point where people will just come right in and sit on the beds. If I have a laptop on my lap and notebooks surrounding me, and if I look frazzled and exhausted, chances are I’m not surfing around on Facebook. At least ASK what I’m doing before you make yourself comfortable in my study zone, please.
8. The person who doesn’t make it to the toilet
The last thing anybody wants to see on a Saturday morning is a pleasant, smelly throw up surprise in the bathroom. This could be anywhere: the floor, the wall, the sink. If you made it that far, why was the toilet not a consideration for where to throw up? Don’t get me wrong, I get it; if ya gotta do it, ya gotta do it. But just keep in mind that what you leave, it is going to greet some lucky early risers the next morning and just make their day.
9. The person who takes up a full table at the dining hall
Eating alone is actually a nice, relaxing luxury at a school when you’re constantly surrounded by people. I personally love waking up in the morning and getting some breakfast to start my day if no one else is around to go with me. But the dining halls here can get very rowdy, and tables can be scarce at popular times of the day. And when this happens, and you’re walking around looking for any place to sit, nothing is more frustrating than when a single person is taking up a table for 5.
10. The person who texts during the whole lecture, then asks what they missed
My opinion is, if you’re going to text in class, at least make sure you get the notes down between messages. Otherwise, you are going to annoy everybody else around you who knows that you purposely avoided being productive in class. Every once in a while, a slip up is okay; but when you’re constantly asking what is going on, you should probably listen.
11. The person who walks in without knocking
I’ll leave it to the imagination: this can just get awkward. And I will admit, I am entirely guilty of doing this too. But most people don’t think of locking the door just before they are about to get changed, for example. Just think about that when you’re about to open a door.
12. The person who sits in the middle of the row for a test and then is the first to finish
The teacher even warns the class about this: if you are a fast test taker, sit on the outside. If you typically take a while to finish, sit in the middle. Nothing is worse than when you’re in the zone on a test, and all of a sudden, someone is whacking you in the face with their backpack because they sat in the middle but finished the test in 20 minutes. Sometimes, this can be unavoidable if there are no outside seats left, but if there are, please take them.
13. The person who makes food that stinks up the whole hall
Sometimes, this can be a great thing. Walking up the stairs in my dorm and being greeted by the overwhelming smell of popcorn can be nice. But when I am smelling weird microwave food or strange flavored wings, I do not even want to step into the hall until it clears out. Smells will cling to the hallways for a while, so this can be problematic.
14. The person who blasts music when half the floor is asleep
Okay, yes, my roommate and I have done this once. Or twice. But I’ll be the first to admit that it is COMPLETELY annoying. Quiet hours do exist, even though nobody really acts like they do. Everybody, including myself, should try to keep in mind that the walls are not as thick as we think, and people who are trying to sleep are going to wake up to some loud singing (yes, they will hear it). And they might judge you for it.
15. The person who sits next to you in the bathroom when all the other stalls are empty
I saved the worst for last. My personal biggest annoyance is this: when somebody sits next to me in the bathroom when there are clearly other open stalls. Why? Everybody knows that college takes away a lot of your privacy, including having a private bathroom. If there are other stalls that are not right next to me, you should probably take them, because it is extremely annoying.
Of course, these are not the only types of annoying people you will find here at UMass; this is just a small sample. And we all know that UMass people are the best kind of people, so don’t let this sway you…I’m just acknowledging these annoying actions that we all do sometimes, and therefore will also encounter.