Binge society
You’ve just got ten minutes… yes, just ten minutes, no more, no less. This is a business, you know… please don’t waste your time… time is money… But, but… I’ve got no time to listen to you, get going…
Could you please tell me the difference between the blue trip, the green trip and the yellow trip?... (Ah! For goodness sake, haven’t you read that bloody big sign at the door explaining all this, you moron?, now I will have to spend more than the allocated 1 minute I’ve got for selling your ticket!)… Grumpy, forced smiley face… of course I can sir...
If you can process 100 applications in 1 hour, you’ll get a prize… how many costumers today? 10!!? Per hour!!? Jesus! Aren’t you a great worker! You’ll definitely get an extra bonus this month… I could only do 3 customers today… What!!?... Well, I had to spend some extra time with a very unhappy customer… Well, next time do it faster!
(Wow! What a great job I’ve done with this window! Look at that! So shiny!! The boss will be proud of me, for sure…) How long did you spend cleaning that window? Look at the time! What have you been doing for so long?… (Not even a remark about the shiny window… So much for the effort…)
How many pints did you have last night? 15? That’s a big night!... Can’t remember anything, though!... That means you had a great time then!
Binge drinking… consuming large amounts of intoxicating drinks in a short period of time till you fall unconscious and can’t remember anything… no matter who’s around you or where you are… Those are unimportant details… The important thing is to get drunk, do silly things, throw up and fall unconscious… someone will wake you up… Friends? Were there any friends with me? Can’t remember…
Emptiness... senselessness… a big void… Am I a human being or just a number? Quality? What does that mean? Have you ever heard that word before?... Consume big amounts, produce as much as you can… do as much as you can in a short period of time… you are the winner of this society… The binge society… Binge drinking, binge working, binge friend making, binge spending, binge eating, binge, binge, binge… AAAARG!!! I need a drink!
Monday, 24 August 2009
Sunday, 23 August 2009
About water
It’s raining, again… Water falling from the sky… Water, the most important nutrient for all living beings: Three quarters of our body weight is water… We can survive more days without food than without water… Civilizations started around sources of water. So important, yet how often against us: The grey clouds, made from evaporated water, make us depressed; nobody likes getting soaked in the rain, you get cold; Too much water and you get floods that kill people and destroy lives; so much water around you when you are in the sea, yet you can’t drink it; non-drinkable water can make you ill; people drown in water… Seaquakes, tidal waves, Tsunamis… You can die from drinking too much water and you can become insane from not drinking enough water…
Water… what a paradox…
It’s raining, again… Water falling from the sky… Water, the most important nutrient for all living beings: Three quarters of our body weight is water… We can survive more days without food than without water… Civilizations started around sources of water. So important, yet how often against us: The grey clouds, made from evaporated water, make us depressed; nobody likes getting soaked in the rain, you get cold; Too much water and you get floods that kill people and destroy lives; so much water around you when you are in the sea, yet you can’t drink it; non-drinkable water can make you ill; people drown in water… Seaquakes, tidal waves, Tsunamis… You can die from drinking too much water and you can become insane from not drinking enough water…
Water… what a paradox…
Friday, 21 August 2009
Intelligence = Stupidity
It’s sometimes about confidence isn’t it? I mean, if somebody comes up to you and tells you with all the confidence in the world that rain definitely comes from apples, you might believe that person just because he or she sounded really confident about it. However, if somebody else tells you that rain might come from apples but that it’s probably more likely to come from the clouds in the skies, you will notice a bit of hesitation there and may start to wonder whether this person really knows what they’re talking about, I mean, if the first one sounded so convincing, he or she must probably be right, so why is this scatterbrain confusing us now about this clouds nonsense. This hesitation, which was probably meant by the second person not to make you feel stupid by believing that rain comes from apples, is mistaken by stupidity itself, so you end up believing that the person who’s actually telling you the truth is stupid.
It also depends whether you believe that the person talking to you has some kind of authority. If a father tells his child that rain comes from apples, of course the child will believe him, he’s taller, bigger and much older!
Talking about this, one thing that has annoyed me very often in the place where I work, are all these customers that approach me to ask me a question, and while I’m answering the question, they don’t look at my eyes, they look at my bloody badge! Why??? Are they looking for signs of credibility? What’s her name? Hum… That sounds foreign… What would a foreign female know about whisky anyway? Give me an old Scottish man and I’ll believe him anytime, even if he doesn’t have a clue about whisky.
