Harm minimisation

Throughout the past couple of years in Uni, I feel as if I have developed some passion as it were, or some great urge, to be a part of the harm minimisation/reduction practice. Most people would have no idea what I’m talking about, but basically, it involves reducing/minimising harm in relation to drug users. Things like needle exchange programs, opioid replacement therapies etc.

I know that it is a controversial practice, such as giving clean and sterile syringes to injecting drug users. I guess, as a future health professional, as a human being, even as a Christian, I personally have the opinion that, instead of the “zero tolerance” approach, we need to approach it in a more humane way.

I am not a drug user (as in illegal drug user) or have a drug addiction so I obviously dont have first hand experience as to what it’s like to be one. However, I think I know enough to realise that if you have a zero tolerance approach, sometimes it’s just like putting it under the carpet. Ignoring the real problem. Sure, if you take away drugs, they wont have access to it, but they will substitute it with something else. If you lock them up for using it, they’ll still find a way to get drugs and use them. Now, I’m not saying that we should legalise illegal drugs. There are reasons for them being illegal and if they were legal, they would be heavily restricted. For example, I know that some people are given amphetamines for ADHD and there are a whole lot of processes you need to undergo before your doctor can prescribe it and stuff. So yeah…it’s heavily restricted and for medicinal purposes only.

Basically, where I stand on this issue (pro-harm minimisation) is where most people do not tread. I understand people’s concerns such as:

• it will encourage them to take more drugs (well really, they will take drugs no matter what, so we might as well give them a clean syringe so they dont share and get HIV or something. Plus, by doing so, we can also provide them with more information and we can be there if they want information about ceasing or stopping their drug use)
• there will be swarms of drug users in our area (even if there are, they are also human beings and not a form of mutated alien species. It is understandable that people are concerned for their wellbeing, but I doubt many injecting drug users will go and jab you with a syringe. They are more likely to use it on themselves than on other people)
• they will leave dirty syringes on the ground and we’ll step on them (first of all, those who provide needle exchange programs usually would provide a way for drug users to dispose of their syringes usually in the form of a container or something)

Anyway, I guess in the future I would really like to work in this area and be able to help those who are marginalised from our society for having an addiction to drugs. In my eyes, it’s no worse than being addicted to nicotine and alcohol. Strange isn’t it…people don’t think twice about nicotine replacement therapy, but they get all hot and bothered about opioid replacement therapy. People don’t think twice about getting drunk and for some people, it’s almost cool to get drunk, but if they see someone on heroin or marijuana, they start to voice how horrible and sick that is and state that they should be locked up or something. Just because something is legal doesn’t mean it wont harm you nor does it mean that it’s okay to go out and take excessive amounts of it. Alcohol can do a lot more damage than people realise, but I guess I’ll write about that another day.

101 Update #9

Finally, at last, I will update.

Things I’m doing:

• I am over halfway through Final Fantasy 8. I never thought I’d get so far in a game, but I’m really enjoying it. Plus, my bf keeps teaching me how to do new things like junctioning my GFs (GFs does NOT stand for girlfriends in this context btw) and stuff.
  
• I started doing my challenge of taking a photo each day. That’s going well…
• I’m really wanting to buy a camera. I have my sights on the Canon Powershot SX120 (I think that’s the model) and I really want to bring it with me to Europe.
• I have decided that I will not be able to fulfil a couple of challenges like going to the US (going to Europe instead) but that’s okay. As long as I challenge myself a bit and enjoy it too, it’s all good.
• Oh yes, I am planning on buying Birkenstocks in Germany because they will be cheaper there…hopefully
• I have been filling up my money box with coins. I have managed to save $76 thus far. Yay.
  
• Also made a mix CD for my friend Grace which features a lot of music from Studio Ghibli films as well as fantasy computer games.
• Did a couple of unselfish things: I let someone off the bus before me. I also gave my spring roll to my nephew when he refused to take my dad’s one because it had sauce on it, whereas mine didnt. It might not seem like an unselfish thing, but I was REALLY hungry and annoyed because I couldn’t get any finger food at that time because my other cousins abandoned me and I had to look after my grandma. I wasnt annoyed at having to look after my grandma, it was just the whole hunger thing and seeing food in front of me, but not being able to grab any because I had to hold onto my grandma so she wouldn’t topple over and i couldn’t take my plate out with one hand…
• I also watched Up which is on the top 250 movies on IMDB
• I went to watch/participate in the Pops concert. We played at BMW edge and it’s a nice venue
• I read Habbakuk. It was fitting for the time that I read it.
  

