collapsedcuttlefish

Is it normal in the UK to never see a dental hygienist?

Posted by Majestic_Cry8545@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 408 comments

collapsedcuttlefish@reddit

NHS are not interested in anything that isnt an absolute emergency, and will always go with the cheapest option possible (which is usually no service). Soon as you go private they will recommend seeing a hygienist every 3-6 months.

Is men's deodorant/aftershave meant to appeal to women or does it just smell bad?

Posted by BritishBlitz87@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 7 comments

collapsedcuttlefish@reddit

I'm a woman and I find cologne and cheap perfume repulsive when its over used. Walking past the cologne kiosks at the mall literally make me feel like I'm going to pass out. They smell awful and they're suffocating. Sometimes I'll be queuing up to get lunch and a guy full of cologne stands near me and I feel like I'm going to choke and kills my appetite and I end up skipping lunch because of it. Occasionally one smells good when they're used minimally (how they're supposed to be used) but they are few and far between. And its a fine line between 'thats sorta nice' and 'this smells like a vat of acid in a nuclear plant'.

Why so many English tourists have leg problems?

Posted by SuicidalLilBoi@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 533 comments

collapsedcuttlefish@reddit

Exactly, I was pretty clear when I said 'other wise reasonably abled' people who have developed mobility issues from life style, but someone's always gotta drop in with some genetic invisible illness when I was obviously talking about other people.

Why so many English tourists have leg problems?

Posted by SuicidalLilBoi@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 533 comments

collapsedcuttlefish@reddit

Yeah the general quality of life is a significant factor in what causes otherwise healthy people to spiral. I feel like I see more people generally suffering than before and it manifests in lots of ways, could be physical or even mental health. I feel like most people I meet are suffering from something.

Why so many English tourists have leg problems?

Posted by SuicidalLilBoi@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 533 comments

collapsedcuttlefish@reddit

But genetic predispositions exist in other countries as well. I'm just thinking purely of what seems to make it more common. Maybe it is silly to base it on observation alone. I've had problems with my health too but it was life style based which I know is not the case for everyone.

Why so many English tourists have leg problems?

Posted by SuicidalLilBoi@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 533 comments

collapsedcuttlefish@reddit

Its more common in the UK than in Europe. The UK is more sedentary and that leads to more problems, especially weight gain which eventually manifests into a lack of mobility. I know atleast 3 middle age adults who've developed muscle atrophy who are other wise reasonably abled, it developed from pure inactivity.

What does the uk do to avoid mass youth unemployment?

Posted by tylerthe-theatre@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 107 comments

collapsedcuttlefish@reddit

Well you can blame 40 years of austerity for that. We sold all of our public service infrastructure out so that we can buy it back from private enterprises. These government funded jobs barely exist anymore, and there's no way 'bob on benefits' would be considered for the role when there are already thousands of more qualified candidates who would love a government job, of which there are barely any.

What does the uk do to avoid mass youth unemployment?

Posted by tylerthe-theatre@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 107 comments

collapsedcuttlefish@reddit

The problem is not a skill shortage, the problem is a hiring shortage. People have never had as many skills available to them as they do now, the problem is that even skilled people can only get just above minimum wage and mid level work is literally be subsidised by the government because it pays so little. The problem is that businesses is not supporting workers anymore, they support shareholders. And that does very little benefit the main participants in society. The demands from businesses keep going up while the pay keeps going down, now people who have decade(s) of experience are still on entry level pay, and businesses can get away with it because there are twice as many job seekers as there are jobs. Businesses can keep asking for higher demands and offering even less pay and someone out there is always desperate enough to take it.

What does the uk do to avoid mass youth unemployment?

