Room 101: Matt Garvey – Bath loose forward

1. “You’re tall aren’t you?!”
When people say that it really breaks me – as if I didn’t know I was tall! I’m 6’6 for goodness sake, and every day there are reminders. I’ve always been tall, right from an early age, so it’s something I’ve had to deal with pretty much my whole life … from my teenage years onwards. Also, I’ve lost count of the times I’ve heard the tired ‘tall’ gag, “what’s the weather like up there?”
TRP verdict: We love a good tall story at TRP Towers, just make sure you duck your head on your way into Room 101.
2. Pedestrian Zebra crossings
I’ve been living in Bath for a while now and it’s struck me how people here think it’s okay to step out onto a pedestrian crossing without the need to acknowledge the driver. London is supposed to be the rudest place of all but people there are much better mannered in this respect. Personally, I think they should get rid of zebra crossings, full stop. They just confuse everyone.
TRP verdict: Unlike the crossing itself, this isn’t a black and white case by any stretch of the imagination. However, anything painted in Newcastle United colours is doomed to failure so we agree, they have got to go.
3. Bag requests
It winds me up when you get asked if you would like a bag at a supermarket checkout when clearly you don’t have any with you and you’ve got a 100 or so items to get back to the car. Do they expect you to juggle them across the car park like some form of bad Saturday night TV challenge show? It wouldn’t be so bad if it was the only question you encountered in your rush to get out of there, but I regularly get asked if I have a loyalty card and things like that.
TRP verdict: I’d love to say you can pack up your troubles by putting this into Room 101 but this conveyor belt has run its race!