14 things that frustrate me about Hull.

“Leon your tea is ready” When I hear this often it’s a complete lie and I’ve learned to realise that when I hear this off my Mam, she’s only just stopped the cooker and the meal won’t be ready for another 45 hours. Obviously, what I said here is hyperbole and not a problem solely based in the confinements of my own home, but the Journalist named Hannah Robinson of the HullLive website wouldn’t understand that. She made an article which is still live as of me writing this now called “The 14 most frustrating (and controversial) things about living in Hull”.

What I love about this article is the shear lack of respect the writer has for her fellow humans and citizens. In her words she ‘loathes’ people talking to her in shops, has frequent indifferences with people abruptly stopping her dead in her tracks while she walks and has much distain for pubs closing at their normal times during the week. The lack of actual thought put into this article is remarkable and I’m surprised how it was allowed on the site? How did this slip through the Editor in Chief? And how does this cesspool of nonsense have 250+ shares and counting?

Truly astonishing. I thought in honour of my discontentment for this dross, I shall show her in this article how its done and give a little bit of attention to this subject. Here are my fourteen things I find frustrating about Hull.

1)The pessimists amongst us

Here me out on this one because I believe this is a valid problem. I’m sure many of you reading this have come across a certain individual who’s from Hull and still regards it as an awful city despite the many improvements after 2017. You press them on their opinion only to find that they stand by this comment based of the lack of investment and dullness of our city. Right, time for my rebuttal. The investment is still coming, it just isn't going to happen overnight. Let me name off some quick investments that may have gone over these people's heads.

The Bonus Arena? The redevelopment of the Ferens? Humber Street? Hull New Theatre? All these places have seen money thrown at them in the last two years. Not to mention the council slowly making progress purchasing parts of town poised for redevelopment such as Albion street and Osbourne street. Whenever you encounter one of these Hull bashers, refer to what I said and call checkmate.

2)Empty Outlets in Stations

So, you’re telling me that Hull City Council cannot possibly find suitable businesses to fill the two empty outlets that are on display for visitors and locals to see every time they walk through the train station? It is absurd that during the management of the station refurbishment, we were promised a culture hub with multiple shops and outlets filling the various spots available. What are we left with? A star bucks and a history shop which will dawn one of the three current empty places. Disgraceful. Is it not possible to tout one of the businesses on the other side to move into one of these spaces that are there gathering dust?

Get a Greggs there or even a local business that sells Hull related merchandise? How can we be a forward thinking town when the people in charge have no clue? I know what some will think as well, they’ll give the spiel on how with rates and loans its not as easy as moving in. Well why refurb in the first place then? Over one million pounds wasted for nothing…

3)Non Sports Fans

Right I could go on for hours on this one, but I try and keep it Hull centred as best I can. I’m a massive sports fan and I love watching my favourite sport Rugby and my hometown club compete which is Hull FC. Rugby brings money, happiness and joy to this city and has done for the longest time. Unfortunately, you get people who despite what I said try and discredit what our sports clubs do for this city and call us nothing but timewasters. I’ve been in conversation with people when they’ve gone 'oh it only happening because ‘so and so’ are at Wembley or can’t you control yourself when you win?' ‘It’s just a game they say to me’. ‘Why do you say we when it’s not you playing?’

I don’t know about you, but this riles me up. First off let supporters enjoy themselves how they want, if that means causing havoc, I’m sure the law will then come into play and put an end to their madness but if that fan is a law-abiding citizen celebrating a sporting win, let them have their moment in the sun. The whole 'it’s not you playing thing is ridiculous'. It’s not us firing the guns in Iraq but we as a collective were at war. It wasn’t the people back home firing weapons at the Nazi’s in WW2 but they still had a part to play.

I know it’s a far reaching comparison but in many ways a sporting game is like a mini war. For them 90 minutes you have your group of men and the opposition fans have theirs. You have to will them on as best as you can in hopes your team ends victorious. Every decision you feel, every tackle, every try, every win and loss. You ride and die for your team. If you don’t feel emotion in sport, you aren’t doing it right in my opinion. Sport captures every raw emotion that we feel in one foul swoop. Ask any fan and they tell you the same. Rugby is special, sport is special and supporting your hometown is prideful. Own it people!

4)The local media

Oh, I knew it wouldn’t be long until I reached this one. Where do I start? Ok I know, the lesser of two evils. Look north. A local news broadcast that runs for around twenty minutes. It has several segments relating to current affairs in the local area. To put it bluntly, it’s boring and monotonous. It’s a chore just to get through the full runtime and we have that every day! Every single DAY! It’s in line for a much-needed shake up but for some reason they refuse to change up the formula. No wonder the TV average audience is dwindling with rubbish like on the box.

As for our print media. We have HullLive. The physical version of this newspaper is adequate. The online version is a bundle of laughs. Let’s start with the ridiculous pop up ads which make you think you’re accessing a dodgy site from the early 2000’s, with the amount of clutter that appears on your screen upon clicking on anything. This sort of problem tends to annoy visitors of your sites and leaves a unfortunate reputation. Thank god for Ad Blocker eh?

5)KCOM

This lovely company has the monopoly over internet in most parts of Hull. They have the cheek to charge you obscene amounts of money for such little return. It’s a privilege at times to even use a basic ‘human right’, the internet. KCOM just decides when they let users browse with their trigger happy connection. Any little thing such as a download file, it feels running there and delivering the files with your bare hands would be faster.

How have we let it get this bad? Something needs to be done. In recent time KCOM formerly known as KC has had a rebrand but failed to update their own systems. More is needed in earning customer satisfaction back KCOM. There’s a reason Ripped off Britain were on your backs.

