Every time I go shopping, if my favorite cheese shop doesn’t have my favorite gorgonzola in stock, I get upset. It does not really ruin my day, but it does make me a little grumpy for the next thirty minutes or so. And that, my friends, is a perfect example of a first world problem, meaning a minor inconvenience — especially if compared to bigger problems people have on a daily basis — that makes one act as if they are facing a huge challenge.
The name comes from the notion that only people whose lives are well-adjusted and generally comfortable (in many ways because they live in developed, “first world” countries) will find these issues problematic, especially compared to so-called third world problems like a lack of education, or bad living conditions.
Opinions about and attitudes towards this type of problems vary. Some say that even considering them as problems is disrespectful to those who struggle with even the most essential things. Others think that there is no such thing as a first world problem and that your everyday problems are as important as global ones.
If you are interested in my personal opinion, I would say that attitude is what matters the most here. Can you be upset about your Wi-Fi connection being not as fast as you’d like it to be? Yes, absolutely, as long as you don’t get obnoxious about it. Don’t forget that there are people who don’t have this privilege at all.
This brings us to the topic of world problems, such as hunger, pollution, and other similarly grave matters. These are the problems that need to be solved, and doing so is our joint responsibility as humankind.
Take a look at the top first world problems that we collected. Is there anything that irritates you a lot but is normally considered a first world problem?
#1
Being hungry but not for any of the food in your fridge.
#2
You slept in too late on my day off now you have less time to do nothing.
#3
“Ordered food… Now I have to wear pants.”
#4
“I have to wake up at 4 am because I’m going on vacation.”
#5
“Can’t hear the television over my crunchy snacks.”
#6
“The fridge is full of food but I can’t have the same meal more than twice consecutively.”
#7
“Starbucks didn’t have peppermint mocha today and suddenly it was the worst day ever.”
Image source: Lauren
#8
“Amazon delivered my stuff a day earlier than scheduled and the box (which I can see remotely with my security camera) is just sitting there in the rain.”
#9
This hotel doesn’t have enough outlets to charge all your devices overnight.
#10
There’s not enough dressing on your salad. Now salad tastes like salad.
#11
“The coke fizzed too much when I poured it into my glass, and I had to wait for the fizz to go down before I could continue pouring.”
#12
“My commute to work is so short it only gets my car warm when I get there.”
#13
There isn’t any food. There is just a bunch of ingredients to make food.
#14
Wants to lay on the side while texting. The Smartphone auto rotates the screen.
#15
“My laptop is dying but my charger is all the way upstairs.”
#16
Losing your smartphone and not being able to find it because it’s on silent.
#17
There’s nothing to drink at home except an unlimited supply of fresh drinking water.
#18
“Waitrose changed their Bavette steak from smoked to Chimichurri marinated and made them about 1000 times worse. Bloody change, I hate it. Leave good things alone.”
Image source: Matt
#19
The tap water doesn’t taste very good here. Now you have to drive to the convenience store and buy some bottled water.
#20
A wardrobe full of clothes but nothing to wear.
#21
Eating while driving, all green lights.
#22
“I often lose track of my mouse pointer on my two-screen setup.”
#23
Being sleepy after eating too much food.
#24
“My house is so big that the wifi signal isn’t super great in some of the rooms.”
#25
“This software update requires that I restart my computer. Ugh!”
#26
Out of memes to share.
#27
“My smartphone changes ‘lol’ to ‘LOL’ making me sound overexcited.”
#28
Take-away takes too long to be delivered.
#29
Not having matching bed linen and towels.
#30
Ads on Youtube.
#31
You are so tired of eating at all of the restaurants near your place.
#32
“The portion sizes in this restaurant are too big.”
#33
“I’m at a fancy resort, but my all-inclusive wristband is so uncomfortable.”
#34
“I tried to spread cold butter on my toast and the bread ripped.”
#35
There is too much food in the fridge already, you have no space where to put leftover food.
#36
“The smallest amount of parsley I can buy at the grocery store is 10x the amount I can use before it goes bad.”
#37
“My iPhone won’t enable Face ID with headphones sunglasses and cap on.”
#38
“This giant burger is so hard to eat.”
#39
“There are so many unpopped kernels in my microwave popcorn.”
#40
Your walk-in closet is not big enough.