Things I’ve completed:

#6. Learn how to make 5 asian style meals.

I have now learnt how to make 5 asian style meals. I have made: Congee, sushi, onigiri, tamagoyaki (sp?) and a sushi burger. I also learnt how to make this japanese dish where it’s just rice in green tea (tastes surprisingly good) and also panfried onigiri thing…yeah. I really like japanese food. It’s soooo nice!!

#7. Get my Ps.

Well I got my Ps finally. I was a bit (well…more than a bit) nervous when I was driving around with my instructor a couple of hours before the test, but during the test I felt a lot more comfortable. I could be due to the fact that my testor was talking the whole time with my instructor and only stopped to give me directions…before talking again. I’m glad I got them, now I just have to get used to driving by myself.

#72. Buy flowers for someone else

I bought flowers for my mum for her birthday. They were nice flowers too. I cant remember what they were though.

#83. Buy an alarm clock

I finally bought one. It is from smiggle and it also has a stopwatch and a temperature thing. It is awesome.

Skin care/Make-up post (for lack of a better title)

Just writing a post of skin care/make-up stuff that I have just so I can remember what I’ve tried and whether or not I found it good so I dont end up buying it again if I thought it was dodgy…

Skin Care

Fruit Garden Hand Lotion by TheFaceShop – This is a really nice hand lotion because it’s thin and it absorbs into the skin really fast. This is great if you dont want to be walking around with greasy hands for 5 minutes, waiting for the hand cream/lotion to dry. Also smells nice too. Mine is Chamomile and Lilac. TheFaceShop store is in Melbourne Central.

Sunscreen Creme by Nutrimetics – This is a nice sunscreen. It’s thin and easy to apply and it also has a moisturiser in it too to moisturise your skin when you put on the sunscreen. It’s also a broadspectrum sunscreen so it blocks out UV-A and UV-B and it’s SPF 30+ so that’s good enough. Definately one of my favourite sunscreens. Doesn’t make me feel as sticky as other sunscreens.

Lucas’ Papaw Ointment - This is really good if you have dry lips. It’s made of fermented papaw and you can use it for so many things. I use it for dry lips, dry skin on my face, rashes and so on. Only bad thing is, it turns to liquid if you leave it in a warm room or something and I find that a bit annoying. Also, no SPF so I can’t use it in summer when I’m outside.

Shea Butter (for lips) by L’Occitane – So, I’m not sure if this really is supposed to be for your lips, but since it’s in a 8ml tub, I just assumed it was. I mean, i’m not going to be able to use that for my body if I wanted it to last at least for one day. In winter, it’s really hard to use because the butter is pretty much solid and you have to use a lot of energy to warm it up in order to get some on your fingers to then apply onto your lips. However, in the warmer months, it’s easier to apply and it’s not too bad. So good in spring/summer, bad in autumn/winter.

Caregloss & Shine by Nivea – I only bought this because my lips were really dry and I had no lip balm on me. It’s alright. A bit sticky and stuff. I dont like the tube though because the top bit split after a few months so I have lip gloss coming out from 2 places and it’s a bit gross. Yeah, probably won’t buy this again.

Chapstick Strawberry Lipbalm – I only bought this because one of the girls at my pharmacy told me it was on sale (2 for 1) and it has SPF 15.  I got a strawberry one because it looked better than the others. I’ve used it a bit and it’s easy to apply and it smells alright too. Also, according to the packaging, they have 12 moisturisers…yeah, they just dont list them do they? I’ll use it, but I should have gone with my standard SPF one by bonne bell instead. Oh well.

Bonne Bell Lip Balm (comes in light blue tube…can’t remember the name) – This is a great lip balm. It’s easy to apply, it has SPF, it’s moisturising. I should have bought that instead of chapstick, though chapstick does the job too. I’m just used to my Bonne Bell one.

Make Up

Maybelline Define-A-Lash Volume Mascara - This is a good mascara. It’s not the best, but it’s certainly not horrible either. I’m not sure if it really adds volume to my lashes, but to be honest, I dont even know what that means. I just chose it because I dont need lengthening and I dont really need curling either, so I just got volume mascara. It doesnt clump much and it goes on smoothly. Takes a while to dry though which is a bit annoying for me because if i sneeze right after I put on my mascara, I get black dots around the bottom of my eyes. Sigh. It works alright so I’m not complaining too much about it.

