All cities complained in the following categories: common, personal, other people, transport, beauty, work, money, and food & drink. Perhaps surprisingly, political complaints don't make that list, although it was only St. Petersburg that didn't complain about politics. Just as many cities complained about animals as they did about politics! Those that didn't complain about their country, complained about their city and vice versa, though Tokyo didn't technically complain about either, since their one complaint under 'country' is only related to Japan, not about Japan: 'Please understand Japanese culture - don't put blame on us.' Only Tokyo didn't complain about the environment, and Birmingham made no complaints about the weather, a category that only received 11 complaints overall! Travel, household appliances, gardening, public amenities, leisure, sport, education and art/creativity all had less than half of the cities complain about them.
Below are some specific complaints that were repeated between more than one city:
- Birmingham and Singapore both complained about bad hair days, with Singapore's complaint being in the context of its particular climate of 'humid air'.
- Birmingham also complained in two different instances about lack of beard growth: 'my beard it won't grow' and 'I'd like to complain about the fact I can't grow a beard'. This is similar to a complaint in St. Petersburg about losing hair at age 25, Tokyo's 'the hair on my head doesn't grow at all', and Singapore's complaint that men turn bald.
- Members of both the Tokyo and Helsinki choirs complained about their tiny flat/room with expensive rent.
- Similar complaints about money can be found in: Singapore, with 'prices are increasing but my pay is not'; Hamburg, with 'I have too little money'; Helsinki, with 'you can't get rich by working'; Tokyo, with 'my wallet is full of discount cards rather than cash', and; St. Petersburg, with 'my heart is so full but my wallet is empty' and 'your salary won't buy you beer nor cheese'.
- A member of the Birmingham choir complained about 'spit and litter' at their feet, whilst a member of the Hamburg choir similarly complained about always stepping into spittle. Hamburg also complained of 'too much trash' in the park, and someone from St. Petersburg complained that they could only see piles of garbage from their window.
- St. Petersburg and Tokyo complained about lack of sleep, with Tokyo being particularly forceful about this issue!
- Copenhagen asked why honesty is embarrassing, and in a similar but more specific vibe, Helsinki complained about the fact that 'people only take a stand in SMS-forums'. Leading on from this, Chicago complained about people being mean on the internet.
- A member of the Chicago choir complained about not being able to see any stars because they live in the city, which is similarly true for someone in the St. Petersburg choir, who wished they were able to see fireworks.
- Hamburg, St. Petersburg and Birmingham all complained about a lack of time in general.
- Someone from St. Petersburg complained that they sometimes gain weight which means their skirts don't fit, whilst someone from Copenhagen complained that their belt was getting too short. Either the same person or someone else from Copenhagen complained that they were 'fat and flabby'.
- St. Petersburg and Hamburg complained of advertisements everywhere, as well as loud cities.
- Hamburg complained about the weather not suiting the seasons, whilst Helsinki complained that 'summer is too short'. Similarly, someone from Tokyo complained that the weather was getting cold too quickly to prepare any winter clothes. Also, global warming is mentioned by Chicago and Copenhagen.
- Birmingham, St. Petersburg and Singapore complained of traffic jams. Also, Birmingham complained about an infrequent bus, whilst St. Petersburg complained of a bus that never returns.
- St. Petersburg complained of a rude waitress, whilst Chicago more specifically complained about restaurant servers who ask if you're still working on your food.
- Both Helsinki and St. Petersburg complained about laundry, either discolouring or shrinking.
- Helsinki and Copenhagen complained about bitter, old people who complain, whilst Hamburg and St. Petersburg (ironically) complained more generally about people always being dissatisfied with something and complaining too much!
