I went to Clonmel yesterday evening and treated myself to a new game for my Xbox. My friends are thrilled, because they all know that I’ll get bored of it in a week or two and they’ll get to play Assassins Creed Origins for free. I can almost see them rubbing their hands with glee when the word breaks that I’ve bought a new game.
While I waited for the thing to install and download the seemingly never ending amount of updates, I had a quick look through my social media feed. I was in fits of laughing with the rubbish I read. Sometimes, it becomes a bit farcical, some of the stuff we come up with.
As you know, this Friday is known as “Black Friday”. This is the latest nonsense that we have imported from across the Atlantic. Online stores and retailers are getting their knickers in a knot as to how much money they will make from us.
(Just a thought, but what if we didn’t buy anything online this Friday. Instead, what if we took a trip to our local shops and spent the money there instead. That’s what I’m doing and I’ll even be spoken to in those shops by name, not a reference number. It’s so much better and the few bob spent local, stays local)
Anyway, back to my original point. A publican in Thurles is running a big Black Friday event, selling cheap alcohol for the day. Immediately, the snowflakes are up in arms. They would hate to be left out, so they’re getting their knickers in a knot about it. Some of the headlines, spearheaded by our national press are laughable. This guy should be ashamed of himself, its disgraceful behaviour, he should show a social responsibility, down with this sort of thing and so on, you get the drift.
Some pub in Dublin reported huge profits over the weekend too. Apparently that’s bad as well. I’ve never been in the pub in question, so I can’t comment on it. But, the snowflakes are upset about it, for some reason or other.
I smoked for well over 20 years, even being a chain smoker for some of that time. On the night our child came home, I smoked my last cigarette. I decided that I’d like to be around to see him grow up and I made the decision all by myself. Not a snowflake in sight, as I threw the rest of the cigarettes into the bin. I started to take a bit of exercise and to protect my health. I’ve gone the other way now however, as I despise cigarettes with a passion. I detest the things and I find the smell of smoke disgusting. As for my physical fitness, it has become a passion and I take it seriously, very seriously in fact.
Another day I went to my doctor for a check-up and she asked me how much I drank. In typical Irish fashion, I answered “ah sure, the usual”. Now there’s one thing that you cannot do and that’s tell a lie to a doctor. They are professional people and they can see a lie about 10 miles away. She took my bloods and a few days later, she called me back in. Your body definitely doesn’t lie and my doctor had all the proof she needed in front of her. Cut it down was the advice, so I cut it out. Another ground breaking decision that I made myself. That was over two years ago now. I wonder if I qualify for an award of some kind for all these decisions.
We have this image around the world about being the party people and loving life. We also have the marketing gurus working on other images, from sports advertising, to clothing lines. The snowflakes hate that too, as it’s a bad image to be portraying internationally. I draw the line at those nauseating cringe worthy photo ops with foreign dignitaries, when a pint of beer is placed into their hand. Personally, I hate that bit, as I prefer to think of Ireland maturing as a nation of young entrepreneurs, bringing a new vision, hope and future to the country and leaving the ould nonsense behind.
However, just because I don’t agree with it, does that mean it’s wrong? No, it does not. People have every right to make up their own mind on things, without any interference from me or anybody else for that matter.
For many years, Ireland was controlled by the Catholic Church, uncomfortably so. Now, I’m not over religious either, so I can live happily without those shackles being placed on us anymore. That kind of power can corrupt and there is over whelming proof that this power did indeed get way too strong and it’s no harm to see the back of it. There are still people who would rather those days, but in my opinion, they can have them, as they play no positive role in any progressive society.
I’ve spoken before about my passion and belief in freedom of speech, thought and action and it’s something that I believe in. It needs to be protected and nurtured, at whatever cost. Many people, much better than me, gave their lives and fought for that freedom. Many column inches are given over to the threats we face from fundamentalism and its kind, but I often wonder if there is a threat from within, thankfully not of the fundamentalist type, but a threat all the same.
Are we in danger of becoming a nanny state? Where is that freedom to do your own thing gone? To the best of my knowledge, nobody is forced to go into a pub and avail of cheap alcohol. If people wish to do that, it’s their own business and more power to them. If they wish to get shit faced at the weekend, that’s their own business, it’s nothing to me. If you want to smoke, you know the associated risks, go ahead, it’s your own business. If you want to take up a dangerous pastime like swimming with sharks or something even more dangerous like cycling on Irish roads, go ahead, you’re right and it is your right. You have different sexual interests, so what, that’s your own business, as my dad used to say “the gun is your own”. It’s about time that people stood up and started taking responsibility for their own lives and what they do with them.
There is nothing wrong with asking for advice and either heeding that advice or ignoring it. However, there are people out there, making a nice living telling the rest of us how to live our lives. Not a day goes by without some z-list celebrity telling us how they plan on changing the world.
So I say, let them get their knickers in a knot, live your life and just because certain people don’t agree with it, doesn’t mean it’s wrong. Remember, we’re only here for a good time, not a long time and if you upset a few people in the meantime, maybe that’s a good thing.
The Unknown Bike Rider 