Two Year Old Run Over - Twice

A couple of days ago someone called our attention to an horrific accident in China, where a 2 year old girl was run over by a van, and left to lie on the road.  People walked past her tiny body without looking or stopping, and yet another vehicle ran over her.  Finally a woman saw her and rushed to drag her from the path of vehicles. Her mother then arrived on the scene.

One of the comments on the newspaper report was from an Australian, who said

For one person to walk by, that's an attitude. For 19 to do so, that's CULTURE. I hope there is a good deal of outrage in China about this.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2050081/Video-footage-girl-2-run-TWICE-dozens-people-ignore-China.html#ixzz1bPQEoHXC

There is tremendous outrage over the incident, and, I believe, also about the fact that the footage was posted to the web.  The newspaper report gives the impression that this all took place over a long period of time, whereas the video itself is just 7.01minutes long, and most of it is the television reporter speaking.  The whole sickening ordeal for this tiny girl took only a very short while.

The horrendous part of this is, firstly, that the van driver knew he had hit something, and STOPPED.  He didn't get out of the van, he just started driving again, and ran over YueYue with the back wheels as well.   People walked past, TRAFFIC VEERED AROUND HER TINY BODY  and didn't pause.  The next vehicle was actually a small truck, which didn't pause, just ran over her legs, with front and back wheels.

When a woman finally saw her and went to investigate, she did EVERYTHING wrong, and the poor tiny girl was dragged around like a rag doll.

I challenge anyone to witness this and not feel sheer horror, anguish, and outrage at the callous disregard shown by the people walking or driving by.  It doesn't matter if it is an adult, a child or an animal - surely our own humanity must compel us to stop and assist?  To stop, get out and CHECK, after we KNOW we have hit something?  Arresting the two drivers is all well and good but it won't bring that baby's life back to her.

Sadly, this isn't a new phenomenon, just an old one, with the new twist that the poor little girl was repeatedly run over.  We can point fingers and blame the Chinese culture all we like, but the apathetic attitude displayed is not confined to China! 

I don't even know if it is a product of the "big city" but I do know that the indifference, perhaps insensibility of people towards other people's pain and suffering has been with us always.  We only have to look at our homeless to see what consequences our uncaring attitude towards others has produced.

Probably 44 years ago, I worked for Shell Company in Sydney. Our office windows, 7 floors up, overlooked Wynyard Park, through which commuters used to flood from the underground railway station. At the beginning of the day we noticed a man asleep under a tree, his back leaning against the tree trunk, head down, arms folded.  When it was morning break we realised he was still sleeping in the same spot.  I remember remarking that it was a lovely warm place to sleep.  Not long after that we witnessed Police erecting a screen around the man, and an ambulance standing by.  This poor man had died.  He was surrounded by dozens and dozens of people having coffees, reading, chatting, strolling past or just sitting in the park in the sun.   And yet it took until almost midday for someone to check on him.   Needless to say, we felt extreme guilt that we hadn't gone down into the park to check.   It hadn't actually occurred to us to do so.
The incident did change my attitude though.

Wynyard Park, Sydney

Probably 6 years later, and I was living in England.  I walked from work to the town centre during my lunch hour and in the street  there was a man, face-down, half in and half out of the gutter.  He was being very sick.   It was only 12.30 pm and I thought it perhaps a little too early for him to be drunk.  He was well dressed, in a suit, tie, white shirt.  I got no response from him when I asked what help he needed.   I went running into the market square looking for a telephone and was fortunate to see a police constable walking toward me. He thanked me and said he would check immediately.
   

The man lay on footpath exactly where this man is standing

To this day I have no idea what was wrong with the man, and guess it doesn't really matter.  What did matter to me was that I didn't walk past - everyone else did, and who knows how long he had been there?  I felt they were making a judgment call, and believed him to be drunk.  Even so, would you leave him there without checking?  Dozens of other people walked past him in either direction, without the slightest interest.

So is this a CULTURE, as the lady from Brisbane commented?  Or is it just general apathy?  The old "don't involve me, I don't want any trouble" syndrome?

Whatever it is, it seems that it is a trait that goes back into antiquity, and has nothing to do with a single country or any one race of people.  It is an indictment against all of us.