#41
Have more clothes than hangers.
#42
Online deliveries arriving late.
#43
Hotels with plug sockets too far from the bed.
#44
Long queue in the coffee shop.
#45
“That’s the third time I’ve burned my tongue on Caramel Macchiato this week!”
#46
The wifi is free, but it’s too slow.
#47
“The windows in my bedroom are too big, so the room stays too bright at night.”
#48
“Have four flavors of ice cream in the freezer but none of them are appealing to my mood.”
#49
“Ughhhh I didn’t want whip cream!”
#50
Why is the gym always so crowded after work?
#51
“I’ve looked at everything interesting on the internet today and I still have 3 hours at work left.”
#52
Coffee going cold.
#53
Office coffee is literal trash.
#54
“Finally ordered new dining room chairs. Delivery in 14-18 weeks!”
#55
“Staying at a resort in the Caribbean and I’m tipping my maid very well. So well, that in appreciation, every single towel in my room is folded into a swan. I’m standing here soaking wet, kinda feeling bad about choosing which swan to ruin.”
#56
“Drove my new Mercedes to my 10-year reunion, but parking was off-site so nobody saw it.”
#57
“The cleaning lady didn’t do a good job last time, should we call another service?”
#58
“My deli meat is round, but my bread is square.”
#59
“Even though I love my boots, this fashion’s getting old.”
#60
Your neighbor parking outside your house when they already have more parking space than you.
#61
Too many people are using your Netflix account.
#62
“My house is such a mess! There’s stuff everywhere.”
#63
Shampoo and conditioner never run out at the same time.
#64
Trying to find something you want to watch on Netflix.
#65
The pizza box doesn’t fit in the fridge.
#66
Thailand or Malaysia for family vacation?
#67
“The HDMI cable didn’t reach my 50 LCD screen.”
#68
“Mom said dinner was ready. It wasn’t.”
#69
“The airline ran out of 1st class seats, I hope there are no babies in coach.”
#70
“Someone took my parking spot at work, can you believe that?”
#71
“Trying to eat a healthy lunch and peeling this orange has made my fingers sticky.”
#72
“Starbucks ran out of soy milk for my latte. I’ll have to walk to the one on the next block.”
#73
“Why does getting the trash bag out of the trash can have to be so hard?”
#74
When none of your 3 wiper speeds are proportional to the amount of rain you’re in.
#75
When the headlights of the SUV behind you hurts your eyes when you’re in your Ferrari.
#76
When you have to get out of your car to read business hours because it is too small to read when you are in the car.
#77
When you forget that your car has heated seats and you drive around with chilly legs for no reason.
#78
Blisters from new shoes.
#79
You want food from the back of the fridge, but it’s blocked by all the food in the front of the fridge.
#80
There’s a scratch on your phone.
#81
“Had to wear a winter coat out to the bars. Now I have to hold on to it the whole night.”
#82
“I need to go to the bathroom, but the toilet seat is too cold.”
#83
“This bag is so full of fries I can’t reach my burger.”
#84
Staying with relatives they don’t know their wifi password.
#85
Call from unknown numbers.
#86
No one replaced the toilet roll.
#87
Misplacing AirPods.
#88
Flicking through TV channels and all of them are on ad breaks.
#89
One pillow is too low, but two pillows are too high.
#90
The smartphone is too big for the pockets on your favorite pants.
#91
There are too many raisins in raisin bread.
#92
When your electric toothbrush stops working 30 seconds into the job and you have to use it like a manual one.
#93
“I can’t believe I bought a toaster with no bagel setting.”
#94
Uber driver talks too much on your way to work.
#95
It’s too cold when the air-conditioner is on. It’s too hot when it’s off.
#96
“My personal trainer works me way too hard.”
#97
“My treadmill is broken so I have to run outside.”
#98
“My diamond earrings keep scratching my iPhone.”
#99
“Someone didn’t refill the Brita pitcher and now I have to wait 30 seconds for water.”
#100
The dishwasher at home isn’t cleaning the dishes very well.
#101
“Spam e-mail takes up 5 minutes of my life every day!”
#102
Complaining that you can’t get a haircut during a pandemic.
#103
When your “ripe and ready” avocados aren’t ripe and ready.
