"I hate it that you smoke. I hate loving the person that you are; the smiley, passionate, loving, talented, talkative person... that chooses the worst way possible to de-stress."
I'm not here to criticise you by all means, all you smokers out there.
On the one hand, I'm a perfect example of the 'it's your life, do as you please, free will' and all that jazz walk of life. The rights of the individual carry great significance in the twenty-first century, and thus overall, it is important to remember that everyone is their own person, no matter what decision they choose to make. We must respect that, we must learn to live with that, even if we do not agree with their choices.
But on the other, as of late I have experienced first hand how difficult it is to stand by and watch someone you care about smoke.
My Grandad has always been a heavy smoker. I remember vividly one trip out with him while visiting him in Manchester when he smoked a whole packet in the time we were out. He didn't stop smoking all day. My parents resented him smoking around my sister and I, and would always insinuate that he shouldn't, but this apparently didn't bother him too much. He used to visit my Grandma's house in Sheffield and smoke constantly around us then too. The little memories I have of this (I think I was around five) are of me holding my breath when he would exhale, or whenever I had to hug him goodbye.
He's never, as far as I know, had any health issues relating to it. Lucky bugger, that's all I can say, I'll explain why.
An ex boyfriend of mine's father was never a smoker, but used to be very friendly with a large group of them. At work he was surrounded by them, yet he never touched a cigarette. He was diagnosed with lung cancer, and has since suffered considerable damage to them, to the extent that they have, in some way, broken down to leave him with half a working lung. He is easily out of breath when walking around, coughs a lot, especially in the morning and suffers a lot of difficulty breathing.
The reasons why people smoke are varying and reach far beyond anything I can generically collaborate on here, but that's not the point I'm trying to make. For some, smoking is to relax, for some it's an addiction they can't live without, for others it's just a part of life that they enjoy doing occasionally to make them feel better about anything that might be happening in their lives. I won't generalise everyone together.
The point to make here, is that that just isn't fair; anyone can see that. Someone who makes an active choice to harm their healthy is completely entitled to do so, but it seems horrific that it should affect others around them. Parents smoking around children is another example of how our desire to allow freedom of action to dominate our lives can seriously damage those around us.
Admittedly, I know little of those situations and the details involved in such, so I won't go into criticising those people any further.
But of late, it's made me realise just how much being around a smoker you really care about can get to you. Not immediately, it's something that tugs at your heart-strings in a subtle way on a regular basis, not an all in one sob-fest with ice cream kind of thing.
This isn't some emotion-filled rant aimed to make smokers feel guilty and stop, just to hopefully open your eyes to everything going on outside your smoke filled cloud. People care about you killing yourself. We respect your decision to smoke, but please respect our decision to oppose it.
Monday, 14 February 2011
Monday, 11 October 2010
People.
I came back from a meeting today about the student newspaper at my university - The Boar. It made me SO excited about it. I'm going to write for them, and yes, it will be awesome. The people there seem brilliant fun, and it made me genuinley happy, I walked out of there with a smile on my face.
I don't know why the news and current affairs is so appealing to me... but I love it. I love reading the paper, I love watching the news, debates, anything and everything that gets people talking. People are brilliant, quite underestimated.
Politics affects everyone, whether you like it or not... The books I've just started reading for my course say just that - politics is people talking. I love that image. I love talking. I love the pyschology of it all - how we think, why we think it, what we're all doing here in the first place.
There is not a single thing I don't want to talk about, in the sense that everything, even controversial issues, hold interesting and valued opinions, which really, means we should talk about them more.
Maybe that's why I talk so quickly - I have so much to say, and so little time to say it in. I like listening to people too, don't get me wrong, if it was all my opinion it would be very dull. Other people, other opinions and thoughts make it interesting, make it vibrant, passionate, colourful. If we all loved the same things, the world would be a terrible place to live.
I want to get out there and write about it, talk about it, meet people, make things better. To help. That's got to be a good thing.
I don't know why the news and current affairs is so appealing to me... but I love it. I love reading the paper, I love watching the news, debates, anything and everything that gets people talking. People are brilliant, quite underestimated.
Politics affects everyone, whether you like it or not... The books I've just started reading for my course say just that - politics is people talking. I love that image. I love talking. I love the pyschology of it all - how we think, why we think it, what we're all doing here in the first place.
There is not a single thing I don't want to talk about, in the sense that everything, even controversial issues, hold interesting and valued opinions, which really, means we should talk about them more.
Maybe that's why I talk so quickly - I have so much to say, and so little time to say it in. I like listening to people too, don't get me wrong, if it was all my opinion it would be very dull. Other people, other opinions and thoughts make it interesting, make it vibrant, passionate, colourful. If we all loved the same things, the world would be a terrible place to live.
I want to get out there and write about it, talk about it, meet people, make things better. To help. That's got to be a good thing.
Tuesday, 3 August 2010
Parking.
Parking
Parking in the centre MK near where I live is an absolute nightmare. Unless you work on a Sunday, starting at 10 and finishing at 6, which is perfect, as there is no one around.