Man's inhumanity to man
Makes countless thousands mourn!

Does This Chocolate Make My Bum Look Big?

Oh what amazing fun - I just discovered an event I had no idea existed, and all I can do now is double up giggling.   The object of my mirth?  Salon Du Chocolat in Paris.

It was apparently the 17th annual Salon, where fashion designers and chocolatiers from around the world come together with their choccy creations, and showcase them on the runway.
 

Besides cocoa-based confections, there are exhibits, chocolate-making demonstrations, chocolate sculptures, a bookstore and a Cocoa Show in which cocoa-producing countries present traditional music and dances from Bolivia, Brazil, Indonesia and other locales. One of the biggest highlights is the annual runway show of chocolate and pastry-inspired fashions, this year sponsored by designer Chantal Thomass.

For more,  see UPI photos here

The first picture I came across had me in total fits, tears rolling down my cheeks (facial ones!), until the thought hit me that only an ultra slender model would be able to get away with this design.  It makes even her derriere look rather wide. 

Then the dreadful worry - what about the heat of the lights, and the audience, even the model's body heat?   They must need to have the air conditioning turned to -3deg.  Just imagine the mess if it all started to melt and run.  Not to mention the naked bodies!   Would there been a stampede from the audience for samples? Would they have a fist fight over the cherries?

 

One thing, I imagine it would be tremendous fun, not to mention an education.  Having visited the shop "Death by Chocolate" in Sydney some years ago, I think I would restrain myself from sampling.  They really meant what they said by "Death"  - too much of a good thing is very easy to have when it combines chocolate, fresh fruit, fresh cream etc.  And the desserts were each big enough for 4 to share.  Kind of ridiculous really.  You have two choices - eat and be ill, or waste it shamelessly!   Divine but ridiculous!

Just imagine your next "posh frock" being made of chocolate!  Do you reckon you would actually get out the door, let alone to your destination?   Especially if you have a few tiny rug rats running around - or an amorous partner with a sweet tooth.   The mind runs away with the thoughts .............

A Recipe for Fun - OR, A Funny Recipe

After talking about perception, and singing loudly to make your mind concentrate on happy things and not negatives, I thought I would add another suggestion to "change your thinking" - find something to laugh about!   Laughter always makes those little neurotransmitters sit up and dance!  There a millions of things "out there" to make you laugh.

I thought I would just put something on here for you to chew on, all ready for Christmas.  If you have used this recipe in the past you will still use it again I am sure.  If you haven't used it - what's stopping you?  (wink)

The finished cake

CHRISTMAS CAKE


1 cup of water
1tsp baking soda
1 cup of sugar
1 tsp salt
1 cup brown sugar
lemon juice
4 large eggs
nuts
1 bottle vodka
2 cups dried fruit
1 cup of butter

1.  Sample the vodka to check quality

2. Take a large bowl, check the vodka again.

3. To be sure it is of the highest quality, pour one 
     level cup and drink
     
4. Repeat.

5. Turn on the electric mixer

6. Beat one cup of butter in a large fluffy bowl.

7. Add one teaspoon of sugar

8. Beat again.

9. At this point it is best to make sure the vodka is    
    shtill O.K.

10. Try another cup, just in case

11. Turn off the mixerer thingy

12. Break 2 egga and add to the bowl and chuck in the  cup of dried fruit

13. Pick the frigging fruit up off floor

14. Mix on the turner

15. If the fride druit gets stuck in the beaterers just pry it loose with a drewscriver

16 Sample the wodka to check for tonsisticity

17 Next sift two cups of salt

18 Or something.  Who giveshz a shit

19 Check the vodka

20 Now shift the lemon juice and strain your nuts.  Add one table

21 Add a sppon of sugar or somefink. Whatever you can find

22 Greash the overn

23 Turn the cake tin 360 degrees and try not to fall over

24 Don't forget to beat off the turner.  Finally, throw the bowl through the window

25 Finish the vodka and kick the cat


CHERRY MISTMAS!

The Bug in the Box

It's all about perception.  Everything is as we perceive it to be.  I am sticking out my neck and probably will have my head cut off for this blog, but I am willing!  My stand on all of life is that it is about what we see, and mostly about what we WANT to see.   Even about our own attitudes it boils down to perception.