I’ll do another one later…I own quite a bit of make-up and skin products, I’m just tired and I can’t remember the names of all of them. Should definately sleep soon.

Mis-interpreting Lyrics

Has this ever happened to you? When you hear a song you either mishear lyrics or you misinterpret them…

I was just listening to the song Evacuate the Dancefloor and it’s a pretty catchy song, except near the end I was just envisaging some girl going onto the dancefloor and because of her unusual dance moves, everyone was evacuating the dancefloor. Now, i’m pretty sure this isn’t what the song is about (I think it’s about evacuating the dancefloor so the girl can dance and show off perhaps?).

Now, when i listened to that song that has the lyrics “Applebottom jeans, boots with the fur, the whole club was looking at her”. When i hear that song, my mind goes instantly to “pho” whenever I hear that line. Not sure why…maybe when i heard it once i was craving pho and now it’s just stuck.

Then there’s the song that goes something like “she moves her body like a cyclone”. Yeah, i think it’s supposed to mean that she moves her hips a lot (not sure…i think that’s what my guy friends were trying to explain to me), but i was just thinking of someone who really did look as if she was dancing like a cyclone and causing destruction everywhere she went…hmmm

Anyway, I’ll update my 101 things after exams. Been taking a photo each day since the start of Nov. Unfortunately they have all been of things in my room because I’ve been at home studying these past few days.

Significant songs…

I’ve been a bit melancholy lately and I just started listening to Yellowcard (YC) again after a long time. I love this band. I love most of their songs and their sound and I like the fact that they dont always sing about girls, breakups etc. They sing about war, about bandmates leaving etc.

One song that has gotten me through a lot of stuff is “Empty Apartment”. This song got me through a pretty hard time when I had a bit of a falling out with someone. This song was actually written when one of their band memebers left the group.

“Only One” will probably always remind me of Untitled, the band I was in in high school. It’s actually a breakup song contrary to what it sounds like (a love song). The song is actualy quite beautiful, though the music has a bit of a sad feel to it. I guess it’s different because it’s not an angry breakup song, it’s bittersweet in a sense. I guess you get the feeling that he doesn’t want to break up with her, but feels he needs to.

“Ocean Avenue” and “Gifts and Curses” were the first songs i ever heard from YC and just from these 2 songs, I got into the band. Both songs have a soft spot in my heart. Heehee. Plus, Gifts and Curses was written for the Spiderman 2 soundtrack and it’s quite nice.

“Shadows and Regrets” I think was just a song that I really like from YC. I like the instrumentation of it.

those were just some of the songs that i’ve enjoyed by YC. There are many more songs that i enjoy by them. I hope that they continue as a band though they are on a hiatus at the moment. I know they aren’t that popular in Australia, but no matter. They are just a band i admire and to me, they have matured a lot as a band. It’s amazing just listening to their albums and noticing how they have evolved musically.

Rant again

So I guess I am ranting a bit again. Maybe I just need to get it out of my system and focus on study. Basically, I’m annoyed at the attitude and behaviour of someone and have been for quite some time. I did something a bit stupid and they got angry, called me names and later, I did apologise for what I did, with explanation for why I did do it, with someone else present. Then, as I believe we both have fault in the matter (not what I did, but reasons behind it), suggested a compromise to alter both our actions and this certain someone decides to reject the compromise, tell me the bad points they see in my personality, almost yell at me and basically tell me my apology “sounds forced”.

Maybe my apology sounds forced, I will agree, but try apologising in a calm manner when you’re trying not to yell at the person. Would that person rather I yelled my apology at her? Fair enough, maybe I shouldn’t have apologised if I felt like yelling at her, unfortunately, everytime I see her, I want to yell at her. Sadly enough, I was on the verge of yelling at the end of the conversation with her so I had to leave the room.

Also, I had to walk out of the room because I was shaking with annoyance/anger/frustration. I owned up to what I did, I apologised. You can accept it or not accept it. Even though you are older, it doesn’t mean that you are blameless in the whole thing issue. You do not have to act like it is solely my fault, that what I’m saying is based on imagination (because I had proof that what you said was not entirely correct), threaten me, tell me in front of another person that i have no respect for anyone and only think of myself. I think I acknowledged that both of us had to respect each other, b/c my opinion was we both had to work on it, not just myself, only to get eaten into and have my suggestion thrown out the window. I find it hard to respect someone, especially someone older, whose mindset is that everything must happen MY way and if it doesn’t you are stupid and I am always the victim. Also, I think everyone is self-centered to some extent, but while you may be telling me that I am self-centred, you are not blameless either. What about your “This is MY thing, I will have power over how I use it and I will NOT listen to anything you say”. Also, you jumping to conclusions as to why I do things instead of asking me. (apparantly I did 2 things, one which i knew of and knew that I shouldn’t have done, one which I did to save energy but somehow it affected her as well, but she thought I did the second thing to spite her).