Either way, if I’m working a 10 hour shift (which I usually am) or going shopping for a few hours, then I HAVE to get the free parking. Located about a 5 – 10 minute walk from the centre itself is the nearest free parking, but it can be up to 15 minutes.
It’s that, or I pay £10 for a space right next to the centre, or a pound an hour on the red zone just outside the centre. Alternatively, there’s the 25p an hour zone, in between the two places. The purple zone. But when I’m earning about £50 a day, I do not want to be forking out a tenner for the parking. It’s ridiculous. Paying anything for parking seems such a waste, even when it isn’t much.
I don’t work a lot, but when I do, I pay for the petrol to get there (about £4 and something last time I checked, it’s probably more with the petrol increases) and the things I buy at work, food I get at work, anything I buy in the centre, or if I go to the cinema… it all adds up. I only usually work one day a week, and hopefully more when I get back from holiday, so I just don’t have that kind of money to spend on parking.
Parking at hospitals is the same. Why on earth would you charge someone when they are visiting someone who is seriously ill, hurt or dying? It’s unjustified, its immoral, it’s wrong. We shouldn’t do it. At the end of the day, a few hours at the shopping centre, it’s okay to charge for. But really, hospitals should not charge to park, especially when you don’t know how long you’re going to be there. In addition to that, if you’re at an NHS hospital, and not private, then clearly they don’t have all the money in the world to be using on parking. It’s not important.
What does the money go on anyway? Where does it get spent? If it’s in the hospital; don’t they get enough from the government, which goes into paying management positions where it should be spent on facilities anyway? Or does it go to the council, where it should be paying for recycling and cubbish collection, but instead goes on something else useless. Okay, I don’t know this for sure, and yes, of course I’m making this up.
But why should I pay for parking? I’m going to the shopping centre to buy things, and eat things, and watch your films. What more do you want from me? If I’m going to visit someone who’s ill, why should I pay more just to pick them up, or take them to an appointment, or possibly say my final goodbye to you? Someone argue with me, because I can’t see the benefit of parking without knowing where it goes.
I’m on holiday in Canada at the moment, and the Westin hotels are a prime example of expensive parking, which just goes to the big owners of the business. $15 for vale parking? There is a free car park literally 100 metres across the road for the Blue Mountain Resort. Why on earth would I pay to use your car park? I’m glad we didn’t.
Capitalist society car parking. Where does the money go?
I guess I’ll have to stick to my Sunday shift. Lots of choice of parking spaces at 9am!
I love this picture.... <3
Parking in the centre MK near where I live is an absolute nightmare. Unless you work on a Sunday, starting at 10 and finishing at 6, which is perfect, as there is no one around.
Either way, if I’m working a 10 hour shift (which I usually am) or going shopping for a few hours, then I HAVE to get the free parking. Located about a 5 – 10 minute walk from the centre itself is the nearest free parking, but it can be up to 15 minutes.
It’s that, or I pay £10 for a space right next to the centre, or a pound an hour on the red zone just outside the centre. Alternatively, there’s the 25p an hour zone, in between the two places. The purple zone. But when I’m earning about £50 a day, I do not want to be forking out a tenner for the parking. It’s ridiculous. Paying anything for parking seems such a waste, even when it isn’t much.
I don’t work a lot, but when I do, I pay for the petrol to get there (about £4 and something last time I checked, it’s probably more with the petrol increases) and the things I buy at work, food I get at work, anything I buy in the centre, or if I go to the cinema… it all adds up. I only usually work one day a week, and hopefully more when I get back from holiday, so I just don’t have that kind of money to spend on parking.
Parking at hospitals is the same. Why on earth would you charge someone when they are visiting someone who is seriously ill, hurt or dying? It’s unjustified, its immoral, it’s wrong. We shouldn’t do it. At the end of the day, a few hours at the shopping centre, it’s okay to charge for. But really, hospitals should not charge to park, especially when you don’t know how long you’re going to be there. In addition to that, if you’re at an NHS hospital, and not private, then clearly they don’t have all the money in the world to be using on parking. It’s not important.
What does the money go on anyway? Where does it get spent? If it’s in the hospital; don’t they get enough from the government, which goes into paying management positions where it should be spent on facilities anyway? Or does it go to the council, where it should be paying for recycling and cubbish collection, but instead goes on something else useless. Okay, I don’t know this for sure, and yes, of course I’m making this up.
But why should I pay for parking? I’m going to the shopping centre to buy things, and eat things, and watch your films. What more do you want from me? If I’m going to visit someone who’s ill, why should I pay more just to pick them up, or take them to an appointment, or possibly say my final goodbye to you? Someone argue with me, because I can’t see the benefit of parking without knowing where it goes.
I’m on holiday in Canada at the moment, and the Westin hotels are a prime example of expensive parking, which just goes to the big owners of the business. $15 for vale parking? There is a free car park literally 100 metres across the road for the Blue Mountain Resort. Why on earth would I pay to use your car park? I’m glad we didn’t.
Capitalist society car parking. Where does the money go?
I guess I’ll have to stick to my Sunday shift. Lots of choice of parking spaces at 9am!
I love this picture.... <3
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