Spare me your 'wisdom'

Madonna advising older women to wear age-appropriate clothing. Tiger Woods imploring all married men to be good to their wives. Kim Kardashian urging school children to study hard. You already know what to make of such advice from such people - they are meaningless and downright ridiculous.
Well, you can add to that list Australian mining billionaire Gina Rinehart. During the week she addressed so-called 'jealous people' who speak ill of the rich, advising them to stop drinking, smoking and socialising and work harder instead.
Rinehart was criticised for her comments, with Australian Treasurer Wayne Swan branding the comments an insult to Australian workers and families and Federal Health Minister Tanya Pilbersek suggesting that Rinehart should try surviving on the minimum wage (which Rinehart thinks should be lowered).

I think I speak for all honest working men and women when I say Gina, please spare us your 'wisdom'. Seriously, who are you to dictate how hard people should work when you didn't have to lift a finger to gain all of your riches. All you had to do was be Lang Hancock's daughter and heiress. Not all of us are lucky enough to have rich parents from whom we could inherit a fortune. Not all of us can make a million dollars or more sitting on our backsides twiddling our thumbs (which reminds me, Gina, and no offence, but you seriously need to address the size of yours).

And more importantly, while you do have a point that some people would be better off financially if they stopped spending so much money on booze, drugs, gambling, material goods they don't need and can't afford etc, there are people out there who work hard to provide for their families but are still struggling nonetheless. It's unfortunate but such people do exist - perhaps if you took a walk away from your mansion and out the gates of whatever snobby suburb you live the good life in you'd see and hopefully return home enlightened.  

More importantly, Gina, has it ever occurred to you that when us 'jealous' working people speak ill of your kid we are not doing so out of envy, but rather, out of contempt and derision? Not to sound cruel, but whenever people of your wealth gripe about how hard life's been treating them, we can't help but shake our heads in disbelief, if not laugh out loud. Just as you claim that  we're not working hard enough therefore have no right to complain about life, we argue that every complaint you and your kind make is an affront to people around the country and around the world that are doing it tough just to make ends meet. As far as we're concerned, you've got enough money to feed several small contries so you should have absolutely nothing to bellyache about.
Speaking of which, Gina, did you read that little corker about Employment Minister Bill Shorten moaning about how hard his life is despite the fact that he makes $330,000 a year? Wow, cue the melancholic violin music and someone lend the poor guy 50 dollars, he needs money for a sandwich! What a load of tripe!

So in closing, Gina, you can call working people a bunch of jealous whingers all you want but unless you experience how it feels to worry about paying the bills and supporting your family, I suggest you keep your mouth shut unless you want your name and reputation dragged further through the mud. Just because you're the richest woman in Australia it doesn't give you the right to tell people how to live their lives. Sure, there are people out there who need to stop slacking off but that doesn't apply to all people who are struggling. They're working very hard to put food on the table for their families, something that you're probably not so familiar with.
And please realise that no one is jealous of you. Far from it. Believe it or not, not everyone aspires to have as much money as you do. What would be the point? Sure, you can buy and own more things than the average person can but will all that money really bring you complete happiness and don't you ever become paranoid once in a while that someone might stab you in the back and take it all away?

Oh, and one more thing, and again no offence intended. We may be working hard for our money but at least most of us are on good terms with our families. All the money in the world and you can't even have that.

See? I, an average guy, can be judgemental and insensitive too!

Now, can you spare me a couple of bucks so I can get a train ticket to work in order to earn a wage to pay my next bill?

Another ridiculous case of coddling children

A few blogs ago, I ranted about a school in Victoria and their preposterous rule that prevents students from touching each other. Whether it's a hand shake, high five, friendly hug or inadvertently brushing against a fellow student, physical contact of any kind between students was prohibited.
Well, just when I thought school rules couldn't get any siller, a newspaper article today proved me wrong. A school in Sydney (I'll be nice and keep their identity a secret) has banned its students from doing cartwheels and handstands on the playground unless - get this - they are under direct supervision from a trained gymnastics teacher.
According to the school's website, they consulted with the Education Department and agreed that the ban would prevent playground injuries. Predictably, parents were up in arms over the ban, claiming it is extreme and stops children from having fun during recess and lunchtimes. A parent from the school in focus began a petition demanding for the rule to be overturned and said that she accumulated more than 250 signatures.

These parents have every right to be outraged. Seriously, this is another case of people coddling children too much. At the risk of sounding like an old man, I remember back in my day kids did cartwheels and handstands when handball, the hopscotch, the jump rope, sports and other outside activities became boring (or if they wanted to show off) and not once did I hear reports of a kid seriously hurting themselves. Sure, there may have been a few instances when a kid lost their balance and fell over but the worse that they got out of it was a scrape or a bruise and they usually fell to the ground laughing or blushing out of sheer humiliation while their friends ripped them to shreds for their futile attempt at trying out for the circus. I certainly didn't hear teachers calling for these activities to be banned. They may have told children attempting them to be careful but that's about it.
 
But hey, perhaps something has happened in other schools and the possibility of suffering a bad injury is always there but you know, it doesn't take a trained gymnastics teacher to know when a kid is biting off more than they can chew in terms of performing stunts to impress their friends. Teachers patrol the playground during recess and lunchtime for a reason - to make sure that kids are behaving themselves and are not doing anything dangerous. Again, back in my day, if a teacher saw children fighting or attempting a stunt that could be unsafe, they would march over to the kids and put them in their place - or in terms of the latter, warn them to be careful and then watch over them, ready to intervene if things got out of hand. We certainly didn't need someone like Lauren Mitchell to watch over us.