Posted by tylerthe-theatre@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 107 comments

collapsedcuttlefish@reddit

*The problem though is that theres not a hope in hell of anyone < 25 nowadays actually being bothered to do a days work, so it would never get off the ground. That is complete and utter rubbish. There are about 720,000–730,000 job vacancies nationwide. There are roughly 2.5 to 2.6 unemployed people per vacancy. Around 1.8–1.9 million unemployed people Competing for roughly 720k jobs. About 700k+ are under 25, meaning roughly 35–40% of all unemployed people are young adults. That means the other 60% they are competing with for employment are older and more experienced and more desirable candidates. Additionally, entry level hiring is massively dropping, which was absolutely crucial to get young people and post graduates into the work force and starting their careers. https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/bulletins/jobsandvacanciesintheuk/december2025?utm_source=chatgpt.com https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/bulletins/jobsandvacanciesintheuk/march2026?utm_source=chatgpt.com

What does the uk do to avoid mass youth unemployment?

Posted by tylerthe-theatre@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 107 comments

Is teaching in the UK as bad as people say?

Posted by sunszoominin@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 639 comments

Is teaching in the UK as bad as people say?

Posted by sunszoominin@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 639 comments

collapsedcuttlefish@reddit

And you get paid to do it. Teachers are expected to be paid for classroom time and nothing else. Its like being a paid theatre actor but you only get paid for the hours on stage.

What's the minimum amount that comes to mind when you hear "good salary"?

Posted by Equivalent-Ad-2373@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 1015 comments

Does the stereotype about our teeth being bad bother you?

Posted by Xathule96@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 442 comments

Can you help me understand my husband’s point of view please? Should our son be allowed to game past 10pm on a school night if he can’t keep his voice down?

Posted by Broken_Woman20@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 1531 comments

collapsedcuttlefish@reddit

Kind of hard to tell without being able to hear the noise. Is he actually shouting or is he talking? If he's talking and you refuse to close your doors I can see why they think you are being inconsiderate in your request. You are asking him not to talk to his friends in the evening when you wont even close your own door. The cat thing probably comes across as a lame excuse and you probably come across as being deliberately belligerent, like you enjoy ruining other people's fun. If it was just your kid against you I'd see sure, your house your rules. But if even Dad is saying you aren't being fair maybe you all need to learn to compromise.

If recreational cannabis is illegal, why do so many people smoke it out in public?

Posted by Bolticus13@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 822 comments

collapsedcuttlefish@reddit

It's definitely more the government's fault than it is older people. Older people really don't care. The government is under the thumb of old old old money and most legislations that make it through Congress have bribed their way in. That includes shareholders with huge shares in commerce like alcohol which is massively threatened by cannabis legalisation. Alcohol consumption in the US has dropped in massive percentiles since the legalisation of cannabis and they lobbyed as long as possible to keep it illegal.

Why don't you use local buses/trains in your area ?

Posted by Dyskadores@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 629 comments

collapsedcuttlefish@reddit

My commute to work takes 15 minutes in the car, it takes an hour and 30 minutes by bus. The train takes 40 minutes. Not only is it longer it's also more unreliable because the trains and buses are regularly delayed and cancelled, sometimes several in a row during peak hours, it's disgraceful.

What benefit would my ancestors have got out of Great Britain being an Empire and controlling such a large part of the world?

Posted by Significant_Tree8407@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 412 comments

collapsedcuttlefish@reddit

Literally every modern convenience and comfort that you enjoy today was built on hundreds of years of colonialism and slavery. Even the poorest in the country living in modern poverty experience benefits from their country's history of colonialism.

What classic British books would you actually recommend?

Posted by EggRavager@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 891 comments

collapsedcuttlefish@reddit

Zuleika Dobson by Max Beerbohm. Never went to Oxford, or even university for that matter. So I doubted I was going to get into the setting. But I really enjoyed the themes of identity centralised on a woman character. It really plays really well with the oxymoronic expectations of women in the Edwardian era, and Max Beerbohm is one of the few who pointed out these societal inconsistencies. And it's almost unbelievable to me how much of these expectations still linger onto today in a modernised hat. His much earlier entry in the yellow book periodical 'a defense of cosmetics' is also lead by this theme, and critiquing society's view on women was quite controversial then (1896 and 1911). There was a real fear at the time from the general public that writers like Oscar Wilde and Max Beerbohm were going to completely degrade British society. Oscar Wilde for his illegal homosexual acts, and Beerbohm for his emulation of Wilde and suggestions of female sexual and romantic agency. As someone who enjoys art history for showing me how societies have developed through the years in their attitudes and fears, Beerbohm is great for revealing said attitudes and fears he experienced in his period, many of which non-decadent contemporaries dared not touch with a barge pole. Perhaps a more significant look into these themes could be Joyce or Wilde, but Zuleika Dobson is short and packed with character and Beerbohm satirical silliness.

