Guy Show: Overcoming disappointments to win once again

Guy Show Episode One

So after acquiring my first taste for video making below, the time had come to merge my sports journalism experience with video. Last week, just before Ireland's crunch Six Nations clash with England, myself and Cathal Slevin brought forward the debut of our new web show, which will hopefully lead on to better things for my media career. Credit here must go to the guys at Straywave media, who helped us both get this out there. 

A Stadium for Ants?

Following a couple of seasons covering provincial rugby at both Pro12 and Heineken Cup level, I made my debut in the Six Nations press box for the first time this month. At the Wales game on the 8th February, I decided to finally make an attempt at making a video. Propping my iPhone onto a mini tripod, I filmed Lansdowne Road filling up and emptying. Following a quick edit job on Final Cut Pro, she was good to go. 1500 views for a first upload, I did not see it happening at the time of uploading. Enjoy! 

Cue Annoyance: Seriously!?

Seriously? I have three items - you have a trolley!!

I was mulling over which of my previous instances would have been appropriate to use as this series' first entry. Off the top of my head I had at least three - all of which having the honour of taking place in merry ol' Lidl. However just yesterday, I had the unpleasure experiencing something that instantly took the biscuit over the three aforementioned.

Lidl Nutgrove is one of south Dublin's newest Lidl's, and I'll admit it is by far the easiest to access, park and exit by car. Driving home from town on a Friday night, ideas of an easy Chinese teased me. Fortunately for my arteries, I happened to pass this particular Lidl before any local take-away.

All I wanted were three simple items. Chicken, breadcrumb and streaky rashers for a quick and easy stuffed chicken to accompany some veg already at home. Items found, I quickly made my to the checkout, praying all the while that the queues wouldn't be too bad. Who was I kidding...this is Lidl after all; the supermarket that prides itself in never having more than two tills open at any one time.

It was here where it happened. Quickly spotting an opening at the till with the shortest of the two long queues, I made my move. Suddenly, appearing out of the hygiene aisle that's adjacent to the tills (if you are a regular Lidl shopper you'll know where I was instantly), a woman, her son and a HUGE trolley of groceries, no doubt all for the weekend. Cutting me off, she got into the queue ahead of me.  

Our eyes caught each other. Here I thought she'd be like the few decent folk who let those with a handful of items through before them. She didn't, despite clearly seeing that I only had three items to her trolley-load. I stood there, angry and disappointed in one person's selfishness. To compound this, the other queue continued to get longer as this exchange unfolded. All for the sake of six euros worth of stuff. How Lidl could do with an express checkout.

At least I didn't overcook the chicken.

Cue Annoyance: An Introduction

I sincerely hope no one thought any different of me as I stood there taking a picture of a deserted trolley bay...

Supermarket checkout queues...where do I begin? The end of the line, the one last task before chucking your buyings into the car and heading home. Often, the experience is effortless, coupled with a nice bout of small talk with the cashier. Other times, it can be quite the opposite. The series I'm about to take you on over the next while concerns my experiences with the checkouts of Ireland, and the stories, experiences, and annoyances they bring.