Well, that person has a dodgy attitude I guess. Unfortunately I have had to concede to her will because she doesn’t believe in compromise. If I criticize her or ask her to change something she does, I get yelled at. Also, I noticed that she didn’t apologise for swearing at me or insulting me, so I’m a bit annoyed at that. At least I acknowledged that my behaviour was not right, but I don’t see you saying anything about your behaviour. Your behaviour is not right either, yet, I cant tell you that because I have been told that I can’t, and even if I did, you will just yell at me.

I will definately need God to help me deal with this person. I dont mean it as asking God to smite her down, I need God to help me to not yell at her when I see her and to understand that nothing much can be done about her personality and character as she is probably so set in her ways that if anyone dares question it, she will blow… and to not judge and I guess to change my heart. This is going to take a long time.

It’s been a while…

Wow, I haven’t written in this blog in a while. Been busy with a load of assignments thanks to uni. I should be studying for a 10% test that is on the whole semester’s worth of stuff for one of my units (this is so not a test, it’s more like an exam before the actual exams T.T) but I have been meaning to write about this for a while…

Observations as an L-plate driver

• I notice that people like to tailgate me quite a bit when I drive. Yes, I am an L-plate driver, but it doesn’t give you the right to bully me into driving faster. I find this generally happens in a 60km/hr zone when I am driving at 60ks and the idiot behind me decides to tailgate me. I’m sorry Mr/Mrs “I’m too good to drive at the speed limit”, but no, I won’t drive at 70 in a 60 zone just so you can get to wherever you need to get to faster.
• I also notice that once the said tailgater realises that I’m not going to go faster than the speed limit set, they furiously change lanes and zoom off in the other lane, leaving dust particles behind. Well good on you! You just showed me that you’re an idiot for driving 70 in a 60 zone. Don’t complain when you get a speeding ticket. Another thing, why do most drivers drive above the speed limit. If you drive above them, then there’s no point for them in the first place. I reckon there should be speed cameras at traffic lights without a sign saying “road camera ahead”.
  
• It is also funny when said tailgater zooms ahead and they get stuck at the same traffic light I get stuck at. See, speeding didn’t help you there. We both end up waiting for the traffic light.
  
• Ute drivers. Some ute drivers are idiots. When I drive, I can usually tell which car is the car that always tries to go to the lane that is moving fastest. I wonder if they actually get to the place where they are going significantly faster than if they just stayed in one lane. Probably not. I’m sorry ute drivers, but I’ve had a number of bad experiences with you and so have many others. Not all ute drivers are idiots. Just some…especially you Mr Ute driver who i beeped and then you decided to give me the finger! You were going into my lane when I was right next to you!!
  
• I see people doing illegal things just to not be behind me. Sure enough, when I first started driving I was a bit noob and didn’t know what to do. But now, I actually DO drive at the speed limit. Yes lady in 4-wheel drive, you dont need to overtake me on a single lane and drive on the SOLID WHITE LINE so that you are almost in the on-coming traffic lane!!

That was my mini rant/observations. I am by all means NOT a perfect driver. I know I make mistakes and I know that at times I myself go over the speed limit. However, I do my best not too because I know I shouldn’t. I just wish people were more considerate on the roads and just safer drivers. Just because I’m a L plater doesn’t mean I always drive slow and nor does it give you the right to “bully” me on the roads. And no, i’m not just imagining this. My driving instructor has been in the car with me when people tailgate me and things like that. Some full licence and P-platers should have some more respect for L-platers. YOU had to learn how to drive when YOU were younger. It’s not like YOU just hopped into a car and started driving perfectly.

