Page 1 of 3

First World Problems

Posted: Fri Dec 03, 2010 5:25 pm
by Caspian
I spent a bunch of time downloading a podcast, but THEN it turned out I didn't have the ipod connector cord! So I had to walk to the bank to deposit my paycheque and listen to music on my ipod instead of listening to a new podcast! MAN!

On the other hand, a billion people in the world don't have drinking water.

Posted: Fri Dec 03, 2010 6:29 pm
by VelvetElvis
I can't find a table cloth for my night stands that I don't absolutely hate.

Posted: Fri Dec 03, 2010 7:16 pm
by Petrie
I have a pantry, a fridge, and a freezer (two, actually) full of food-like substances and I am annoyed I have nothing to eat. By which I mean, there's nothing that wouldn't require some minimal amount of effort.


I'm pretty sure there are still people starving around the world, some even in this very town but they're starving first world style so we'll just focus on starving African and Asian populations.


(Did I do this thread correctly? There were no instructions and I wasn't sure if I had to also list a bad thing that made me feel like an ass for having my problems.)

Posted: Fri Dec 03, 2010 7:32 pm
by Caspian
You don't have to feel like an ass, but yeah, the idea is to complain about a genuinely annoying problem, then provide some perspective as a counterpoint.

Posted: Fri Dec 03, 2010 7:47 pm
by Petrie
Hey, sometimes it's a good exercise to feel like an ass. Builds character or something.

Posted: Fri Dec 03, 2010 8:24 pm
by Dr. Mobius
f*** you, world. I just got a $20,000 medical bill I can't afford and that's due in full in a month after the doctor and hospital assured me it would "probably" be a tenth of that. If I had known it would've been this much in advance, I wouldn't have gone through with the procedure. If I had known for sure that I'd be getting a new job within a couple weeks and have insurance in three months, I would've waited. Hell, I was leaning towards not doing it anyway based on the simple fact that in the past eight years I've had no reason to justify it's continued existence, but the doctor made it sound like it would be a huge mistake to not do it and assured me that due to my lack of insurance or financial resources, it would be next to free. f*** you, world.

On the other hand, even in a first world country, I was almost fertilizer eight years ago.

Note: this is just me venting. My parents and I intend to explore our options and fight this, if we can.

Posted: Fri Dec 03, 2010 8:57 pm
by Young Val
I don't have enough local, organic milk left to make a cup of gourmet organic hot chocolate to drink out of my Bodum Pavina double-walled glass cup (the last remaining one in the set, tragically, because the rest broke).

I'm actually pretty upset about this, cause I really, really, really want some hot chocolate right now.

Posted: Sat Dec 04, 2010 10:45 am
by Janus%TheDoorman
My cable stutters a bit sometimes since Comcast switched over to all-digital broadcasting. The powder room in my house is small, and the door is usually closed, so central heating makes it uncomfortably warmer than the hallway. I'm looking at my box set of the original Star Wars trilogy, upset that I got the Fullscreen edition instead of the Widescreen edition.

Meanwhile several million people will starve or freeze to death this winter, with nothing to watch except their siblings doing the same.

Posted: Mon Dec 06, 2010 1:51 am
by Eaquae Legit
I'm close to tearing my hair out about the travel visa. One thing after another and delays and uncertainty and AUGH.

On the other hand, I still have a husband and I'm more educated than almost the entire world. I shouldn't complain.

Posted: Mon Dec 06, 2010 1:53 am
by Rei
I'm not sure that's strictly a first-world problem, but I'm also close to tearing out my hair over the visa issue.

Posted: Mon Dec 06, 2010 2:30 am
by Eaquae Legit
Well, whinging about how hard it is to bring my husband with me for my totally-priviliged education so we can comfortably fly together now instead of later... It feels first-world.

How about: At least I don't have to worry that by leaving him behind my husband will be at risk of famine, war, or natural disaster while I fly away, unsure if I'll ever see him again (and be thrilled if it's only five years!).

