Rubbish Drivers - A Rant

I have an issue with bad drivers. I especially have a problem with bad drivers during adverse weather conditions.

Today, I had to drive south on M40. This is usually my favourite road. But not during the rush hour. It is a prime location for tail gaters. I had no idea that the arse of my car is that attractive...

Today, the British Isles are white with snow. The scenery is beautiful, but the roads are icey, slushy and dirty. And here in lies my issues...

People who drive white or silver cars when it snows or is foggy, and don't put on their headlights are just dumb. People who drive so close behind me that I can't see their lights or numberplate are also dumb. And people who drive over 80mph on icey roads are dumb too.

And people who pull in front of lorries and slam on their brakes. Dumb.

To the woman who pulled in front of me and braked suddenly,  when I was about 100 meters in front of a very big lorry that also slammed on his brakes when he realised what the stupid bitch had done, I say this... lorries do not have the same braking distance as cars in perfect driving conditions, let alone in wintery blizzards. In the split second it took me to realise that I was about to get squished, and noting that the next lane was busy with a speeding coach,  I had no alternative but to swerve on to the hard shoulder. Luckily for me, the lorry driver didn't have the same idea...

She not only did a bloody stupid thing, but she could have been responsible for me being squished and a jack knifed lorry.

Thank you to the lorry driver who joined me in a blare of horns. We frightened the shit out of her!

Deservedly so.

©2013 Kari Milburn

The Gentle Giant

The following is a short feature I wrote for a magazine whilst living in Singapore. I was 20, and that was back in 1993. I had since been amazed and proud how the world wide outcry of poaching had managed to protect the African elephants, our planets most noble of creatures.
I am now heart broken to hear that the rise of the Chinese market in ivory has meant that again, the poachers are killing. There is absolutely no need for this. None.

None.

It must stop.

THE GENTLE GIANT

It was over eighteen years ago, whilst the poachers in Africa were still legally hunting elephants for their ivory, when my mother took my two sisters to the zoo.  Gina, who was then three, gazed up with wonder into the eyes of an African Elephant.  "Do they bite?"  She asked.

Lisa, the all knowledgeable elder sister, then five, replied after much thought,  "Only when you pick them up."

A child's imagination stretches far beyond the bounds of reality.  They live in a dream world, learning new things every day.  But a young child would not understand the meaning of the word extinction.  Their imagination finds it difficult to understand that man can kill simply for a symbol of status - ivory.

A child would instinctively say, "As white as snow";  "As bright as the sun";  "As big as an elephant."  What will they say when all of the elephants are dead?

Contrary to popular belief,  poaching is still a big business, despite the efforts to curb the needless killing.  Ivory is still wildly available across the globe.  It is still classed as a luxury.

Most governments have ceased to import ivory, hoping it will lead to the end of poaching.  But it is not working.  The poachers of Africa still risk their lives in the hunt.

The intricate workmanship on some magnificent ivory carvings can make us all stand and gaze in awe, but the better understanding of how ivory is obtained has made us start to view these objects in a completely new light.  We can no longer admire what we have come to realise.

There is no justification for wholesale slaughter of noble animals just for us to admire a carving.

Until we all class an ivory ornament as repulsive, vulgar and unrefined, the slaughtering will continue.

An elephant is intelligent, friendly, trusting. They have feelings just like our own; joy, pride, sadness, dejection, dignity, shame, loneliness.

An elephant will bury a fellow member of the herd when it is killed. And it will morn it's death, shedding tears.

An orphan elephant would never forget watching the slaughter of its family.  It would cry out for its mother well into its adult life.

A large graceful creature - Is an elephant not scared of a mouse?

I am amazed that any rational human being would be involved in bringing about the extinction of creatures of such grandeur and might.  It makes one reflect on who exactly, is the animal.

I have no children of my own, as yet, but I could not imagine a childhood without 'effelents', as I so fondly remember them.  I know that my voice is one small voice.  But if all the small voices in the world could unite, then the resulting shout must be heeded by those who can do something about this tragedy.

To the poachers, killing is just a way of making a living.  To the elephants, it is an end to living.  And to the children it would be never knowing.

©2013 Kari Milburn

The High Street

Today, another giant on the High Street has gone into administration. As HMV searches high and low for a saviour, I ask one simple question... does it really matter that much?! What's wrong with change?

The internet has changed the way we shop, and we have grasped it with open arms, welcomed it into our lives and wondered how we ever survived without it. So this is our doing... Jessops, Comet, HMV... and thats not to mention the hundreds of others, large and small.

Who remembers when C&A went belly up? The eighties recession saw many fall by the way side. But the High Street survived. It faced adversity in the face and poked its tongue out at it.

Everything changes all the time. I remember record shops (proper record shops) and tobacconists on every corner. I remember sweet shops and even sticker shops! I remember milk men and post being delivered before 7am. 3 TV channels and car stereos that only had radios. Progression and change go hand in hand, sadly. You cant have one without the other.

So to those people saying that its a shame HMV are in administration, I say stop buying on iTunes and Amazon. Cancel your subscription to Sky Movies and take your CD player out of the attic....

Yeah, right!!!

©2013 Kari Milburn