I am Amelia. Grown up on a farm in the middle of the city, I am essentially a tomboy, but trying to become a little more cultured. I'm trying to be a decent human being in a world full of injustices. I also love a good bargain and am always on the lookout for cheap cool stuff.
25 March 2014
Social Networking and Personal Safety
20 March 2014
Sick leave and a visit to the doctor's rooms
Oh Gosh, the doc must think I either have a severe case of hypochondria or am really a ditzy blond underneath. First I took my mom there last week, then she took me there today. Today I say to the doc "I know the flu is not that bad yet, but I know some people who got this and landed in hospital with pneumonia", he understandingly nods and says that's why we're going to nip it in the bud. He asks if I'm allergic to anything and my first reaction (my only reaction to any doctor's allergies query) is "I'm allergic to injections and needles." The next question doc asks is am I on any vitamins or supplements? I proceed to rattle off a list including vitamin c, zinc, magnesium, echincea, vitamin b6, evening primrose oil & a generic multivitamin. The look the doc gave me was with wide eyes and I swear he was thinking 'this chic is definitely crazy'.
I cant help but think to myself how sorry I felt for that child. I know, because when I was 6 years old, I vowed no more injections. I was given an anti-tetanus jab by a rather rough and rude woman (can never bring myself to call her a nurse) at the Durban health department that hurt like hell and left a bruise for a month! I would rather be ill than have an injection, and I have been fairly true to my promise to myself over the last 17 years. I have only had one injection when I went to a doctor alone a little over a year ago (its nice to have family there to hold your hand at the doctor, so stop calling me a baby and just be jealous ok) and I had bronchitis and was feeling so rubbishy and the doctor was a nasty abrasive manboy type, who I swear just wanted to see my butt. But other than that, I have literally walked out of doctors rooms and hospitals when they threaten me with injections. When I was 14 I had a snake bite scare, we were new on the farm and had no idea of what snakes were here. It was the days when snakes were still scary to me. I had seen a snake in the bush as I was walking past and almost immediately had a sharp burning sensation on my leg, looked down and there were two perfectly even and spaced holes on my leg. No I didn't actually see the snake bite me, but to this day I believe it did. Anyways, I was rushed to the hospital, where they phoned around and there was no anti-venom anywhere in Durban that day (why not?), fortunately it was a harmless snake, because I still had no major effects from it. Would explain why after we got home I went to bed and slept for 15 hours straight. Then when the darned nurses decided that since I was there anyway and it looked like a puncture wound, they would have to give me an anti-tetanus injection. Needless to say I walked out of the hospital, never to return.
I sat there with this whole scenario happening around me, and I know I'm not a parent, but how can any self respecting parent honestly wonder where they went wrong? Kids become teenagers and they rebel, they lose trust in their parents, they lie to their parents, heck they sometimes even become thieves. And obviously each and every human being had a mind of their own with which to make their own decisions (I was a case from as early as 3 years old in being stubborn), but parents and others cannot entirely blame it on the child or their surroundings when a child goes wrong!
Why?
Look at what most parents do. From a very early age they tell their children lies, Father christmas, easter bunny, tooth fairy, injections are the only way to get better, white lies are ok, lying because of why you were late, where children come from, etc. THESE ARE ALL LIES! Yes, it may be nice, maybe even less awkward and plain well easier if your kids believe in fantasy things, but wouldn't you rather your child know the truth and trusts you? Because think of how that child is going to feel at 9, 10, or even 12 years old when they discover you have been lying to them all this time? As for injections, they may be the quickest way to get better, but sure as heck they're not the only way to get better. And don't get me started on those other wrong and pagan teachings of santa and the tooth fairy.
What does all this teach your children? It teaches them that a lot of what you yourself taught them is rubbish, hog wash, lies. It teaches them to not trust you, and to not share with you what is truly on their hearts because you may give them a solution that is nothing more than a baseless myth. Maybe you don't even care in their minds. It teaches them that if you could lie to them about such fundamental things, it must be ok to lie. It teaches them a cruel and wrong lesson that you as the parents, grandparents and guardians of these young and malleable minds could have and should have protected them from! And then YOU cry and ask "but where did we go wrong?", you may blame it on apartheid or on the new government that your children are not perfect little models of society, you may blame it on the education system, or you may even blame it on the child. You may say your child has a chemical imbalance, or your child made the wrong choices. But what example did you set? And yet you still never allow the blame to rest where it should, on YOU.
So to the parents of the little boy was crying because of being forced to take injections, you should be ashamed of yourselves!!! You lied to your son and you made him suffer unnecessarily.
UGH, Why does my life suck right now?
I'm supposed to be living a great life. A successful, independent, pretty twenty something year old type of life.
12 March 2014
The Anti-Social Socialite
Over the course of the last month or so, I have quite possibly become the most anti-social person I know.
