Bug List

1. The traffic lights on 13th Street are slow for the flow of traffic at 5:00pm.
WHY?: The traffic lights are timed and usually accommodate regular flow of traffic rather than rush hour traffic.

2. People sneezing without covering their mouths.
WHY?: The sneeze can come out of nowhere and people forget to cover their mouths because they are trying to process their sneeze.

3. Having exams right after a long break, such as spring break.
WHY?: Professors have a limited amount of time to cover all their material throughout the semester. Therefore, it can be inevitable for an exam to fall on the day after spring break because of the pace of the course.

4. Leaving the toilet seat up after finishing their business.
WHY?: It is convenient to leave it up for the individuals who do so, that way they do not need to lift it up every single time they have to urinate.

5. Biting nails or picking skin off of one's fingers.
WHY?: This notion provides anxiety relief or provides a distraction from an anxiety-induced situation for that individual.

6. People honking at you right away when the light just turned green.
WHY?: People are in a rush to go some place important and that may be related to their work, school, or in some cases a medical emergency.

7. Leaving dishes in the sink rather than washing them right after you finish eating.
WHY?: Individuals may place priority over other important tasks that need to be dealt with first, which may include taking a shower, doing laundry, or going to sleep.

8. Forgetting to refill an empty Brita pitcher.
WHY?: People are in a rush to get somewhere and use up the entire pitcher of water and do not have the time to refill the Brita pitcher. Or some individuals may not know how to refill a Brita pitcher if they have never used one before.

9. Buying used textbooks with worn out pages or writing inside of them.
WHY?: Textbooks that have been used and worn out tend to be sold at a discounted price; therefore, the price of the worn book compensates for the depreciation of it.

10. People who grunt and throw their dumbbell weights at the gym.
WHY?: It can be a form of cathartic release when grunting or dropping weights, especially if individuals have been performing a relatively tough workout and are experiencing the ache that follows it.

11. The UF fitness classes getting filled up as soon as possible at the beginning of January.
WHY?: People are trying to fulfill their New Years' resolutions on staying fit and healthy. Everyone is trying to be more conscious on their well-being for the new year.

12.  Eating with one's mouth open.
WHY?: There might be a lot of food in the mouth that one needs to open it to make sure they do not choke. Or it could be a perfectly normal way to eat in someone's culture; therefore, it is not deemed as a nuisance.

13. Lack of parking at the Publix on 13th Street.
WHY?: The Publix is relatively small and it needs to share space with Starbucks; therefore, this results in an even smaller amount of space for parking. Also, that location is surrounded by residential areas so it is constantly busy with people going in and out of the grocery store by the hour.

14. The students around Turlington constantly shoving flyers or trying to speak to me about their organization.
WHY?: These students are recruiting for their organizations and want to spark interest in students who might be interested in their organization's mission and goals. They want people to be a part of something they really enjoy.

15. The Chik-Fil-A on campus being open only during weekdays.
WHY?: Since the Chik-Fil-A on campus runs on University hours and only students work there, it is closed on the weekends because the university (except for the libraries) is closed.

16. Leaving the lights on in rooms that are not being used.
WHY?: These lights can bring in extra brightness to a room, especially if this is occurring at night. Having the lights on may provide a sense of security or safety to a home, especially if someone is alone.

17. Cover charge for bars and/or clubs even if you are over the age of 21.
WHY?: Bars and clubs must cover a lot of expenses, especially if there is some specific event occurring at their location. They must be able to make enough money to cover labor, materials, and the overhead for the nights they are open, especially if they do not make enough money on just selling drinks.

18. Taking exams through ProctorU instead of taking them in person.
WHY?: ProctorU is a more efficient form of testing. There is no need to waste paper, book rooms for hundreds of students, and take time out of the teaching assistants' and professors' days to proctor these exams. The convenience fee that comes with taking exams on ProctorU compensates for the effort it would take to proctor exams in person.

19.  Making it mandatory to take an IUF1000 course or course equivalent to graduate from the University of Florida.
WHY?: The requirement to take a humanities course broadens a student's perspective. Many students are inclined to go the STEM track and the interest in humanities is slowly becoming more obsolete. Making a UF humanity course equivalent helps open students' minds outside of the world they are familiar with.

20. Paying for UF football season tickets.
WHY?: We have a highly ranked and critically acclaimed football program at the University of Florida; therefore, paying for tickets helps fund the program so it can continue to be one of the best in the South.

REFLECTION:

Upon reading the prompt for this post, I immediately began to think of how difficult it would be to list all of my possible pet peeves or "bugs" in this case. At first, I began thinking about general things which have bothered me in the past. Many of these "bugs" are universal. I believe many people would agree on some of them. But the moment I got to my tenth "bug," I began to truly dive deep and contemplate on aspects of my life, such as course work, living with roommates, and campus life in general. I think the weirdest part of it all was that it was relatively easy to find a reason for why these bugs may occur. I am not sure if that makes me an empathetic person or if writing these bugs out forced me to grow introspective and reflect on their significance. Overall, constructing this blog post allowed me to think outside of the box, and I could see how many of these bugs have easy solutions. It was enlightening, and I can only hope that my list of bugs will decrease as I continue to find solutions for them.