What clichés from the UK subreddits wind you up?

Posted by marshallandy83@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 622 comments

What clichés from the UK subreddits wind you up?

Posted by marshallandy83@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 622 comments

What single thing would you like to ban immediately?

Posted by Woody-Pieface@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 1579 comments

collapsedcuttlefish@reddit

Apprenticeships that pay below minimum wage. Especially Apprenticeships like 'customer service'. I volunteered manning phones for a company for months and rather than offer me a minimum wage role the company offered me an apprenticeship. Now I was working 5 days a week and was actually losing money as I was working. The company never held up their end of the bargain for the off the job training. I know they have to spend money on some 'college fees' but either way the person getting scammed the most is the employee. I didn't learn anything I didn't already know from volunteering on the phone. If the employer was 'losing' so much money for training fees they would have just hired me as regular minimum wage employee, but they didn't. But these companies always use the training fees as an excuse for the unlivable wages being paid. It might be worth it if you are actually learning something, but in many cases anything useful you would learn doing the job anyway. You can't learn a job until you are literally doing it, and if someone is doing a job they should be entitled to minimum wage. End of.

Why do you think many people in the UK take pride in being thick?

Posted by Curusorno@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 1115 comments

How has the UK ended up so dirty?

Posted by Desperate-Drawer-572@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 1600 comments

collapsedcuttlefish@reddit

People forget that in Japan 'don't be considerate' is taken to the extreme. We get all rosy cheeked about them 'taking their litter home with them' and conveniently forget that Japan has plenty of it's own problems due to this cultural difference, such as its contribution to traditional gender roles and sexism, depression, a pressure to conform and so on. We don't have it better or worse and most of us don't have the fanniest clue what it's like to live in Japan.

How has the UK ended up so dirty?

Posted by Desperate-Drawer-572@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 1600 comments

collapsedcuttlefish@reddit

People get pissed off because they pay hundreds in council tax and get lower lower returns on service. Like missed bins days, public toilets closing down, public bins being removed, closure of middle spaces and so on. Hard not to be pissed off at the council when they take a hard % of your income and you don't see any visible benefits.

so what's the crack with all this park gym equipment and who got rich?

Posted by Dry-Macaroon-6205@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 644 comments

Do you think drinking alcohol should/will go the same route as smoking has?

Posted by woolyweasel@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 88 comments

collapsedcuttlefish@reddit

They already exist, but they are ineffective. Same for tobacco. Not like the horrible packaging signs full of fleshy organs put people off buying a pack. I don't really know what the answer is, personally I would like if we had stronger support networks for people with addiction rather than frivolous campaigns.

Do you think drinking alcohol should/will go the same route as smoking has?

Posted by woolyweasel@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 88 comments

collapsedcuttlefish@reddit

Smoking doesn't cause someone to crash into a mother and child or go home and beat their wife. Anything that significantly alters the mental state like alcohol is really dangerous. I would say it's more dangerous than many class A substances. Smoking will kill your lungs, sure. But alcohol will kill your liver as well as change your mental state. Alcohol can make you violent, neglectful, impact your motor skills and perception. We are so brainwashed into thinking it's harmless.

Despite the rough economy, has anyone else noticed how busy the shops are for Christmas?

Posted by Redmistnf@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 378 comments

What is your truly unpopular opinion about the UK?

