The Monday Mix (21/11/2022)
Hi friends,
I was busy working last night and only remembered I had to send out this email at the last minute, and by that time I was knackered and decided to call it a night. So I decided to send it today instead.
As it’s a day late, I’ll get into what I want to share. Normally, I wouldn’t share two articles from the same site, but as they both relate to experiences I’ve had, I thought I’d share and elaborate on why I relate to them.
Dangerous Cars
One of the things that doesn't get mentioned much when it comes to cities is how often people get hit by cars. While this has been declining in Europe, accidents between cars and pedestrians have been increasing in America. Given how big some of the cars are over there, you’re going to be severely hurt if you get hit by one of them as the author of this piece.
Reading this was illuminating and uncomfortable for me as I’ve been hit twice by cars while cycling (one of them at 4:45 am while on the way to work!) and had numerous near misses. Both the accidents weren’t my fault but I have been responsible for some of the near misses. While I was lucky to walk away both times, I was only a few seconds away from being as badly injured as the writer. Reading what she went through and the injuries she suffered, I’m grateful the worst I had was a few cuts and bruises.
This brings me back to my trip to the Netherlands in the summer. They have fantastic infrastructure, which accommodates cars, cyclists and pedestrians. You feel safe walking around city centres and you can easily get around on a bike without worrying about cars. More countries should adopt policies like the Netherlands if they want to reduce these deaths and legislate to reduce the size of cars. Some of which are just stupidly big nowadays.
Problem Gambling
The second article from The Guardian, and the second relates to experiences I’ve had. While I’ve never had gambling problems like the ones described in the article, I used to work in one of the shops mentioned and saw these problems firsthand.
One instance will stay with me forever. Someone won around £1500 on one of the fixed betting terminals machines, came in to collect the money and proceeded to walk straight back to the machine and put £1000 back in, lost it and walked out. This was in my first months on the job and I was dumbfounded. It was then I just realised just how nefarious gambling addictions can be. The money some people lost betting on horses and greyhounds was insane.
As the article states, the irony is that the companies start to restrict what you can bet on when you start winning but have no such issue with you burning through thousands of your own money. Not once was I ever told to ask someone if they felt they were betting too much. Gambling is a part of life and you’re never going to stop the instinct to flutter on sports. But these companies need to be more accountable to the people who have gambling addictions than they currently are.
Brokenism
This is a good piece on how we appear to have become more divided than ever yet very few would classify ourselves as a certain label. For example, how likely are you to define yourself as a conservative or a liberal? I’m not a conservative, but I respect that conservatives are sceptical of ideology and defend tradition. While I lean more towards being a liberal, it’s not a term I’d ever use to define myself. I’m not sure how I classify my politics at all. Green Social Democrat is probably the closest term to my political beliefs.
In this day and age of bitter divides and polarized opinions, there probably still is more that unites us than divides us.
Book I’m reading - River Kings by Cat Jarman
Interesting book that looks at the Vikings and how their influence might have extended further than we think. It’s fascinating learning about parts of history I’m not familiar with and that are close to home too. Looks like the Vikings were traders with the East as well raiding Northern Europe.
Quote I’m pondering: – “I think the most important thing about music is the sense of escape.” – Thom Yorke
That’s all for this week.
Until next time,
Tom