Hills that I will die on
I've always been one to avoid confrontation and protect my peace, but there are some opinions I have that are not up for compromise. The following hot takes are going to sound very Old Man Yells At Cloud-ish, but I am in the right, and I will die on that hill. I'm presenting them in no particular order.
The intent is to create a living document that lists such opinions. The plan is to add more opinions as they are formed. Opinions might change with time - either due to perspective shifts or societal change - and the changes to the opinions will be marked as such.
Convenience ruined the experience of watching movies
Convenience is good to have, but the relentless pursuit of eliminating friction from our lives tends to do more harm than good. Case in point, movie ticket booking websites/apps. The increased convenience exposed the tardiness hidden under the surface. I am not romanticising the past where you had to be physically present early enough to beat the queue and rush to get the seats you wanted. But that system guaranteed your physical presence at the very least. With how convenient movie ticket booking is today, you'd expect people to use the time they saved to arrive on time. But no.
When I'm late because my friends refuse to be cognisant of the passage of time (which happens far too often), or other movie-goers burst in 10 minutes late with the flashlights on the mobiles pointed at my face, it diminishes my experience at the movies. It ruins it.
What makes this worse are the thirty-minute (I exaggerate, but still) quasi-mandatory ads shown before the movie. These ads embolden people to be late (in a futile attempt at gaming the system), but they are never accurate with their calculations, ever. It upsets me, and it upsets everyone else when they are fumbling in the dark, trying to find their seats fifteen minutes after the movie actually started.
Movie re-releases are a sign of decay
While we're on the topic of movies, I have beef with movies being re-released, a trend that has only gained steam in the past year. This is not cause for celebration. It is a symptom of a culture that has become creatively bankrupts. If someone tells you that re-releases are a net positive because they provide the 'theatre experience' to people who missed it the first time, run. Better yet, piledrive them to the ground before you run.
This creative decline has multiple symptoms the way an infectious disease would. Re-releases are only a part of the problem. Notice how every movie now is a prequel, a sequel, or a reboot. There is a dearth of original stories because culture has ceased moving forward.
Quick commerce has a road safety problem
It is heartening to see discussions on class and privilege with respect to quick-commerce apps and the delivery drivers who work for these corporations. Yes, your convenience is being subsidised by venture capital injected into these firms. It relies on the active physical work done by the delivery drivers. Long hours, low pay, poor conditions in the dark warehouse. And on top, there is the opaque algorithm that suppresses wages.
What does not get talked about as much as it should be, is the risk delivery drivers pose on roads. Our roads are over capacity. Pedestrian safety is a joke, lane discipline is non-existent, and every single vehicle is a road safety hazard. Imaging adding hundreds of delivery drivers to this mess. You don't have to, because that's how it is.
What compounds this problem further is the lack of any cycling lanes on roads1. This forces cyclists and riders on Yulu bikes to blend with traffic that's filled with fast-moving heavy vehicles. This whole situation is a powder keg that could catch a spark at any time.
There's social clout to be gained through performative class consciousness, so that's the idea everyone parrots. Talking about the road safety angle requires people to reconcile the car-centric urban infrastructure and admit to its weaknesses. It shouldn't take a fatality on the road to get people to talk about this.
Not that it matters, since that lane would be taken over by moving traffic or parked vehicles.↩