Barry Hitchen, IPhones and a Substitute for Chocolate

Now I am not sure if every office is the same as the one I work in.  I do believe we are quite a unique bunch, to the point we put on Welsh accents every now and then because “we-like-a-bit-o-Welsh”, you will often hear us cry out in a Liverpudlian accent “Barryyyyyyy Itchennnnnn” (well his name was Barry Hitchen but in his Beatle like jibe, it came out like Barry Itchen)… or call out “why-aye pet” in homage to the Geordie lads when the office manager walks in… but there is always a point where you hit the afternoon lull, about an hour or so after lunch, it’s like our brains decide to take a break and we become zombie like until we realise that it’s half four and we only have an hour of “paradise” left.

More recently, I have come to find that rather than relying on chocolate and crisps to give you that much needed boost to deal with the drone sound of the phone or indeed the whining of a wedding guest who simply cannot comprehend that although I would love to say “yes ma’am your room will be ready at 10am, when the guest from the previous night is still sleeping off the excessive alcohol he consumed when trying to delude himself into thinking that the bird currently laying naked next to him, was actually hot (sorry for the sexism there, but hey it sounded good), that the better option to  beat the lull, is actually laughter.  The problem then is that you have to actually find something that is going to genuinely make you laugh.  

Insert the IPhone!

In all honesty, I am an Android user and I don’t believe in tripling the cost of my monthly cell phone contract just to have a phone that has the letter I in front of it.  However if there is one thing that I can vouch for that the Iphone has over my beloved droid, is that it can make me laugh continuously for half an hour at a time, to the point of side splitting pain/numbness.   

A friend of mine introduced me to a website called Damn You Autocorrect!!  (DYAC).  DYAC is a collection of screen shot images of genuine Iphone users and their predictive texting, where the words the phone has chosen are completely, for lack of a better word, wrong.  The worst part of it?  These messages actually get sent to their intended or not so intended recipient.

Some are plain silly, some are hysterical and some are darn right wrong, but when I read them aloud collectively for five or so minutes, with my supervisor, the afternoon lull gets eradicated by eruptions of tear inducing laughter.

I was a little intrigued by how awake I seemed to feel after a good laugh and it turns out that laughter contributes to good health in more ways that increasing your energy levels, it relieves stress and tension, it’s apparently impossible to feel anxiety, anger and sadness whilst truly laughing, it can help relieve pain and it can allow you to view things in a different perspective. 

So I have come to the conclusion that chocolate makes you feel good and contributes to your body look crappy later on life (when consumed in excess of course) and laughing makes you feel good, burns calories and boosts your immune system.  Heck yeah, I can trade in chocolate, but how long for, lol.

Anyways a thank you for DYAC for providing the laughs and if anyone reading wants to see anymore of the cringe-worthy sms's people have sent, go to Damn You Auto Correct just for the shits n giggles.