An interesting point in the article is the inclusion of NSW Primary Principals Association president Jim Cooper's statement that if children had an accident at their school, they would hold the school responsible. Well, isn't that something!? Perhaps schools are putting this rule up not just for the safety of the kids, but primarily to cover their backsides in the event that something bad were to happen? Yeah, I know what you all are going to say - 'Well DUH, Bernd!!!! It's pretty obvious!!!' Yeah yeah, spare me your gloating I reached the same conclusion.  

School principals, please do not insult your students' intelligence with silly rules like this. Kids do push the boundaries at times but for the most part, and unless they were raised by irresponsible parents who couldn't be bothered teaching them the difference between right and wrong, they are well aware of what they can and cannot do. Sure, kids do get into accidents now and then and walk away with bruises, scuffs, cuts and scrapes for their troubles, but that's just a part of being a kid. It's all part of the learning experience that we all go through growing up.

Let kids be kids, people. No need to coddle them too much. 

Geez Louise, There's Nothing To Worry About!!!!!

Arnold Schwarzenegger, currently trying to revive his acting career, revealed in a recent interview that his parents were not very supportive about his training and bodybuilding when he was young.
His father once told him that it was a useless pursuit since he was putting his body through hell purely for vanity reasons and that he was better off using his body for more useful purposes such as chopping wood and shovelling coal.
His mother on the other hand feared that her son had become a homosexual in his teens since he had posters of bodybuilders on his bedroom wall when in fact, he just admired these men and aspired to be like them, if not better.
Well, Arnie would go on to become a decorated bodybuilder, a successful actor and a politician. Quite an achievement. Well done, man!

Anyway, the reason why I brought this up is because to some degree, I can relate to him. No, my parents never questioned my sexuality but there have been times when they were concerned about my training. I will admit, I am a gym junkie and I work out for one and a half hours, five to six days a week - and I push myself pretty hard and believe in the saying 'no pain, no gain'. I'm not as pumped as Schwarzenegger (and I never will be) but modesty aside, I am pretty muscular and don't have much fat on me.
Not bad, huh? But there have been times when I copped it from my parents. Nothing too serious, just a few times where my mother would tell me that I'm getting 'too skinny' and that I need more meat on my bones and my father telling me that I must be anorexic since I don't eat quite like I used to when I was younger.

I don't normally take it too personally but I will admit there are times when I roll my eyes at such remarks. I understand now why they were concerned about the number of hours I played video games when I was a kid but getting worried about me keeping fit? Considering that I've never injured or seriously hurt myself while training hard and that my fitness and strength has allowed me to help them out with some strenuous house and yard work it does boggle my mind a little listening to them telling me to slow down.

But you know, I understand where they're coming from. It's natural for parents to be concerned for their children and well, I do push myself hard while training. I do believe in the saying 'no pain, no gain' and if I wake up one morning without some form of muscle pain, I get mildly disappointed (yeah, I'm a masochist aren't I?). But sometimes I just want to tell them 'Geez Louise, there's nothing to worry about!!!!' Knock on wood, but unless I seriously injure myself during a session or suddenly stop eating period, I don't think anyone should be worried - especially since it's my body.

When idiots show off

You hear many stories of people needlessly injuring themselves or somtimes even killing themselves just because they were trying some new and extremely stupid way to amuse themselves and their friends. Well, you can add Darwin man Alex Bowden to that list.

While entertaining some friends visiting from Queensland at a house party, Mr. Bonehead (oops, I meant Bowden) decided to set off a few firecrackers. Sounds fine, but then he took it a step further and decided to place one on his butt crack. His friend lit the fuse.
Naturally, the outcome was catastrophic for poor Alex. The firecracker burned his buttocks and several fingers on his right hand as he tried to put the darn thing out. He is now in hospital being treated for his humiliating wounds and probably his wrecked ego.
To add insult to injury his friends and his mother thought the whole thing was funny.

With alcohol-fuelled violence in Sydney frequently making news headlines (aside from the London Games, The Dark Knight Massacre and Julia Gillard's latest blunder) it's very easy to forget about the instances of alcohol-fuelled stupidity that still goes on around the country. Bowden himself stated from his hospital bed that he and his friends had a few beers, decided to set off some firecrackers and then he, in his own words, 'put one in my arse'. Did he seriously expect to come out of that stunt unscathed? It goes without saying that shoving explosives up your backside is not a wise thing to do and that the repercussions are disastrous AND embarrassing. Trying to purchase a porno magazine at a local newsagent and then presenting your order to a female cashier is nothing compared to the level of humiliation that such stupid acts like this yields.

To be fair to Mr. Bowden, if trying to entertain his friends and leave them on the floor paralysed with laughter was his goal, well then mission accomplished even if it meant that his friends were laughing AT him rather than laughing WITH him. Which reminds me, someone should tell this guy to re-evaluate the types of people that he considers 'friends'. Friends don't let friends shove explosives up their butt, whether they're drunk or not. What's next? They're going to ask Mr. Bowden to test his tolerance for pain by jumping into an empty swimming pool full of thumb tacks naked, just as Weird Al Yankovic sang in one of his songs? Yech!!!!   

Some people out there would go to great lengths to entertain their friends and well, you have to admire them for that. It's great that they've got that desire to please the people that they love most. But resorting to silly stunts that are potentially harmful and/or deadly is not the way to go. The goal is to have people laughing with you, not at you, and definitely not to have them panicking over your damaged form. Besides, that is one good way to permanently trash your personal image and ego.

It's just not worth it.