Justin Bieber, ‘Fraping’ and 50 things we hate about modern life

Queuing endlessly to use a self-service check-out, only to be denied your basic human right to a single, barcode-less banana. Squeezing past a gaggle of reality TV-obsessed teenage girls, endlessly snapping selfies on their camera phones in the pub toilets. And logging onto the snail-slow internet, not only to find your Facebook feed littered with victims of the questionably coined ‘frape’, but that you’ve been trolled harder on Twitter than Nick Grimshaw in the wake of a Louis Tomlinson gag.

Living in the hyper-digitalised year of 2014, it seems, is about as irksome as it comes – especially if the results of this new survey are anything to go by.

A poll of 570 Brits were asked to come up with an ultimate top 50 list of things they hate about modern life. For the most part, the definitive countdown contains ‘things’, like sales calls (4), train fares (29) and spam emails(27). But there is one famous face deemed more punch-ably irritating than any other – Justin Bieber.

And, as the sole real person to appear in the entire list, it seems he’s really earned his place (42) over the years. Deep agitation for the pop star started as soon as he did, with the release of his saccharine, pre-pubescent whine-a-thon “Baby” in 2010. The repugnance continued to swell throughout his early career as a floppy-haired pop brat with better SEO than Jesus, and boiled over in his late teens, after a string of ludicrous arrests, a ridiculous name change, and a particularly bothersome month-long domination of the newspaper headlines in January.

Bieber could also be held personally responsible for several of the most astringent items on the list. A shameless selfie (6) enthusiast, he is rarely seen without his camera phone (9), texting while walking(14), using poor grammar (15), and text speak (16) as he posts them up on Instagram, employing all the Americanisms (17) he can possibly muster. Then there’s his army of acerbic Twitter trolls (23) – the Beliebers – each one no doubt the possessor of a Justin Bieber mobile ring tone (3) and, you know, probably a bread maker (21) or something, too.

The only other celebrity links come in the form of the irrepressibly awful “Gangnam Style” dance (22), originally performed by Korean pop star Psy, and blandly copied by personality-less buffoons the entertainment industry over.

Modern fascination with Z-list stars (26), premiereship footballers (20), celebrity fitness DVDs (32) and reality TV (5) also made the list compiled by FreeDeliveryLand.co.uk. 

As did UKIP, the only political party to be branded a pain in the back side, who came in just behind Bieber (45).

Want to raise your own blood pressure? Find out what made the list below.

Top 50 Things We Hate About Modern Life

1 Self Service Check-Outs 2 Styrofoam Cups 3 Mobile Phone Ring Tones 4 Sales Calls 5 Reality TV 6 Selfies 7 Slow Internet 8 Mobile Phone Battery Life 9 Cameras On Phones 10 Headphones Leaking Loud Music

11 Expensive holidays, 12 Budget Airlines, 13 Sat Navs, 14 Texting While Walking, 15 Poor Grammar/Spelling, 16 Text Speak, 17 Americanisms, 18 Delivery Times Not Being Met, 19 Coffee Machines 20 Premiership Footballer

21 Bread Makers, 22 Gangnam Style, 23 Twitter Trolls, 24 Middle Lane Hoggers, 25 Private Conversations On Mobiles In Public, 26 Z-Listers, 27 Spam Email, 28 Junk Mail, 29 Train Fares, 30 Road Rage

31 Fad Diets, 32 Celeb Fitness DVDs, 33 Estate Agents, 34 Being Put On Hold, 35 Pot Holes, 36 Autocorrect On Phone, 37 Clothes On Pets, 38 Excessive Plastic Surgery, 39 Foreign Call Centres, 40 Commuting In London

41 Traffic Wardens, 42 Justin Bieber, 43 Computer Viruses, 44 Hackers, 45 UKIP, 46 Being Outbid On eBay, 47 Seat Hoggers, 48 ‘Fraping’, 49 Having To Pay For Cash At A Cash Machine, 50 Cracked iPhone Screens.

The Independent