2A - Bug List

1. The University of Florida has sub-par and limited Coffee options. As well as the entirety of the state of Florida and the majority of Eastern North America. 

This is a big acquisition now, I know. However, as a military child and current resident within the state of Washington, I believe I have legitimate background and knowledge to recognize this “bug.” 

While I may not have as much knowledge about every state within Eastern America, the coffee “bug” within Florida is of an everyday inconvenience to me. The state of Florida only has Dunkin’ Donuts, Starbucks, and random small-to-medium businesses here and there. This is why the “bug” exists. The quality Dunkin’ Donuts is low and inconsistent, Starbucks is overpriced and average coffee, and the local businesses are overpriced and sell small proportions. 

I know what you’re asking yourself - but she’s from Washington, didn’t they create Starbucks there? Yes, in fact, it was. However, any true resident within Washington state will tell you they don’t drink Starbucks coffee. Washington state as well as the Pacific Northwest has a plethora of coffee shops, both large and small, that far out due the options in Florida. 

2. When you’re on a long flight, and you have to pay for Wi-Fi to not die of boredom. 

If you’ve ever been on a long flight, you know exactly what I’m talking about. You’ve been playing the same Candy Crush game for two hours, you’re out of lives, and bored out of your mind. The only options are to participate in conversation with your neighbor or buy the eight-dollar Wi-Fi access package to check on the dog account you follow on Instagram. 

This “bug” exists for airlines to make additional profit during commercial and international flights. Airlines know that customers will purchase it, therefore; they do not already include it as a perk of the flight. 

3. When I grab a drink or smoothie, and have no built-in place to store it on or in my scooter. 

Now because I’m a future entrepreneur, I’ve created a solution to this “bug” by placing a temporary fast-food cup holder in my scooter compartment. However, as time goes on, each cup holder gets wet or bent and can no longer serve it’s purpose. 

This “bug” exists because scooters do not have a built-in cup holder. Some scooters have small pouches where you can store your phone and such, but cups rarely fit. 

4. Not being able to see how a nail color will look on your nails and with your skin color before selecting it at a nail salon. 

Every girl has been here, you think you’ve picked the perfect color and when they begin applying it to your nails, you suddenly regret your decision. The nail color always seems to look different depending on how many coats are applied and what your skin color is. 

This “bug” exists because there isn’t a way to test how a nail color will look on your nails before selecting a color at a nail salon. Some salons will let you change your selection after applying the originally selected color to one or two nails. However, what if your second color you’ve selected is just as bad? What if it looks different after several more coats? What if it doesn’t look good with your skin tone? By that time, it’s too late to change your mind. 

5. Receiving calls from “Likely Spam” users. 

You grab your phone and think that a possible friend is calling to check up on you or inviting you to hang out, just to realize it’s a “Likely Spam” caller. You can’t hang up because they are more likely to call back, so you just sit there, unable to use your phone until they hang up. 

This “bug” exists because iPhones don’t automatically screen out and block “Likely Spam” callers. You can block them individually, but you still manage to get new numbers calling you. For example, my dad gets numerous calls a day, even after he’s blocked every single number. 

6. When your dog runs into the house/apartment from outside before you’re able to clean off his/her paws. 

This “bug” exists because dogs are simply too fast and eager and there’s no product that enables you to fast and effectively clean the paws of dogs for all different sizes. 

7. When you’re going snowboarding and you have to undo your bindings every 10 minutes. 

Although this obviously isn’t a part of my everyday life since I study at the University of Florida, in Washington it almost is. If you’ve never snowboarded, before you get on the ski lift you have to take off one of the bindings from your snowboard and slide to get on the ski lift - because you have no way of moving if both of your feet are stuck to the board. Then, when you arrive at the top of the mountain, you must place your removed foot strategically on the board so you don’t fall. After, you must find a slope and sit down on your butt so you can put your removed foot into the binding and be on your way. Sounds exhausting, right? It is. Whereas skiers, simply use their polls to get on and off the ski lift in a fast and easy fashion. 

This “bug” exists because there are no “altercations” or “improvements” that have been made to the basic design of a snowboard and its bindings to create a more efficient snowboarding experience. 

8. When you finally find your favorite necklace in a pair of pants you once left them in, and it is as tangled as can be. 

Nothing more to add here. This “bug” exists because there are no inventions to untangle your beloved necklaces in a fast fashion. There are products that can be utilized to prevent necklaces from tangling, but no device to assist you when the damage is already done. 

9. When you’re wearing a short sleeve t-shirt and get an awful farmers tan that can only be temporarily managed with tanning products.

This “bug” exists because there is no natural way to fix an uneven tan, you must use tanning products that have to be reapplied. There’s no natural adhesive you can temporarily put on your skin to tan the other part of your body part. 

10. That women’s public restrooms at the University of Florida do not have tampons and pads available. 

I’m aware that this is a very debatable topic for some, but this is a “bug” during my average day. Every girl has been there, their menstrual period came unexpectedly, and there’s no where close they can go as soon as possible or they don’t have time to. 

