Just a Lickle Water

In many countries, it is illegal for drivers to block intersections and pedestrian crossings. However, it appears as though many drivers do not know this, or maybe they do not care. Time and time again, pedestrians are struggling to get to the other side of the road while standing at intersections. Pedestrian crossings are there for a reason. They are not useless white marks on the streets! As time goes by, this situation is becoming worst, and it is more trying during the winter seasons when snow floats from the heavens like cotton candy and covers trees, rooftops, roads and everything in its path. Imagine standing in freshly fallen snow for ten minutes at an intersection with children, and one or two of them are in a stroller! How much do you like that? True, one or two drivers can miss average the gap, but come on, every time that the traffic light changes? Pedestrians are not beggars at the side of the road, asking drivers to show them mercy by allowing them to get to the other sid...

I have some questions for you today, and to begin with, have you ever walked into a store and the security alarm goes off? Yes, I am talking about walking into and not walking out of it. If this has ever happened to you, what did you do? Did you just continued walking into the store, or did you just turned around and left it? Did you looked around to see who was looking, or did you just ignored it? Did someone from security approach you? What happened? What were you thinking, and how did you felt when the alarm went off? Were you scared, confused, upset, embarrassed, frustrated, or were you indifferent to it? If this has never happened to you before, what would you do if it was to happen?

When I was growing up, I believed that if your boyfriend, fiancé, or husband did not slap, hit or punch you. He did not love you. Whenever he physically hurt you, he was just jealous because of the attention you give another guy, which made him afraid of losing you. He loved you so much that it filled him with jealousy, and hitting you was his only recourse. Additionally, whenever domestic violence took place between a man and a woman, it was their business and no one else’s. Therefore, everyone else should keep out of it. If anyone were brave enough to talk with the woman about the abuse, the woman would accuse the “helper” of trying to break-up her relationship or marriage. Therefore, my young mind understood that love equals jealousy and jealousy equals slapping, hitting or punching. Additionally, if anyone thought that this was abuse and it was wrong, they better keep quiet about it because the woman (in most cases) would not listen to the advice. Well, we, that is, society has com...

Wow, it’s the 11th of January 2012 already, and as usual, another year is speeding along. Well, may the Lord God, who created the heavens and the earth, continue to show us His mercies. Usually, when a new year begins, many of us take the opportunity to make some positive changes in our lives. Yes, we may decide to stop smoking and drinking. We may decide to lose weight, go to church, read a bit more, and the list goes on. Did you make any resolutions, and if so, how are they coming along? Are you on target, or have you fallen behind? Are you frustrated with your progress, or are you happy with it? It can be challenging to begin a resolution on the 1st of January because we are so busy enjoying the day that before we know it, the day is over, and we are a day behind in our resolutions. Have you ever noticed this? Additionally, we may find ourselves with goals that suddenly seem impossible to reach. For example, as readers, we may decide to read thirty-one books in thirty-one days, but ...

I grew up thinking that it was written in the law books that when emergence vehicles have on their sirens, all road users in their path had to stop, pull over to the corner of the road, or do what was lawful to clear the driving area of these vehicles. However, recently, I have had to research whether or not this was true. It appears as though some road users do not think that this is a law. Some of us act as though these vehicles are nuisances, while others use this as an opportunity to speed and other alarming activities. In many parts of the world, the law requires these vehicles have the right of way in an emergency! We do not know where these vehicles are “rushing” to. They could be “rushing” to our homes. Therefore, the next time we are on the road, and they are driving in our direction, if the law is not enough to cause us to pull over, perhaps, that thought would. Please, pull over.

It was recently televised in North America that a mother was “put off” a public service bus because her baby was crying and the child would not stop. Also, there has been an increase in the number of restaurants with the “no children are allowed” sign. There is no doubt that owners have the right to decide who can and cannot walk through their doors, so we will not pick this apart. However, we will ask a question here, and it is, is this a public display of the age-old saying, - children should be seen and not heard in the public domain? On the one hand, we say to them – we are so glad that you are here, you are our future, but on our other hand, we say –you are here for the future, not for the present, so please, be quiet and wait until then. Well, how has that been working out for us so far? Can we have them grown without them being small? Can we have one without the other? At least some libraries in the children’s area say to them – hey, here’s a place for you to be seen and heard, ...