Friday Rant

This morning I had a few things I wanted to get off my chest and now I can't remember what all of them were, but we'll start with the first.

"We" were called in to Em's teacher, because as it happened the other night, Em asked if we could adopt a baby girl and I said if we won the lotto we could maybe adopt a baby girl but we would adopt a baby from China, and she asked why China, so I told her about how in China because of over population they are only allowed one child, and most people want a boy because boys can work, so if they have a girl they either abandon them or kill them.  Which is the truth and you can read about it on the Internet.  But of course my beloved Em went to school and told her own version of the story, she always makes everything so dramatic, and of course she has a Chinese girl in her class who got upset (which you can't blame her).  So D was reprimanded in the morning and I had to face the music after school.

Now I know that we have to be careful of what we say, but surely telling my child the truth is allowed?  That is one thing about Ireland is everyone is "afraid" of the truth, everyone knows about these things but nobody talks about them, and that is why the Catholic priests got away with molesting young boys for so many many decades.  Everyone knew it was happening but were too afraid to challenge the Catholic church and expose them.

Oh yes the other thing I remembered about wanting to rant about this morning was "stereo typing", yesterday we had our boiler serviced, the guy arrived 45 minutes late, but you get used to that in Ireland, anyway he was a very pleasant 24 year old Irish Lad who had the gift of the gab.  When he arrived he asked me if I was from New Zealand and the first words that came out of my mouth were "No, Australia", and then I corrected myself and told him I was from South Africa.  For all his 24 years of age he knew quite a bit about South Africa from people he had met, some of it totally hogwash but some of it true.  Anyway we had a few discussions about Irish and South Africans while he was waiting for the "rads" to warm up, and when I said to him something about "all South Africans" he cut me short and said "are racist" which made me very angry and I soon put him right.  I thought that is like saying "All Irish people are Piss cats" or "All Nigerians are Drug dealers", there is good and bad in every nation, so why do people always paint everyone with the same brush?  If I said I worked for Superquinn people automatically think you work at the till, why is that????  I know I have done it before too.

My last rant for today.  DO PEOPLE IN IRELAND NOT KNOW WHAT A YIELD SIGN IS OR HOW TO USE IT????  I don't know how many times I have had to avoid an accident because some idiot has shot through a yield sign, and it happens to me every time I go to Dundrum!  I always park on level -1 and then when you come up the ramp you have right of way and the people approaching from the left have to yield, there is a BIG yield sign painted on the floor, but almost every time I come up the ramp someone comes speeding through the yield sign.  Then another place is secondary roads leading onto a main street, and bus lanes, there are certain times of the day that cars can use the bus lanes, and if you use the bus lane at the end of the bus lane is a yield sign, so if someone is in the normal lane you must yield, but most drivers in Ireland think the bus lane is the fast lane and use it to overtake traffic and then when they get to the end quickly shoot in front of oncoming traffic so that they have to brake.  I don't get it, surely you have to know what a yield sign is to pass your Drivers licence, or wait were you also one of the 2 million drivers that were just handed a drivers licence for having driven without one for twenty year, 90% of Irish drivers would fail their licence if they had to take it at the Johannesburg Testing ground!  Here is what the RSA (Road Safety Authority) in Ireland say about a yield sign:

"The Yield upright sign shown is just one version of this sign. Other versions are the same shape and colour but might say 'Yield Right of Way', or 'Géill Slí'. If you see a Yield sign on the road, usually near a junction or roundabout, you must give way to any traffic on a major road ahead and you must not proceed out onto the main road until it is safe to do so. It is better to be safe than sorry, make sure you allow enough time to complete your manoeuvre."