That is a pretty bad situation, because I really survive on being social. My income requires me to be social as a tour guide and to keep people NEVERon the riding tours. A kind and polite socially correct manner for doing admin. My income requires me to be smiling and social to calm down the men who want to propose to their girlfriends. My volunteer work (which really I spend the most time in my life and is what has always made me happy) requires me to be a happy, friendly and social being in order to break down barriers and teach humble and hungry people what God's Word the bible promises.
My social life, well that's an obvious, it requires me to be social. I have friends who I value and wish to continue being friends with. Therefore I have to be social.
My whole life revolves around me being a socialite.
But at the moment I feel like the ultimate anti-social socialite.
So what exactly is going on? Why do I feel like this?
It could quite possibly have something to do with my extreme exhaustion. I mean being social does take energy. Always keeping your chin up, smiling and even cheering up others takes effort and energy. Which I have been running incredibly short on lately. I have been feeling like an old wrung out mop. I wake up in the morning - tired, I drag myself around all day - tired, I eat supper and go to bed - TIRED. Seriously, I hate this feeling, it is NOT fun to have the mind of a 23 year old in the body of a 90 year old.
Having insomnia on top of that is not helping either.
Or it could also have something to do with my current health, or lack thereof. I have normally been a pretty healthy person, but lately, my body is pretending that it is part of the south african workforce and going on strike!
Other than not having energy, I'm in pain a lot. My back hurts, my kidney hurts, my neck hurts, I have been getting frequent headaches, even my hands hurt. I don't work properly. I am falling apart at the seams here!Old beyond my years!
Then of course the anti-social feelings may partly be stemming from my anger and disgust of the blasted ignorance and "full-of-yourself"ness of a certain manboy who is over 30 and still lives with his mommy and daddy. And who recently acted like the selfish little male chauvinistic pig that he is by telling me that as a woman, I am a lesser being and therefore am purely in existence to serve the every whim of every male. And my unwillingness to do so makes me unchristian. EISH! I mean, I know women are not as physically strong as men, I know that by God's standards the husband is he head of the household, I know that thinking we are equal is wrong. I'm not asking to be equal. BUT don't say that I am a lesser being just because I have a bigger breast than you! If I am not related to you, and a man like that I would rather die than marry, then you have absolutely NO AUTHORITY over me. I am not any man's slave. I love SA, but this culture which dictates "that women must be trodden down, have no say, have no dreams and just work in the house and have babies" that the backwards people who's minds are still stuck in the 70s is downright infuriating! Wait, even the 70s were not like that, this is more like the 50s. And to top if off, the jerk asked if it was PMS that was making me upset with him when he said that. A little tip here for you guys, never never ever ask a girl if its PMS, she will plot how to kill you.
So that conversation from 3 weeks ago has had me stewing and about nearly ready to kill (oh if only looks could kill) all men. Unfortunately said manboy happens to be someone I cannot completely avoid, I try to but cannot always. And that is yet another reason I have been feeling incredibly anti-social - I'm so sick of dealing with men like that. Thankfully not all men are like that, quite a few are pretty awesome.
I have been feeling a bit down because of all this, depression on top of the tiredness and the being "ready to kill" makes me rather anti-social. I have such a short straw at the moment that every little thing possible irritates me. So I have kind of been avoiding my friends, because I dont want to bite at them. I love them, I am missing them like crazy, but I dont even have the patience to read my whole facebook wall right now, let alone my twitter feed. How am I supposed to be nice to my friends? Only my parents can put up with me at the moment, and even they are getting to have enough of me.
So my normally crazy life has been changed to a different type of crazy.
A type of crazy where I have been binging on TV series, reading novels, and even getting a little time to blog. I have been watching obscene amounts of Castle, Person Of Interest, Psych, Big Bang Theory, and for lack of watching material I have even stooped low enough to be able to now quote lines from HIMYM. I have started wondering if I'm a TV addict, but don't worry, I hate reality TV and soapies. So I am safe, sort of, for now.
I have been going to sleep between 1am and 3am every day and waking up no earlier than 9, the other day I only woke up at 11:45am. Shocking, but tough its my life, don't judge me.
I have been forcing myself out to work, and to volunteer, with black bags under my eyes, and forcing a fake smile. Hoping the makeup will hold for the day to hide the spots and bags. Wondering why something that used to make me happy now makes me cry whenever I am alone. But hey, at least I can hold the tears till I'm alone.
Spending ridiculous amounts of time on the internet, browsing absolute useless rubbish (and yet it is so much fun distracting myself from my own miserable existence) like pinterest. Nope, not porn, that's another pathetic manboy way of degrading women, I will NEVER stoop that low.
But my biggest escapism method at the moment is planning my escape/break/holiday/getaway. I have realized that maybe what I need the most right now is a decent holiday. Not that I can afford one, really. I guess I could use my life savings and just do it, jump in my car or board a plane and head to the first destination away from here, but this little annoying thing at the back of my mind called a "sense of responsibility" just has not allowed me to take the plunge and hit the road yet. Plus I dont know how I would have money to eat without selling myself, and selling myself is out of the question.
