2016 Mar 27
by Shamila Naleer
We all have habits; some deem them cute, others weird and then, you have the annoying habits. These habits can be nerve wracking and extremely irritating. At times, it just pisses you off. I have heard countless numbers of people complain about these habits. Here’s a few annoying Lankan habits.
- Spitting chewed up beetle leaf EVERYWHERE
The other day when my father and myself were coming home after a long day of work and lectures respectively, we got stuck in slow moving traffic. After about five minutes, we slowly began to inch forward, right next to a gigantic lorry. Quite suddenly, some red liquid landed on the hood of our white vehicle with a loud splat. Leaning forward to see what it was, I realized it was chewed up “bulath”. My dad began fuming and I looked up at the lorry driver. He gave me a brown-toothed grin and drove off.
We see splats of chewed up beetle leaf almost everywhere on the road and we see quite a large number of people get into this habit. Of course, everybody has a right to have their own addictions, but if it is going to dirty other people’s property or if people spit in a very infuriating manner, it can become a tad bit irritating.
- Men’s “crop tops”
This may not be exceptionally common. However, I have seen a number of Sri Lankan men do this. This is when men pull up their shirts/t-shirts over their humungous pot bellies, stretch, and yawn and scratch their bellies for everyone to see. Most of the time, these men have the decency to pull their shirts back down, but you do get the ones who just stand there with their shirts up, hands on their hips, legs apart, judging everyone else.
- Punctual? Not so much.
While there are the ones who do come on time for almost everything and who are very punctual, indeed, you get quite a few people who turn up for occasions extremely late and begin functions an hour after they are supposed to start. Unless you get late due to unavoidable circumstances, punctuality is something you need to ensure, as you could be wasting another’s precious time. I know several people who get late for lunches or dinners, just because they decide to start getting ready five minutes before they are supposed to be where they are needed. Trust me, don’t do that. Hungry people tend to become very annoyed and it may not end well (especially if they have a temper).
- Judgments and gossiping
This particularly annoying habit, of course, is seen worldwide. It is in fact important to realize that being judgmental and talking about someone can be human nature. You find a handful of people who do not engage in this, but I think it is safe to say that at least once in a lifetime, a person will judge and talk behind a person’s back. Quite recently, a couple of friends of mine and I had an argument about this and one of them argued that the hypocrites say they hate back stabbing, judgmental people. Yet, these people gossip and critic as well. Of course freedom of speech and voicing your opinion is imperative. What I can say is, judge all you want. But keep the verdict to yourself. People have a way of finding out what you say behind their backs, especially when they are hurtful.
- Being boisterous
I have noticed that quite a few people do in fact get very loud when talking to colleagues. Of course, it is very understandable if one of the party, either the listener or the speaker, has a bit of a hearing problem. Nevertheless, people do tend to boast rather loudly about their jobs or their spouses or their kids or all three! There is absolutely nothing wrong with being proud of yours and your family’s achievements, but not everybody wants to know your life history. Modesty matters.