Okay, the next thing I wanted to talk about was alcohol and under-age drinking etc. I just spent a very long time looking up journal articles on alcohol  addiction and what it does to your brain and everything and to be honest, after doing that, it really puts me off drinking. I wonder how teenagers would react if they knew what on earth it did to their brain and what can happen if you are dependent on alcohol and what some of the withdrawal symptoms are (anxiety, neurodegeneration, seizures etc). Alcohol, in moderation (as with anything) is usually okay, it’s just binge drinking, chronic drinking…yeah, kids dont know what on earth it does to their brain and other organs. I’m really hoping that in the future alcohol-related diseases/problems wont be up there with like…hypertension, diabetes etc, but why do i feel like it will be…
I will update my 101 list possibly after exams…

101 Update #8

Currently:

• I watched the Hangover and Star Wars which are both on IMDB top 250.
• I read 2 Peter
• I drank a Soho thing…it was quite nice at first, then near the end i could really taste the alcohol.
• I made sushi, onigiri and tamagoyoki (some japanese egg thing, i’m not sure if that is how you spell it).
  
• I went to watch a concert. It was Hoobastank + AAR
• I did someting nice by picking up something a lady dropped in the post office
• I did 3 unselfish things: let an old lady go on the bus before me,  let a man go on the bus before me, gave some lady some spare change.
• I also tried strawberry tea…it was interesting.
  

Completed:

34. Get a massage

The bf and I went to get a massage. We had gift vouchers for it and we decided it was high time to use them. It was a 45min relaxation massage and it was really nice. But strange at first b/c i’m a bit ticklish, but once you get into it, it’s really good. I wouldn’t mind going again…but only with a voucher. Heehee. Anyway, we went to Back in Motion to get the massage.

74. See a live play

I went to watch a CMG play and it was interesting. It was in chinese and they had english subtitles, but i still didn’t quite get it. Still, it wasnt too bad.

91. Go to a club

I went clubbing. It was an interesting experience. Sorta fun after a while, but I think i prefer concerts. Anyway, I went to Lavish and I guess I was expecting someplace larger and sorta darker? and less weirdo asians like pushing their way through the crowd. I got sorta bored of the dancing so when i saw people bulldoze their way through i tried to make it as hard for them as possible to get through…unless if they were really tall then i didn’t stand a chance. However, some of the girls were a bit hmmm…just like pushing past even when there is no gap. So when that happened, i sorta tried to “help” them by pushing them along too. Ah well, they will never see me again, so it’s okay. =)

A Rant of Some Sorts

Wow, I’m actually writing a fair bit these days. I’m just bored and I actually have time on my hands. Anyway, I found an interesting page on the internet that I would like to share.

http://www.thatcoolbroad.com/2008/06/11/10-questions-cool-broads-never-ask-2/

The above lists 10 questions that you should never ask. One of them that I found VERY APPROPRIATE was:

#6.   If someone is going to a party when you’re not sure whether or not they’ve been invited

Why do I find this appropriate? It just seems to be happening a great deal lately (okay, in the past 4 or 5 years or so). The general scenario goes like this:
Meet friend. Talk to friend. Friend goes “are you going to so-and-so’s party/event/gathering etc?” To which I usually reply “huh? what party/event/gathering?” They will usually say “check your email/facebook. I’m SURE YOU ARE INVITED.” Later that day I will check my email/facebook to find that I was actually not invited. Other replies might be “it’s an open invitation, anyone can go”, “don’t worry, they forgot to send it to so-and-so as well. Just go, it’ll be fine.”

Okay, there are a few things about this scenario that really annoy me:

#1. the part where they tell me to check my email/facebook.

I check my email/facebook pretty often, so if someone sends me an invite, i will know within 24 hours usually, unless if something happens. It’s even worse when they say “It was sent a few days ago, maybe it’s in your junk mail”. I also check my junk mail regularly so, yes, i would have noticed if it was there.

#2. the part where they say that they are SURE that I was invited.

Firstly, before you tell someone that you are SURE that they are invited, CHECK IF THEY ARE. The only ONE LEGIT TIME that this was true was when my friend told me about someone’s 21st, she said that she was sure i was emailed and that the bday person might have sent it to an email address i never check and lo and behold, the bday person sent me a new invite to my actual email that i check stating that he didn’t realise that i didn’t use the other email.

Most of the time I think people say this to save face. To avoid the awkwardness when you realise that you’ve put your foot into it. Well, here’s a thought, why dont you NOT mention it in the first place. Let us people who are not worth inviting live in our own world of oblivion.

#3. the part where they go “it’s an open invitation”.

First thing. What on earth is an “open invitation”. Does it mean that anyone can go? Does it meant that you can invite yourself. If that is so, then is it okay if i tell any STRANGER ON THE STREET THAT THEY CAN ROCK UP TO THIS PARTY?!