#104
“I got $50 worth of iTunes gift cards for Christmas but I pirate all my music.”
#105
“I’m at a party and my phone is dying but no one has an iPhone 14 Pro charger.”
#106
When you have to turn down the volume of a show because the music in the scene is louder than the rest of the show.
#107
When your wife is a trained chef from a family of trained chefs and cooks amazingly; but you sometimes miss the poor people food you grew up eating.
#108
Having to stand on public transport.
#109
Having a bad phone signal.
#110
Not finding anything you like when clothes shopping.
#111
Running out of hot water.
#112
Television remote not working.
#113
You were stuck in traffic for 30 minutes.
#114
“My new monitor, speakers, mouse and keyboard all came in the mail yesterday, but my computer isn’t coming until today.”
#115
“Too tired to move my hands to respond to a text.”
#116
Bad complimentary breakfast at the hotel.
#117
No Coca-Cola in store, have to buy Pepsi.
#118
When your housekeepers are cleaning up a room you’re in and you have to walk all the way to another room.
#119
“I want to try a new cereal but I have to finish already-open cereal first.”
#120
“I dropped my Macbook On my other Macbook.”
#121
“My view of the ocean is blocked by my yacht.”
#122
“I’m hungry but I’m afraid to leave my room while the cleaning lady is here.”
#123
“The car my parents bought me to replace the one I totaled is used.”
#124
“I never had time to play with my gifts on Christmas day because I had to go visit my family and get more gifts.”
#125
“I’m too full to get drunk.”
#126
When your bedroom is so far from the front door that Siri keeps giving you estimates on how many minutes it will take to get “home.”
#127
Not being able to fast forward live TV.
#128
Not having 4G signal, merely 3G.
#129
Leaving the phone charger at home.
#130
“Too many chocolates to eat, but I am dieting.”
#131
“My heated indoor swimming pool is sometimes too cold!”
#132
“I tried to make a Facebook status update, and no one liked it.”
#133
Your pirated music came with no album artwork.
#134
“Thought my ‘Hot Pocket’ was cooked all the way through. It wasn’t.”
#135
When your banana has a brown bruise.
#136
McDonald doesn’t deliver.
#137
“If I can’t lay down on the plane, it’s just not even worth it!”
#138
When you’re late for your 2:30 pm tee off because your Tesla is in the middle of a software update.
#139
Having a runny nose.
#140
Someone’s Snapchat was too short and you couldn’t see it.
#141
“I eat sushi too much.”
#142
“Had to walk back to the house because I took the wrong car keys.”
#143
“If my ripped jeans keep ripping, I’ll need to buy new ripped jeans.”
#144
McDonald’s keeps discontinuing your favorite sauce.
#145
Having to use the stairs since the elevator is out of order.
#146
Your iPhone is not the newest anymore.
#147
“Instagram is down. Don’t know how to make my meal.”
#148
“A homeless person looked at me.”
#149
“All of my co-workers eat out and I’m here eating a basic salad with no goat cheese.”
#150
“Why does my auto-text keep correcting my I to i?”
#151
“My cookie is too big that won’t fit in the cup.”
#152
When the leather seats aren’t heated.
#153
Not being able to walk and text at the same time.
#154
When you get really invested in your in-flight movie and the plane lands fine minutes before it finishes.
Image source: Hey_Drienne
#155
“I opened a bag of chips and all the seasonings were at the bottom.”
#156
“Forgot my wallet at home, so they gave me my coffee for free but they made it wrong and now I can’t complain.”
#157
“Wanted to play an old computer game but my computer is so advanced it didn’t run it properly.”
#158
“I can’t get any work done with all these random nerf gun wars that break out in the office.”
#159
“I made an awesome status update but then my aunt commented on it.”
#160
When no one is in the elevator with you so you have no one to impress when you press the button to your suite.
#161
You often accidentally keep leaving your “Mercedes” unlocked because your “Tesla” auto-locks when you walk away.
#162
When public transport doesn’t turn up on time.
#163
Having so much ice in a drink you can’t get to the actual drink.
#164
Having to package up and return clothes you bought online and don’t want.
#165
Chipped nail polish.
#166
Shop assistant giving you coins instead of a note as change.
#167
Tea that is over-brewed and has scum at the top.
#168
Earphones become tangled in your pocket.
