What’s the worst thing about Sheffield?

Whether it’s the constant rain, Asthma-inducing inclines, or the locals that jeer at you as you pass Tesco West Street, everyone has a Sheffield pet-hate. Which is it to be?

The abundance of library seating

You’d have thought that the days of the finding a seat in the library being akin to the hunger games was over with the opening of the Diamond. Oh how naive. It is not even exam season yet and already seating madness has taken over. You want a seat in the IC? Be prepared to get up at the crack of dawn to secure your seat, and do try and contain your rage if you see the worst of humanity sitting in front of a computer with a laptop as well.

You’re going to hell

Tap water

It is hard to put your finger on but something about Sheffield’s water is not quite right. Even putting cordial in it does little to mask the distinctly unpleasant taste and, just when you thought the news couldn’t get any worse, the water in the steel city also has the tendency to make your hair greasy just by setting foot in the shower. Not ideal by any stretch of the imagination.

Meteorology

Given the last few days, it has never been more apparent that the weather in Sheffield is nothing short of diabolical. Even in the warmer months you can set off for uni with your head held high, enjoying the summer sun and arrive in your lectures looking like something that has crawled out of a bog thousands of years ago. If the rain doesn’t catch you out then the wind will, and as for the snow in winter, it’s thick and aggressive to the point of unsafe.

Let’s hope you didn’t make an effort with your hair today because the wind tunnel the Arts Tower seems to create will undo all your hard work in seconds.

So much snow

Hills

An uncontroversial choice and easily one of the biggest complaints about Sheffield, not surprising as it is built on seven hills. Whether you are braving the mountain out of Endcliffe or you’ve signed for a house on the top of that fresh pit of hell Conduit, it is a well know fact that walking anywhere is Sheffield is a calf workout like nothing else.

After a hectic night out the worst thing that can happen is that the taxi driver asks if the bottom of the hill is okay to which  the answer is, of course, absolutely bloody not.

So many hills so little time

Locals 

A strange breed to say the least. Whether frequenting the spiritual home that is West Street Live or simply strolling around Sheffield in the day time the locals of Sheffield are always throwing curveballs that are able to both horrify and amaze. Drunk at 10am? Can’t fight the unescapable need to slut drop on that pole? Your future is set as one of Sheffield’s finest.

What are you trying to achieve?

Carver street

Likened to the strip in Zante by some, Carver street is a den of promoters, shot sticks and heel-wearing gals who stagger down West street screaming towards the hallowed halls of generic pop music. Not only does Carver street attract a certain brand of person, the post apocalyptic state drunken revellers leave the street in is something to behold, chaos embodied is the only way to put it.

Give me strength

Road crossings

It may seem both trivial and unimportant, but how much of your life do you spend waiting for a chance to cross the road? With particular reference to the crossing in front of the IC, on which people seem to lose all sense of decency as they charge across the crossing in a straight line. You move out the way or you will be ploughed down, probably by people who are battling to get a seat in the IC. The only other potentially more dangerous crossing is the one in Broomhill, which has become a case of natural selection in action due to the general lack of logic in how and when to put your life on the line.

It’s hell