Again, this i think, is a dodgy way to save face. When you tell me it’s an open invitation, it makes it out as if I don’t need an invitation to go and that I should have known about it anyway without you having to tell me. I’ve found this to be the most DODGIEST line in these situations. I can’t invite myself to anything if i dont know about it in the first place. Do you expect me to have some psychic powers to know “oh they are going to a road trip, i guess i’ll go to” if no one has told me about it in the first place. Do you expect me to say “hey, are you guys going to have a road trip/party/event?” every few weeks so that i somehow find out about this open invitation to this road trip/party/event? I think not.

#4. when people go “don’t worry, they forgot to send it to so-and-so as well, just go”

I’m sorry, but whatever your intentions are when you say this, it just makes me assume that i’m not important enough for the person who organised this to remember to send to me. Furthermore, if by any chance, the person who organised it actually said at the bottom “if i’ve forgotten to send this to someone, could someone please send it to them” but no one does, it also makes me assume that i’m not important enough for someone to forward the email to.

and no, i will NOT “just go”. I’m sorry, but even I find it somewhat rude to just invite myself to some event that i know almost nothing about because you said “just go”.

Also, the person who sent out the invites might have a reason for not inviting me eg. they can only invite a few people and not everyone.

Anyway, i guess i should end. I’m usually not affected too much by this. I only get annoyed when it occurs repeatedly throughout a short period of time. I just think some people should have some sort of decency at least. Like the site above says, if you dont know if someone is invited to something or not, don’t ask, but check before you ask. Don’t fricken assume that they are. Maybe you dont realise, but it’s seriously awkward when it seems as if EVERYONE but YOU are invited. I’d rather not know that i’m not invited, than know that i am. Like i said, it usually doesnt get to me, but when people say stupid stuff, then i get annoyed. If you accidentally let slip about something, say “i’m sorry, i didnt know” and just leave it at that. Considering that this occurs way too often in my life, i’ve decided not to go to anything that i haven’t been personally invited to, unless if it’s something my bf is going to and he can take a +1.

End of rant.

Hyper-reality?

A week ago or so, I went to a seminar given by Mark Sayers on the topic of Gen Y. It lasted for 3 hours and it was really interesting. There were a few points that I remember from it.

• Media feeds us a hyper-reality. Things go horribly wrong when we expect our own reality to match up to the hyper-reality. Hyper-reality is like, we need to be hot, we need to own things that will make us seem wealthy, cool and hot, we need to be cool and only choose cool things to eat or drink, we’re defined by what we have, we need to be YOUNG and beautiful, no wrinkles, no pimples, no stretch marks, no cellulite, perfect makeup. Reality is like, aging, death, real emotions (good and bad), injustice, wrinkles, pimples, bad hair days, health problems.
• Youth culture of Gen Y is based on projecting an image or a set of messages in order to have an identity. Eg. Wearing the coolest fashions, reading the most “hip” books, listening to music that isn’t mainstream
• Many youth of today have a horizontal self and not a vertical self. Horizontal self is about having others as judges, status, all about ME, concerned about outer appearances, image, publicity, attitudes, play ethics, instant gratification. The vertical self is about God as the judge, holiness, delayed gratification, work ethics, character, identity, I, inner life etc.
  
• It is a battle against indifference and not a battle against unbelief. It’s a “generation meh”.
  

Mark went on about a lot of other things, but yeah, what he said is true and I guess there are some parts of myself that can identify with what he’s saying. He did mention before the seminar that it wasn’t about making us feel good, the purpose of it was to make us feel uncomfortable and to challenge us and he did a good job of that.

My opinion is that yeah, we live in a world where it is all about ME ME ME and what i can get RIGHT NOW (ie instant gratification). I mean, i see that all the time at work. People getting impatient because you’re spending “too long” on our tasks. They want their meds RIGHT NOW! (and then they verbally put you and your profession down by saying things like “how long does it take? it’s just putting a label on a box!”). If they dont get it RIGHT NOW, then they go “oh i’ll go somewhere else where i can get it RIGHT NOW“. Many people expect solutions to be instant, gratification to be instant, everything to be instant. Unfortunately, life isn’t like instant coffee where you just add water. It’s a bit more like tea. You need to heat up the water, then you need to brew the tea, then you need to wait for the tea to infuse, then you might want to wait for the tea to cool down a bit before you drink it.

I am going to pause now. I might add more when i think of more to add.