It’s sometimes about confidence isn’t it? I mean, if somebody comes up to you and tells you with all the confidence in the world that rain definitely comes from apples, you might believe that person just because he or she sounded really confident about it. However, if somebody else tells you that rain might come from apples but that it’s probably more likely to come from the clouds in the skies, you will notice a bit of hesitation there and may start to wonder whether this person really knows what they’re talking about, I mean, if the first one sounded so convincing, he or she must probably be right, so why is this scatterbrain confusing us now about this clouds nonsense. This hesitation, which was probably meant by the second person not to make you feel stupid by believing that rain comes from apples, is mistaken by stupidity itself, so you end up believing that the person who’s actually telling you the truth is stupid.
It also depends whether you believe that the person talking to you has some kind of authority. If a father tells his child that rain comes from apples, of course the child will believe him, he’s taller, bigger and much older!
Talking about this, one thing that has annoyed me very often in the place where I work, are all these customers that approach me to ask me a question, and while I’m answering the question, they don’t look at my eyes, they look at my bloody badge! Why??? Are they looking for signs of credibility? What’s her name? Hum… That sounds foreign… What would a foreign female know about whisky anyway? Give me an old Scottish man and I’ll believe him anytime, even if he doesn’t have a clue about whisky.
Monday, 17 August 2009
On friendship
Friends. What a powerful word, what a strange word sometimes. Who is your friend and who isn’t? Who claims to be your friend but isn’t? Who pretends to be your friend just to get something from you but couldn’t really give a damn about you? What is a real friend and how do you know who your real friends are? Too many questions.
The word friend is sometimes even used as having a sort of lesser value. Your ex partners, lovers, flings… It’s not you, it’s me… let’s just be friends… JUST… as if being friends is not good enough. You’re demoted to the category of “just friends” because your partner, lover or fling doesn’t find you sexually attractive anymore, the chemistry is gone, the flame is gone… and now… “just” friends.
But is being friends such a bad thing? I mean, why the word JUST? Of course it’s not. In my life I’ve come to realize that actually a good friend is a very good treasure to have. Friends don’t come by easily. Whereas for some people making friends is like breathing, for some other people it is a very difficult task. How many times some random strangers have told me all about their lives while waiting for my bus in a bus shelter. Why do they do that? They just need someone to talk to, someone who listens to them. We all need that.
I once wrote a project about homeless people and most of my interviewees coincided in that one of the most difficult things for them was to actually make friends, and even some of them didn’t welcome the prospect of integrating into society for fear of loosing the friends they had made while being homeless.
So, why are friends so important? Because friends make us feel like we do exist, that we’re not invisible. Somebody out there actually cares about your general wellbeing and about your mere existence. They miss you when you’re not there, and they look forward to see you; and when you’re in trouble they want to help you, because they want you to be happy. And that’s a really good thing, isn't it?
Friends. What a powerful word, what a strange word sometimes. Who is your friend and who isn’t? Who claims to be your friend but isn’t? Who pretends to be your friend just to get something from you but couldn’t really give a damn about you? What is a real friend and how do you know who your real friends are? Too many questions.
The word friend is sometimes even used as having a sort of lesser value. Your ex partners, lovers, flings… It’s not you, it’s me… let’s just be friends… JUST… as if being friends is not good enough. You’re demoted to the category of “just friends” because your partner, lover or fling doesn’t find you sexually attractive anymore, the chemistry is gone, the flame is gone… and now… “just” friends.
But is being friends such a bad thing? I mean, why the word JUST? Of course it’s not. In my life I’ve come to realize that actually a good friend is a very good treasure to have. Friends don’t come by easily. Whereas for some people making friends is like breathing, for some other people it is a very difficult task. How many times some random strangers have told me all about their lives while waiting for my bus in a bus shelter. Why do they do that? They just need someone to talk to, someone who listens to them. We all need that.
I once wrote a project about homeless people and most of my interviewees coincided in that one of the most difficult things for them was to actually make friends, and even some of them didn’t welcome the prospect of integrating into society for fear of loosing the friends they had made while being homeless.
So, why are friends so important? Because friends make us feel like we do exist, that we’re not invisible. Somebody out there actually cares about your general wellbeing and about your mere existence. They miss you when you’re not there, and they look forward to see you; and when you’re in trouble they want to help you, because they want you to be happy. And that’s a really good thing, isn't it?
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