My Least Favourite Things

What do I like least in the world, a reader has asked; (though why I’m not sure?).

So, with apologies to Mr Hammerstein II, and in keeping with the present seasonal spirit of goodwill, these are a few of my least favourite things, in no particular order:

Hammerstein’s song lyrics, Christmas, New Year, Wagner, modern jazz, acid rock, rap music, piped music in restaurants, national anthems, James Joyce, Ibsen, Harry Potter (books and films), science fiction, self-improvement books, kindle;

Christian evangelism, Islamic evangelism, and (of course) all forms of nationalism, racism and homophobia;

The circus, zoos, animal rights activists, cats, snakes;

Plastic packaging, balloons, buttons (don’t ask):

Chewing gum, Coke (actually all fizzy drinks), Kraft processed cheese slices, milk chocolate, Hershey chocolate, raw carrots, fatty meat, Indian food;

Nigel Farage, Nicola Sturgeon, Donald Trump’s smirk (and everything else about him), Theresa May’s short skirts, Vladimir Putin’s cocky swagger and the Koch brothers (sinister billionaire right-wing plotters);

Air travel, duty-free shops, department stores, supermarkets, Ikea, modern packaging, Jack Daniels, boxed wines, traffic jams;

Fox News, Sean Hannity, Sara Huckabee Sanders, ‘reality’ television, quiz shows, commercials, giant television screens, Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook (and most other social media), mobile telephones;

Football, snooker, short-form cricket;

Bad grammar (and other linguistic offences), emails signed ‘Bestest’;

Colds, constipation (and other unexplained changes in bowel movements), plastic surgery, dirty fingernails, foul breath, ageing.

There, that ought to be enough to be going on with.  I’ll do the ‘likes’ later.