This “bug” exists because this was something that was fought to be implemented on campus but was not implemented by Student Government. Truthfully, I am not aware of all the details of the denial of the proposal, but the result remains the same. 

11. When you have to pay extra money for luggage on a flight. 

This “bug” exists because airlines generate profit from not including luggage within their ticket packages. Many times, I think that luggage was included or at least your first bag is free, but I am yet again fooled. 

12. When you want to buy alcohol but it’s past 2 AM and it’s against Florida law. 

To preface, I am of legal drinking age. This “bug” exists because Florida law literally inhibits it from occurring. 

13. When you buy a 12 pack of sodas and the cardboard box is not sufficient to uphold the weight of the sodas.

This goes beyond just sodas - this encompasses all products that have a cardboard handle to ensure safe transportation of the product. This has happened innumerable amount of times, perhaps it’s just my luck. 

This “bug” exists because as soon as the cardboard gets wet or begins to tear, you’re forced to carry the product in another manner before it’s too late. Moreover, many companies use this in their product packaging to lower costs, specifically soda companies. Therefore, this “bug” is difficult to avoid. 

14. When you finally get to wear your long sleeve t-shirts because the temperature is below 80 degrees, and your sleeve cuffs are too stretched out. 

I’m not quite sure how this happens, but it’s a reoccurring “bug” for me. Most if not all of my favorite long sleeve t-shirts have over-stretched cuffs. No amount of drying the shirt on hot will shrink it back. There’s no product to reduce the amount of stretched material or to shrink the material. 

15. When you live in your sorority house and lunch doesn’t start until 11 AM but you have to leave at 10:30 AM. 

Although this isn’t applicable to everyone, it’s an everyday “bug” for me. Granted, I paid to be in this predicament. You don’t want to pay to get food somewhere else because you already pay money to get food from your sorority but you don’t have time to wait before class. So you either run back in between classes or hope a friend can save you some. 

This “bug” exists merely because I am a member of a sorority and am withhold from utilizing other resources due to my personal finances. 

16. When you go to Walmart to get two things and every single person is in the automated check out line with far too many items. 

This “bug” exists because Walmart as well as many other retail companies do not have a maximum item limit for self-checkout users. In addition, oftentimes you need assistance for purchases so the wait time is even longer.  

17. When cars are using the left lane but are not passing the vehicle beside them and are withholding you from passing in the passing lane. 

This “bug” exists because an innumerable number of drivers to not abide by the Florida law that you must be utilizing the left lane to be passing a vehicle. If you are obstructing traffic in the left lane it’s against the law. Moreover, I have never seen someone get pulled over in the left lane yet I have witnessed this occur an uncountable amount of times. There’s no way to keep drivers accountable without police authority or camera radars built for that purpose. 

18. When you go to drive your car after leaving it in the parking lot for a week and your battery is dead. 

Every time I leave my car for a week or more without letting the battery run, my car dies. It took me 3 years to know just how long I could leave my car without it dying. My dad's a car guru and has gotten everything in my car tested - and there’s no explanation. This “bug” exists because there was and is no way to test how long my battery would last on average before my car dying. Moreover, there is no way to charge your battery from afar - like a battery charger extension that can help your car keep a charge. 

19. When you’ve finally had your morning coffee, and you’ve come to the realization that you may have coffee breath. 

This “bug” exists because there’s no way to test if you really have coffee breath. You can breathe in your hand and try to smell it - but truthfully, I never know. Additionally, I almost never have gum on me. Why don’t coffee shops sell gum? 

20. When you’ve finally ordered your coffee at the Starbucks in Library West but everyone’s iced coffee is done before your hot coffee ever is. 

By now you’ve probably concluded that I am a coffee fanatic. If you hadn’t, now you know. This happens to me every single time I order a hot drink from the Starbucks within Library West and I’m just not sure how that “bug” occurs other than an ineffective assembly line of cups. 

Reflection: 

I found this assignment far more challenging than I had initially anticipated. To think of twenty aspects of day-to-day life that “bug” me, at first, I told myself “oh this will be easy.” However, as I began to think about the inconveniences in my average day and aspects of modern life that have always bugged me, the ideas took a great deal of time to develop.

After completing the recently posted marketing survey, I had the idea to envision myself waking up in the morning and going about my day. Focusing on the details, taking time to really think about every aspect of my average day. This helped me get over my reoccurring “writer’s block” as I was completing the assignment. 

Ultimately, I found this assignment to be challenging because I couldn’t come up with as many “bugs” as I thought I could. Perhaps experiencing two “bugs” back-to-back in my average day pushes me over the edge and to the conclusion that these minor inconveniences were much larger than they truly were. Moreover, this assignment truly opened my eyes to several potential opportunities for entrepreneurship to fulfill the unmet needs for myself as well as others. 

Thanks for reading about my 20 “bugs”!