What do you perceive?

If you see yourself as weak, you will be - you will go out of your way to BE weak - even if it is subconsciously, you will manage to be weak if you perceive of yourself as weak!   Victims of bullies are always people who see themselves as weak and ineffectual.  And vice versa.   As usual we are our greatest enemies. 

Have you ever got out of bed and felt a bit down, and then told yourself you KNOW that this will be a dreadful day?   What happened?  Yep!  It was a DREADFUL day - and most of it was simply because you had decided it would be.  So everything that happened that day became a trial, or a nuisance, a disaster, whatever!  If, on the other hand, you had felt a bit down and said to yourself "I will be great once I have my cuppa!" - your day would have been so totally different.  

I have seen this type of perception explained as a "self-fulfilling prophecy" and couldn't agree more.  Oh, don't get me wrong, I am so guilty of this myself, and can't think of one person I know who isn't.   My blog has been idle for a while because I saw myself as too ill, or too tired or some other feeble excuse not to talk to you.  Once I gave myself a hard mental shake, it was just so easy!  As it is all too easy to fall into my own trap - and if that happens I become an invalid overnight.  I become INVALID.

It takes enormous mental effort to be aware (cognisant) of our thoughts (perceptions) and to change them.  You need to work hard to overcome a lot of your current mindset.  I have read a recent blog by a little friend who has depression.  She lost her tablets, and instantly fell into a state where whe felt she couldn't function without them.  So she retreated virtually to childhood - it was easier!  She will most likely hate me for this, as it is not going to be a hug, but a bit brutal.

She needed to change her perceptions immediately she lost the tablets.  Big deep breath.  Slow down.  Methodically look for the pills.  O.K. you suffer if you don't have them, but you made yourself suffer worse by not taking yourself by the scruff of the neck, giving yourself a good shake, and asking "what the hell do I think I am doing here?".  A negative attitude breeds more negativity yeah?  I am not a psychologist, have only learned through bitter experience, but I do understand that once you let yourself wallow you are damned well doomed. 

Well?  Are the stairs going down or up? lol

It is so easy, and human, to feel sorry for yourself.  And it actually makes your illness ten times worse.  Your mind can affect your health, to put it simply.  You can see that at work, just think about when you "feel sick"  -  if you feel a bit nauseous and concentrate on that feeling, you end up being horrendously sick, head down the toilet, moaning and sweating.   You can actually take the feeling away by concentrating on other things, deep breathing and refusing to think about the nausea.   I have done it!  It works!  My daughter has done it also, with a bit of coaching.

One brilliant illustration of changing the way your mind works is to use singing!   I maintain that if you smile on the outside, your inside simply ends up following along, and you feel happy!   If you start to think negative thoughts, be aware of what you are thinking.  It is so difficult to learn how to turn the thoughts off, so use an aid that works wonders - put on your favourite music and sing!  Loudly as you want to, the louder the better!   And after a while you can take note of how you feel.   Guarantee you that you will be 100% better. 

I will probably put more on my blog about changing your thoughts - in fact it isn't such a bad idea to break this down into parts.  First part is you gotta sing honey!  SING!  And the "Bug in the Box"?   My perception.   I had a box of arnica cream for the bruising on my grossly swollen feet.  I picked up the box and could feel something bumping around inside it.   I immediately thought there must be a beetle or a cockroach or something in the box.  I held it to my ear and could HEAR it bumping and trying to get out.  I could "see" the bug in my mind, and went into a mini freakout.   So I asked my husband if he could get the tube out for me, as if it was one of those brown beetles I would flip, and if it was a cockroach then I am gone like a bullet. He held the box, nothing.  He listened to the box, nothing.  He went to open it, and by this time I have thoroughly convinced myself that something will come blasting out - so I was about six feet away from him.   He reached in and pulled out the tube of cream.   NOTHING was in the box, no bug, just an empty box.

The noise?  The movement?  He explained to me that I was shaking badly and it would have moved the tube and made it bump around.  I hadn't realised I was shaking, and my perception was that there must have been a creepy crawlie in there.   Mind over matter.  It's all about perception!