#169
Forgetting where you parked.
#170
When they spell and write your name wrong in Starbucks.
#171
Not getting as many likes/retweets as you expected.
#172
Accidentally swap in the left on “Tinder.”
#173
Cracking your phone’s screen.
#174
Pouring your cereal before realizing that you’re out of milk.
#175
You can’t pick anything to play from the huge “Steam” library.
#176
Polishing the marble in your bathroom is such a thankless job.
#177
You just bought a new pair of shoes but don’t want to use them because they might get dirty.
#178
Your bathroom isn’t in your room, so getting out of bed to pee is very annoying.
#179
Your hand is too fat to fit all the way to the bottom of the “Pringles” can.
#180
“My flights out of Phoenix are always delayed because the runway is too hot.”
#181
“My bluetooth mouse just died and now I have to use the touchpad on my laptop.”
#182
Your room is so big that it looks lonely.
#183
School lunch is bad.
#184
When your steak wasn’t cooked properly at a nice restaurant.
#185
Eating store-bought fruits and vegetables.
#186
“Everyone in the picture is tagged except for the attractive person I wanted to stalk.”
#187
You don’t have enough dip for my chips but if you open another container, you won’t have enough chips for my dip.
#188
“I burnt the roof of my mouth.”
#189
“When I make a turn but it wasn’t a full enough turn to make my blinker turn off, so I have to manually turn off it.”
#190
“Netflix just took down my favorite show from the 90’s.”
#191
“Whenever my friends want to go to a brewery there are just too many to choose from!”
#192
“Amazon’s stock has flattened out… I am getting worried.”
#193
“I can’t get past this one ‘Candy Crush’ stage.”
#194
“Genuinely frustrated by not being able to buy Orzo pasta in a little Waitrose. I need a holiday.”
Image source: Dr Hannah Barham-Brown
#195
“My new jeans turn my hands blue.”
#196
“My husband does everything I ask but I have to ask.”
#197
“Got caught up with a new T.V. series. Now I have to wait a week between each episode.”
#198
“My house is so new that my car’s GPS can’t find it.”
#199
“I want to get a meaningful tattoo but I have a comfortable, sheltered life.”
#200
When your dentist’s ceiling TV is set to the wrong aspect ratio.
#201
When your backup camera is fogged up in the morning so you have to actually turn your head to see what is behind you like some kind of 19th-century stage coach driver.
#202
When your parcel is waiting on the first floor but new neighbors are right now moving in and if you go to get your parcel you must greet them.
#203
When you just remodeled a bathroom and now it’s too nice for the rest of the house so you have to do more remodeling to match.
#204
When you forget to bring snacks for watching Netflix in your Tesla while at the charger station.
#205
When you lost some weight but didn’t take a “before” photo so you can’t brag about it on social media.
#206
When the daycare your dog goes to doesn’t feature him as frequently as you would like on their Instagram page.
#207
Wanting to log into an account but being unable to remember the password.
#208
“Crème eggs” not being on sale all year round.
#209
Your roommate ate a hot dog without a bun. Now you have an uneven ratio of hot dogs to buns.
#210
You have to turn down the brightness of my smartphone because it hurt your eyes.
#211
You want to go swimming, but don’t want to get up and put your swimsuit on.
#212
McDonald’s gave only one pack of barbecue sauce for 20-piece packs of chicken nuggets.
#213
“The chopsticks that came with my sushi didn’t break apart correctly, so now you have to eat with uneven chopsticks.”
#214
“There’s a lady who plays the harp in the lobby of my office building every morning. I’m changing jobs soon and my new building doesn’t feature a harpist.”
#215
“My T – shirt is soft, but it’s not vintage soft.”
#216
“My water is cold, but it’s not ice cold.”
#217
“I want to drink my oreo shake but ‘Oreos’ keep getting stuck in the straw.”
#218
Unexpected items in the bagging area at self-checkouts.
#219
Sitting in front of or near children on a plane.
#220
Going to the toilet and forgetting to bring a phone.
#221
“Apple” products are expensive.
#222
“The tortilla chips are gone and we still have guacamole.”
#223
“I bought the CD because I liked the single. The rest of the album is crap.”
#224
“My eating out budget is only $100 each month.”
#225
Champagne on the “Concorde” always tasted flat.
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