Weird and wonderful tales
Every now and then I read a strange news story which makes me stop dead in wonderment. This is one example. Apparently it is now considered a breach of a newborn baby's human rights for someone to stop and look at him or her adoringly. This is no longer regarded as a compliment by staff at Calderdale Royal Hospital in Halifax, West Yorkshire (ironically the home town of my boyfriend, who thinks this story is even more ridiculous than I do). I think this is a little insane. Ok, I can see the point from a medical view; infection in hospitals has become more of a problem in recent years so of course measures need to be taken to try and tackle the issue. But this is going a bit too far. Surely new parents want to show off their babies? And what about the babies themselves? I love this comment sent to the BBC website by a reader: "Has anybody thought that babies may want to be cooed over and that this hospital is violating the rights of vocally-challenged newly-born citizens?" And my boyfriend made a good point too: what about our rights? Does this mean that we can now challenge any action which may be seen as a breach of someone's human rights? Do we now have legitimate grounds to sue someone who happens to look at us in the street? Some of us may feel that a glance from a stranger is a violation of our privacy and personal space. ...I know, it's ridiculous isn't it?Another story I came across recently was this one from The Guardian. It baffles me as to how some people survive, let alone live, in such squalid conditions. And as for the 100 dead cats? I feel so sorry for them. One thing which really rattles me is the fact that some people have such barbarous, inhuman tendencies that they could even dream of purposefully inflicting harm upon a helpless creature, such as a cat, dog or any other animal which is not killed for purposes such as human survival (e.g. pigs for meat). Don't get me wrong, I'm no radical protester preaching on behalf of innocent creatures, but I do think we should take into account the fact that animals can't verbally demonstrate their pain, whether physical or emotional, like humans can. Inflicting pain on something which doesn't have the ability to fight back is the coward's way out.
And in my own news, I spent a really nice night with Ian last night. It's only with him and my family that I really feel like I can be myself and I love spending time with them. When I'm at uni I often feel like the odd one out who no-one wants to speak to, so it's really nice to spend time with people who know me, like me and appreciate me for who I am. We didn't do much apart from watch the latest instalment of 'Lost', and I was alone while he was out at his evening class for 3 hours anyway, but I love whatever time we get to spend together, no matter what we do. He worries a lot that he can't afford to take me out every night for meals, drinks, trips to the cinema etc, but that doesn't matter to me. Just being in his company is all I crave.
posted by Becca @ 10:04 PM
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