Friday 2 May 2008

accidents and emergencies

you know, i was going to post yesterday about may day, workers rights, exploitation and all that, but well, it didn't work out that way. so i'll save it all for a labour day post.

and it was a trying night, up 4 times to tend to my girl. a reminder of the days when they were little babies. i am SO glad i don't have to do that any more; last night was enough to wear me out completely. now i wonder how i did it for several months in a row? actually, i couldn't have done it without my mum, who would drop in every morning at 9am on the dot, and keep my little darling for two hours while i caught up on sleep. i can't imagine how women bring up children when they don't have their mums. they are either much more resilient than me, or they must suffer badly.

and something happened yesterday to stop me feeling sorry for myself in my current predicament. as i was leaving work for the accident and emergency centre, an ambulance came speeding past with lights flashing, obviously in an emergency. i hate seeing speeding ambulances, it's one of the worst sights i can think of. because it's a reminder that someone is dying or critically ill. i always say a little prayer in my heart for the person the ambulance is rushing to, and their family, hoping all get through their troubles with a positive outcome. so i watched the ambulance go flashing past and thought to myself, well at least my baby only has a fractured bone. it could have been so much worse.


i saw the shape of water tonight. it seemed so relevant in light of yesterday's post. intresting that the ethos behind the film was to break the stereotype that all women in developing countries were victims, by showing women who were making a positive difference in their countries. here were women of colour (well, except the jewish "women in black", but hey, what courageous women) being strong, under difficult circumstances. i wanted to be them. i hope that once my kids are able to stand on their two feet, i'm going to be able to travel the world and be an on-the-ground activist like that. maybe join the international women's peace service, or some similar organisation. there's so much to be done, and only one lifetime to do it in. hardly seems fair!

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