Posted by PM_M3_A11things@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 3719 comments

collapsedcuttlefish@reddit

Live all your life in London and you don't notice the problems. I used to think the same thing til I moved away and whenever I go back now I'm reminded it's an aggressive, intolerant city. While everyone boasts about London's multiculturalism it's still a massively cliquey, intolerant and snobby place where everyone is starkly divided by class and region. Meanwhile everyone outside London is getting on not hating the absolute crap out of everyone but Londoners are still convinced they are so much more progressive than every where else. You couldn't pay me to go back and it's not because of 'paranoia' and 'intolerance'. London is a shitty place to live compared to a lot of places.

Does Morrisons make anyone else sad?

Posted by mavis_birk@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 241 comments

collapsedcuttlefish@reddit

I've had repeated issues with Morrisons stores being filthy. Like they seriously smell like they've never been cleaned, full of dust and mildew. Not the kind of place I want to buy food from.

Which classic british food can you not stand?

Posted by odegood@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 654 comments

What British city or town is looked down upon but actually not that bad?

Posted by ModestMilkMouse@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 1142 comments

collapsedcuttlefish@reddit

I don't about any of that but when my parents wanted to move to Kettering I thought it was going to be pretty bad. After we visited I decided it was actually worse than I thought it was. Luckily they found somewhere else.

What did you learn in primary school, that you later learned as an adult, wasn’t quite true?

Posted by CommercialUnhappy357@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 988 comments

collapsedcuttlefish@reddit

Making colours with paint is a whole thing. It also mostly depends on the paints. Most people would have had experience with acrylics, but oil paints are a completely different beast. Acrylics are very forgiving, but they don't have the same hue range potential as oils. What makes oils unforgiving is that you need an awareness of warm and cold tones, hue desaturation and so on. You need to know the pigment components of each paint to mix the shade of 'pink' you want. If you try to make magenta with a warm red you are going to have a bad time, because it contains a certain amount of 'yellow' in it, which will gray out the purple tones for magenta.

What’s the most out of character thing you’ve ever done?

Posted by shitthrower@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 814 comments

collapsedcuttlefish@reddit

I was sitting next to a loche once in London and a cyclist came zooming down and drove straight into me. Then perceded to shout at me as she rode off for 'loitering'. She was about 50 and I was 12 years old waiting for my parents to come pick me up. That's probably the most audacious London cyclist moment for me.

HOW WOMEN IN UK ARE SO KIND?

Posted by Kawwaal0067@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 1032 comments

collapsedcuttlefish@reddit

I think of it like the rules of forced interaction. If you have to interact with people to get something done you just want it to be done as smoothly and peacefully as possible. Whether the interaction is genuinely nice or bothersome is irrelevant because my opinion of the person shouldn't affect their ability to perform this exchange. Its not my place to deny them the same treatment because we are both here by circumstance trying to get to the desired conclusions as easily as possible. Outside of these interactions like with friends or in social places I will absolutely remove myself from the presence of people I find irritating because its a waste of my free attention. You could call it insincerity or maybe its just the conduct people have. Its not enjoyable to make transactional operations anymore insufferable than they have to be.

Who in the UK went from hero to zero?

Posted by itsJunkify@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 1449 comments

collapsedcuttlefish@reddit

He came across as very classist, he took advantage of impoverished neighbourhoods and had very ignorant takes about obesity and never addresses any of the actual issues behind bad diets and obesity other than 'poor people dumb'. He doesn't address low socio-economic issues, stress and time factors and so on that working class people have to put up with, which just makes him look like some posh knob with no real life experiences. Not to mention he is additionally duplicitous in his tv cooks targetting stressed families. Like walking to a fully equipped posh kitchen full of prepped ingredients and boasting his '15 minute healthy chicken nuggets' that he says poor people are just to lazy to make. And anyone with any sense is watching him complain about how poor people don't want to do this 'easy task to stay healthy' while ignoring the obvious elephant in the room: 1. You can't just walked into a pre prepped kitchen and make '15 minute chicken' without actually do the prep first, so saying it takes 15 minutes is just a blatant lie. 2. Homemade chicken nuggets aren't even necessarily healthy at all. And its not the only time he's been obviously duplicitous. Like clearly doing a 180 based on how the kids respond to always make himself look like he was correct. When the kids say they love the homemade nuggets, its because they're so much more delicious! And another time, when the kids hate the healthy food, its because poor people don't want to eat healthy. He comes across as just super deceptive and classist.

