Ho hum.

It always irritates me when people describe themselves as bored. No, wait... not always, but sometimes. Let me try and elaborate.

Being bored is essentially being in a state where you cannot do anything of interest to you. As such, I have no problem with people who claim they are bored at work. I am sometimes bored at work (though not often, given a liberal workplace and a connection to the internet).

However, it seems like people (including my friends) describe themselves as having been bored during a weekend, or a holiday from uni, or even during a party or evening out. This seems pretty bizarre to me, given that since I got an internet connection in my room, I have had more things I want to do than I will ever have time for. Even without the internet, there are a huge number of books and films that I want to consume and will never have a chance to.

I accept that there are some times when you may not feel like doing a particular thing, but there is surely never a time that you feel so unenthusiastic about reading a book, watching a movie, browsing the internet, writing, drawing, learning a new skill, going for a walk, calling a friend or just sitting in silence and letting your thoughts wander that you are reduced to sitting sullenly in front of MTV, complaining about how dull your life is.

Don't even get me started on people who complain of being bored while at a party.

Ultimately, someone with free time and freedom of movement in the developed world who considers themselves bored, is just not trying hard enough.