6)Hull being in the worst places to live

‘And No.10 on this list is Hull.’ I know a lot you reading this have seen us at some point in these lists. Frustrating isn’t it? Seeing your town in the bottom categories within any list in the UK. But the thing is the writer who makes this dribble doesn’t even actually look at Hull from a fair standpoint. There’s always an agenda with these sorts of articles. It’s so strange that many southern towns are never featured.

Hmmmmm I wonder… My response is come to Hull, I’ll show you around, give you some patties and chips then you can be on your merry way pleasantly surprised at what you’ve just seen.

7)The clipboard people in town

I wanted to limit the moaning to a minimum, but I have to vent at some point on this matter. If you’re one of these people I’m sorry for my following words. These people are the most obnoxious arsewipes in today’s society. I’ll give you a low down of how a interaction goes with one of these.

*Me walking to Destination A*

*Arsewipe No.1 notices me*

*Me feel funky so I starts to speed walk and put my head down*

*Arsewipe No.1 approaches me with arsewipe No.2 zoning in on my location*

*Game over I’m cornered*

The ensuing conversation then goes…

“I need to catch a train pal!”

“That’s ok can I have five minutes of your time though?” Didn’t you just hear me you...cretin? Bane of my life!

8)Tesco closing early on a Sunday

Quite a specific one this but my local Tesco, I frequently buy from a lot. My sleep pattern isn’t the best so I generally wake up around 3-4pm on a Sunday. I also might have been drinking the night before so them extra hours of sleep on Sunday go a long way. Me being a lover of food as well, I want to spend my money increasing my levels of obesity. I make it my mission that I’m going to Tesco’s to buy three bags of Popcorn only to find the shutters down.

It’s SHUT! Why do me like this? I think this calls for a petition. Screw workers rights and the rest day argument. I want my finger FOOD! It’s not all bad though as Sainsbury’s has the right idea opening till 10pm. Good people! They’ve got their wits about them.

9)The closed gate entrance outside of KCOM Stadium

The relationship between SMC, the local Council and the public has been deteriorating for a while now. The last straw was the closure of the side gate entrance near the stadium at the time of Hull Fair (Europe’s biggest travelling fair). It is such an inconvenience to many citizens living in west hull especially fans of Hull City and Hull FC. Please SMC, be mature, understand how taking this stance doesn’t help anyone and open the gate.

SMC describe how this entrance could potentially be a security breach during the days without sports games but how? Pretty sure a closed gate isn’t going to stop anyone who is looking to inflict harm upon others. Again opening the gate would increase the relations between all parties and improve moral I believe. It’s the right decision!

10)Dope burger increasing their prices

I’m a little frustrated that I have to pay a quid extra for my smoke dope burger. I get prices eventually go up but still now when I go to order food and see my favourite burger is seven pounds fifty, I think otherwise and look for alternative foods. Dominos has a great deal called 'collection perfection' which grants you a medium two-topping pizza for the low low price of five pounds and ninety-nine pence. Unreal! Dope Burger used to be champion but since that price hike, it’s a no from me…

11)Gangs of youths outside station and town McDonalds

Don’t you just love it when you stroll into town and come across a hooded mob staring you into oblivion. The sheer lack of common decency these youths have is worrying. First hand I’ve seen these ‘thugs’ abuse staff at the Jameson Street McDonalds, wreak havoc in and around the area throwing rubbish everywhere and be nuisance to whoever passes. Do they believe it makes them more cool and hip? I’m totally lost on how they can carry on like this.

Sitting outside a fast food restaurant acting foolish helps no one. This isn’t me complaining about anything that involves harmless fun as well. It’s a legitimate observation. They don’t let up any of them. Next day it’s a different group, it’s as if that’s a prime spot to get during after school periods. Just go home people.

12)The pointless nature of the walk-in centre

Can someone explain to me why this place exists? The walk-in centre. A place where you wait for four hours to get seen by a complete stranger only for them to tell you, they have none of your records, so you’ll have to get a second opinion from your GP! I’ve been in the past and told them I sometimes get asthma problems in the summer.

A week in the summer I struggle so antihistamine tablets ease my pain considerably. But they won’t have any of it and request I see my own doctor. What’s the point of this practise then? So the council can check off another check box on what the city centre doesn’t need. Give your head a wobble!

13)The neglect of our parks

The states our parks at the moment is a disgrace. I can only speak for west hull parks that I’ve been to but I can imagine the problem remains the same for the other side of the city. My local park is filled with alcoholic’s, needles and over flowing rubbish. West park is not any better. It doesn’t share the worst qualities I mentioned for my local park but a terrible terrain and a park that looks like it would fit right into the abandoned Chernobyl site doesn’t help it’s case. Last but not least Pickering park.

One quick look at the news would give you enough information about this site. Travellers taking over. Awful scenery, duck fecal matter everywhere, a neglected park and pool. The park is currently in a sad state of affairs. Do something Hull City Council!

14)The site of new York do something with it?

So, let me get this straight. The main road into Hull features a site where nothing is present and it’s a wasteland. Not exactly the image you want a visitor of the city to see. The station car park is situated opposite this site as well. How grand…

There we have it people, my attempt at giving you 14 things that frustrate me about Hull. Hopefully I did a better job than the original article this was inspired by. I mean it wasn’t that much competition was it now? Atrocious and lazy journalism. The lady in question will probably never see this and I’m fine with that. We know her level of writing now. Here I’ve shown you mine.

Hope you enjoyed reading this people and have a fantastic summer. Perhaps I might make more of these. If you’re feeling extra kind, give this article a share or let me know that you’ve read it and critique my writing ability. Appreciate you all!