Have you ever seen someone find a normal aspect of UK life wondrous? What was the story?

Posted by Lilac_Whisky@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 2392 comments

collapsedcuttlefish@reddit

My friend from Libya also thought foxes were really dangerous, I explained to her they are basically harmless and will most likely flee at the first sight of a fight. They are not like the jackals in Libya which are definitely quite dangerous.

What are some unpopular opinions you have about the uk?

Posted by tylerthe-theatre@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 6548 comments

What are some unpopular opinions you have about the uk?

Posted by tylerthe-theatre@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 6548 comments

What’s your crap claim to fame?

Posted by FulaniLovinCriminal@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 1988 comments

collapsedcuttlefish@reddit

And yet characters in history are researched and posed as real or not real depending on the author. Your semantics have no basis in reality. Show me one thing that proves research doesn't apply in this oddly specific case you've invented and I'd fold but I already know it doesn't exist.

What’s your crap claim to fame?

Posted by FulaniLovinCriminal@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 1988 comments

collapsedcuttlefish@reddit

There is such a thing as fiction based research. If you say you are researching a fictional subject it just means you are researching the encompassing existing references to said subject. Its a totally legitimate statement. No one would bat an eyelid if you said you were researching the character of Sherlock Holmes or Pythagoras, neither of which were real people.

What’s your crap claim to fame?

Posted by FulaniLovinCriminal@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 1988 comments

collapsedcuttlefish@reddit

Plaigarism isn't plaigarism because of 'research' its paigarism because you steal somebody else's written copy, thats why op said 'word for word' aka verbatim with no quotation reference. The subject has nothing to do with plaigarism, he could be talking about an imaginary purple cat and it would still be plaigarism. Reading up on a subject regardless is still research because you are gathering pre existing information.

What’s your opinion on Ricky Gervais?

Posted by NotAnotherAllNighter@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 1152 comments

collapsedcuttlefish@reddit

Gervais always tries to make himself look like the smartest person in the room but he just comes across as the most insecure. He seems like he such an over bearing personality that people probably yes men him all the time just avoid rocking the boat with a highly strung and unstable lunatic. Sometimes the stuff he writes can be funny, but only in a bombastic kind of way. There is never really any thing smart or nuanced about his material but he very much likes to act like it is. If it weren't for his obligatory routines of trying to make everyone in the room look like the smallest person I doubt he would get much attention. Gervais is definitely an example of how bully culture is highly accepted and celebrated.

Is low to medium level crime effectively decriminalised in this country now?

Posted by 1RegularDayOfBarclay@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 929 comments

Plenty of ‘who do you hate that everyone loves’ posts here but how about who do you like that most people seem to hate?

Posted by adamjames777@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 1798 comments

On a completely normal night out, how much are you spending?

Posted by tylerthe-theatre@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 1338 comments

When washing clothes, do you use a quick wash or eco settings?

Posted by Cloughiepig@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 42 comments

collapsedcuttlefish@reddit

If I am washing whites/colours/blacks seperately i will wash on 20° for 15 mins. If the load is a mixed load I will wash on cold water for 1 hour 40 minutes. Bed sheets, towels and such I wash on 40° or 60° for 1 hour.

Have you completely stopped going out to eat or ordering takeaways?

Posted by hassan_26@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 773 comments

collapsedcuttlefish@reddit

I think you are right, I've seen plenty of houses where they smell terrible from bad cooking, probably burnt oil being the main culprit to the yellowing and gross smells (rather than the spices, but you can still smell those if they were in the burnt oil as well). Never had this problem at home myself.

Have you completely stopped going out to eat or ordering takeaways?

Posted by hassan_26@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 773 comments

collapsedcuttlefish@reddit

I've definitely been in some kitchens that smell like bad curry. But my mate makes curry from scratch in my kitchen all the time and it has never made the house smell weird. Maybe its because its from fresh ingredients?