Posted: Mon Dec 06, 2010 6:11 pm
by VelvetElvis
My car's motor is blown. I have to buy another one.


I have a job to drive that car to, and excellent roads to travel on in order to get there.

Posted: Sat Dec 11, 2010 6:37 pm
by Jayelle
Ugh, what is it with facebook and having to CLICK before I type in my status? So much work!

Posted: Sun Dec 19, 2010 12:00 am
by Gravity Defier
My dog got excited over something, somehow got her paw on my laptop, and popped off the "Page Down" key. I couldn't find it at first and got pissed off, wanting to yell at her "This is why we can't have nice things!"



Computers aren't food, shelter, clothing, or water...ya know, life's real necessities. I have all that and a laptop. A lot of people can't even get the necessities and I'm worried over a little key? Get a grip, lady.

Posted: Tue Dec 21, 2010 12:29 am
by Eaquae Legit
Grr, my copy of The (Even More) Incredible Machine won't run on my too-advanced computer!

Flip side, I have a computer, and it's even pretty new and spiffy.

Posted: Tue Dec 21, 2010 3:05 pm
by Dr. Mobius
If that's the game I think it is, I used to play it all the time in Biology class, though I never had my own copy. I was going to recommend a couple other, similar and a bit newer puzzle games to you that should still run fine on modern computers, but they were on my old iBook that crashed and I can't remember what they were called.

Posted: Tue Dec 21, 2010 3:29 pm
by Eaquae Legit
Rei hooked me up with a DOS emulator. I played it well into the wee hours of the night last night.

Posted: Tue Dec 21, 2010 3:37 pm
by Dr. Mobius
Nevertheless, I wish I could remember what those games were.

Posted: Wed Dec 22, 2010 1:56 am
by Brian
Its raining in my city and I have no car to stay dry while I travel around so I stay inside and mess around on my computer.


hundreds will die from hypothermia due to poor housing.


Did I do that right?

Posted: Wed Dec 22, 2010 9:21 am
by Eaquae Legit
Nevertheless, I wish I could remember what those games were.
Fair enough. Can I list "some people actually die the first time around" as your flip-side?

Posted: Fri Feb 25, 2011 3:16 pm
by Jayelle
The things that I ordered through my magic box are taking more then a few days to get to me.

Posted: Fri Feb 25, 2011 4:23 pm
by Petra456
That I purchased season 3 of Mad Men though Amazon (where I also bought seasons 1 and 2) and the box doesn't match season 1 and 2.

On the other hand, I can afford to buy things like Mad Men and actually get upset over the fact that the boxes don't match... I have a dvd/blu ray player to watch them, and I have a house that I can spend all day in watching Mad Men if I choose to.

Posted: Sat Feb 26, 2011 4:13 pm
by Jayelle
I wanna watch the Oscars, but we don't have a TV, only a computer. And the "All Access Oscars" live stream that you can pay for is only available to people in the States.
Wahhhh.

Posted: Sat Feb 26, 2011 6:00 pm
by Luet
My mom is having her annual Oscar party and we, as usual, are not going because we abhor all awards shows. She goes all out with tons of food, a voting ballot (the person who guesses the most right gets a restaurant gift card) and new this year - decorations including a huge poster of fancy dressed up people with face cut outs to take your picture in. I know, I'm a party pooper. :P

Posted: Sat Feb 26, 2011 7:52 pm
by Jayelle
It's such a guilty pleasure. I have watched them (in their entirety!) every year since I was, like, 12 except the last two years when we haven't had TV. No one I know cares about them enough to have an oscar party. :(

...though, now that I live in this crazy timezone, they start at 9pm, so I don't know if I could stay up late enough to get to the end anyway.

Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2011 12:34 am
by Gravity Defier
No one I know cares about them enough to have an oscar party. :(

This is my problem for just about everything I care about or am interested in. To the point where it's almost enough to make me definitely believe in God; who else would get such a kick out of me feeling alone in so many of my interests? Or, as my grandma would say, "He's trying to teach you a lesson and you're obviously not learning it."


My goal in life is to end up with a set of what I call Steph Friends. Throw little proms, have themed parties, dress up, have all-nighters, and are willing to do it all sober (though I wouldn't always need it to be the case that it was).

Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2011 8:42 am
by Eaquae Legit
It's such a guilty pleasure. I have watched them (in their entirety!) every year since I was, like, 12 except the last two years when we haven't had TV. No one I know cares about them enough to have an oscar party. :(

...though, now that I live in this crazy timezone, they start at 9pm, so I don't know if I could stay up late enough to get to the end anyway.
I find that kind of sad. :( I really love living in a house (or going to school with) people who take almost any excuse to have a party. I don't know if we're having an oscar party, but I wouldn't be surprised if we did. Is there no one in Paul's department who'd be up for it, Jan? What kind of grad students are they, anyway?

(I would come to your party if I could.)

Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2011 9:29 am
by steph
My goal in life is to end up with a set of what I call Steph Friends. Throw little proms, have themed parties, dress up, have all-nighters, and are willing to do it all sober (though I wouldn't always need it to be the case that it was).
Awww. I feel warm and fuzzy. Move here and my friends will be your friends, too!!

Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2011 5:27 pm
by Rei
I have a friend in Israel who is going to be watching them at 3am her time.

Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2011 10:02 pm
by Jayelle
I found it streaming online, so all is well.

Though, I was wrong - it started at TEN pm, not nine. So very late.

Posted: Thu Mar 10, 2011 11:04 pm
by powerfulcheese04
I really want to go to bed, but my duvet cover is not dry yet.


This is a first world problem because I have my own washer and dryer, I have a soft comfortable bed to go to sleep in and I'm still complaining because I have to wait another 10-20 minutes for it to dry.

Posted: Mon Mar 28, 2011 8:45 am
by powerfulcheese04
My butt hurts from sitting on these hard chairs in class!

On the other hand, there are billions of people (especially women) without a grade school level education.

Posted: Mon Mar 28, 2011 11:07 am
by neo-dragon
The other day as I was driving to work I was listening to a local radio station that does this Family Feud like thing where they ask a question and people try to guess the most popular answer based on a survey.

The question was, "what do you wish was never invented?"

My mind immediately jumped to guns, bombs, nuclear weapons, etc. I was somewhat appalled that they went through several callers before anyone even guessed something that kills people (landmines). Popular guesses included facebook, twitter, cellphones, and alarm clocks!

Is it me, or is this very telling with regards to the mentality of our society and how sheltered most of us are from real problems? Unfortunately I never did find out what the number 1 answer was, as I arrived at work before anyone guessed it.

Posted: Mon May 30, 2011 10:15 pm
by zeroguy
I've been "busy" more or less constantly for the past seven years. Between work (the past 2ish years), school + volunteer positions (before that), personal technical projects, and various entertainment things I follow (shows, comics, LPs, etc), there haven't been any "gaps".

It's not like I'm always working, since some of that is watching stuff or playing games, etc, but it always seems to be from a todo list a mile long, and there's always something at the back of my mind that I know I "should" be doing. The last time I was bored for lack of things to do was so long ago I can't remember what it feels like. Occasionally I'll forget what's next on the todo list for a minute or so (usually after I finish something large), and it feels very strange. Nearly every day comes a moment when I feel completely overwhelmed by the number of things I want to accomplish that I will never be able to actually do due to lack of time.

Meanwhile, a third of the world lives without electricity.

Posted: Tue May 31, 2011 7:51 am
by Luet
I'm overwhelmingly stressed from planning and packing for my trip to California in two days. Boo hoo for me, going on vacation and all.