This isn’t quite so relevant now, considering all that’s happening right now in Istanbul. The worst thing about Istanbul is the unnecessary use of force by the police against protestors.
But during more peaceful times, this is what made me seethe with rage during my time in Istanbul.
The costumed ice cream servers. I have many curse words for these guys. They ruin ice cream. WTF! How does one possibly ruin ice cream? By being incredibly obnoxious. They wear stupid costumes and yell at foreigners walking past them. They clang loud bells with a metal rod, they shove the ice cream in your face and pretend like they’re going to drop it. On top of everything, they overcharge you. I guess the performance is supposed to be funny, but to me, it’s not. All of it just adds up to an overwhelming desire to punch these guys in the face every time I hear those damn bells. Can’t a girl just get some ice cream in peace, even if she is a damn tourist?
Why would you subject yourself to this torture on your wedding day?!
The bride is obviously not pleased with the server’s antics.
But at least she finally got her ice cream.
What about you, did you ever encounter something on vacation that made you irrationally angry? How did you deal with it? For me, I just avoided buying ice cream except at a normal, non-touristy gelato shop way way down on Isktiklal Caddesi. Sweet success.
Well…here in Laos life is so chill that I really don’t know if it’s even possible to seethe with rage, but the daily cries of ‘Tuk tuk? Boat? Visit waterfall? Visit caves?’ that follow you down the street in Luang Prabang really test that limit…especially after a MONTH of hearing them every day damn. And it’s worse when the aforementioned tuk tuk / boat drivers have seen you say no to every other driver on the street and STILL call after you – seriously, what makes them think that you’ll say yes?!
Breathe in. Breathe out.
The vendors in Luxor, Egypt were pretty aggressive. They would step in front of you to impede your progress trying to veer you into their little shop while announcing “everything free!”. But the worst thing was a beach in Mexico where a woman carrying a baby would approach you begging “feed the baby? Feed the baby?” And we had at least 3 different women approach us throughout the day and they were all carrying the SAME damn scabby, sickly looking baby! That poor child was just being passed around – never let down to play or sleep or whatever – just a pawn…