I read a blog on the Getaway Magazine website recently that said planning your holiday is almost as good as a holiday. I might be suckered into believing that even, if it wasnt that 2 years ago I did try to plan my big RSA Road Trip, and it was fun planning it, but would have been better experiencing it. I even got right down to the mileage, petrol costs, food costs, everything. It would have had to be with at least 2 friends to share the cost, but in total we could have done it for under R20,000. Well, that was 2 years ago, petrol is nearly R14 a litre now, so that idea wont be happening any time soon.
But I can plan my escape anyway, right?
Its not like I need to see a shrink or have medication or anything like that. I'm not sick in the mind OK, well let's say not any more sick in the mind than I always have been. But I don't need to see anyone about it. I personally think this fad of every second person needing a shrink and medication for some disease is nothing more than just that, a fad. Yes, there are some people who genuinely need it (my dear ginger friend, I believe you), but there are also some who just claim they have this to get attention. And I'm not like that, I refuse to think I am mentally unstable. To quote a famous song from the 70s, "What I have, they used to call the blues..."
I know that sitting at home, moping about and being miserable is no good. Being alone has a way of making you more of a loner' and more unhappy. But I promise, as soon as I have a little more energy I'll be out there again, I'll once again be the happy, energetic socialite that you all have come to know (and hopefully love), soon.
And in the meantime, if you're reading this, don't give up on me, PLEASE.
Please DO keep inviting me to join you in whatever fun stuff you are doing.
And if I can, I will come. If I have the energy, and if I don't have the inclination to murder the entire human race that day, I'll be right there. Even if I'm not feeling entirely the best, I'll still try to put on a smile and have a laugh, maybe even try make you laugh too.
Who knows, YOU might just be the person I need so desperately to pull me out of the blues.
02 March 2014
Blogging it out on another sleepless night (or two)
I have tried, really, I have tried blogging more often. But once one becomes an adult, with responsibilities, with big people things to do, and with a social life, blogging really does get put on the back burner.
Its not that blogging is not fun, but when blogging is a mode of release, and not a mode of actual income, then it takes a lower priority. And having a social life doesn't help the blogging scene either.
I mean if I get a chance to go to the movies with my friends, or to stay home and do some blogging, its pretty obvious which will be my choice.
Nowadays the only times I get to blogging when it is not actually for work, is when I have insomnia or when I take 2 weeks - 3 months to write a post. Yes it does suck when I am up at 1 or 2 am and my mind wont shut up. I sit there and keep on thinking. And eventually I just give up and figure I'll shout out to the cyber space. Maybe someone will hear, maybe not. Actually sometimes I hope that what I want to say goes out into the inter-web but never gets noticed.
But blogging is nice. I can say what I want to say to the world, without getting into too much trouble (hopefully) and get things off my chest. Its amazing what a relief it can be to put one's emotions into writing and out in public, despite not wanting to really share those deeper thoughts with loved ones. I mean, why is it that I can tweet & blog about what the wackiest thing's on my mind, but I have a difficulty sharing those things with my family & fear my friends will disown me if I told them? Why can I tell total strangers about my dreams of traveling the world, or even of road-tripping the country, but I feel stupid if I try and voice that to the family who live in the same house as me? Not that my family and friends are bad people, they are actually really the most AWESOME people I know!
Is this all just me with severe trust issues & lack of self-confidence to those whom I love for no reason, or is this a global phenomenon? Is it my over active imagination and a result of watching too much TV, or is it common? How would I know?
Truth be told, we live in a day & age where its really not safe to trust people on the other side of the cyber line, there are often liars & deceivers there, just waiting to attack you. And yet, teenagers are willing to post photos online of themselves in underwear. Parents will be so slack as to post photos and names of their children along with school names or uniforms, endangering their children by exposing them to terrible people. Old people going on holiday will post countdowns & details of their planned trip in public. And yet with most of these scenarios, these people have a hard time sharing these things with close family & friends, let alone putting this information at a public notice board in a library or shopping center.
What gives?
Did this kind of brazen stupidity exist before the internet age? Or is it purely a modern problem? I really don't know. I wouldn't really know, I am a child of the cyber age. I was only 10yrs old when the year 2000 arrived. I remember computers being around my whole life, although I pretty much suck at doing anything truly useful (other than admin and Social Networking) on a computer.
But I remember how people feared there would be the great internet & computer virus of 2000, the net wasn't even that popular or used as much at the time, but it was a panic that on the strike of midnight, on December 31 1999/January 1 2000 the world would change. Guess what, it didn't!
I can only imagine what it would have been like if that had been so viral with Facebook and twitter, whatsapp & mixit around. It would have been crazy.
Well, if I'm crazy, stupid, too much of a TV addict, or actually hitting a bit of truth here, you decide for yourself.
But for now I think this is enough sharing of ridiculous & random thoughts with the world.
Until next time, adios amigos