Good advertising

I don’t want to write about what troubles me but I did find another good subject which I hope will interest you. Addiction is not a sexy topic, it is surrounded by shame and this shame is carried by society. Yeah, I guess that is called a taboo. Well, the Dutch government just found a BEAUTIFUL way of getting messages across about smoking while being pregnant. I heard it a few days ago and thought it was brilliant! This is not an exact translation but the radio ad was something like:

Woman: “I am pregnant, so I quit smoking.”
Voice over: “Smoking while pregnant will damage the health of the baby.”
Boy: “My sister is pregnant and she does not smoke.”
Voice becomes part of the conversation: “You can help her by not seducing her.”
Boy: “DUUUDE???!!??!!!! She IS MY SISTER!?!!!”
Voice over: “Do not smoke when she is around so you do not seduce her into smoking.”

I found this funny obviously but also particularly good because the government really made an effort to get the message across in a way which can be heard because it is funny. That takes the taboo away. That makes me hopeful. 🙂

More information in Dutch, on this website of the Dutch government. And more on the do-not-smoke-while-pregnant campagne.

TIPS

1 Quit smoking together; if your partner is pregnant and quit smoking, you quit smoking too. That is easier for her.

2 Postpone smoking / do not smoke around pregnant women so you do not seduce them.

3 Smoke out of sight: seeing somebody smoke, makes people smoke, do not seduce a pregnant woman who quit smoking.

4 Do not ask pregnant women who quit smoking to shop for cigarets.

5 Set boundaries: tell others that you will not smoke around pregnant women (so to stimulate them to do the same)

Maybe I should try to pursue a job in a project like this. I am all not for 😉 setting up my own ‘I help you quit service’ because I am not the person for that. I am pretty sure I get irritated with people who do not do as I say. 😀 Which is a simple: just don’t drink. That is all there is to quitting. Ha! And then…… ghegheghe… arrrrrrr, life happens. That is where the swearing starts. 🙂 But a non-personal, more businessy approach would suit me well I think.

Oh, yeah, why am I thinking of this? Because I am so tired of my current job. I feel the heat of the audit which is coming up and ooh my, I am not ready, the company is not ready, the shit is hitting the fan and it, well, just hurts. On top of that a tire from my bike exploded; I had filled it up with cold air, pretty hard, in the morning and then put it out in the sun so it burst. All of my life there has been a comparison between the state of my bike and my personal life so, gheghe, I was not amused. I did something good though: I accepted help when my boss asked me to drop me off somewhere. Secondly I asked my neighbour to change the inner tire, which he did happily. He is sweet. 🙂 But just to illustrate how my life is running currently: my boss drove me back into town, I mentioned a crossing which he knew too. At some point he decided to take the highway, I tried to protest but did not get my arguments right, had forgotten why I never take that road. I remembered when we drove into this traffic jam. So I offered to get out at an earlier point and walked home. The next day I would take the bus but it was a national holiday so the normal busses were not running. At the last moment I realised that I did not have enough credit on my travel chipcard to return after work so I had to get that and missed the first connection. Just in case I had to walk on my heels I had taken some light weight sandals with me only to find out that it was way too cold to walk. I took off my boots and noticed I was wearing a grey and a dark blue sock as a result from putting them on in a dark room. So much for keeping my feet warm in the middle of nowhere. Socks in sandals are (very much not) ok when nobody sees it (but I could not care less that day). Different coloured socks in sandals are 1 big step too far. 😀

I went to buy a new tire. Walked to the closest shop, it was closed. The second closest to me would not open till 2 hours later. The third closest to me sold me a tire of low quality but since I had not bought one for years myself, I did not realise until I felt the quality of the tube when it was on the bike. This is how my life is currently; wading against the stream, continuously, with everything. I spoke with my boss about it. Should not have.

I had help at work, asks a person to make a stock list of certain items. She did, checked and double checked. I check the list a month later and there are items on it which do not even exist, never have existed and permanent items which well, go with the building, which are not on it. 30 Mistakes on a 6 page list. I know I have the assumption that everything is difficult but F! everything IS difficult and setting me back. Every two steps forward is one step back, if not two. I NEED to change this attitude because it is influencing me and my colleagues. My boss is getting tired of me because, gheghe, he is used to me being the one who cheers him up and now he has to cheer me up. Not good. He does not like that. He feels entitled to me cheering him up.

I guess that is something I have been doing all my life. When I had the vision of my twin brother dying I realised that all of my life I have been checking for disease in people and cheering people up when they are down. Both are must-do’s for me. I put my life’s energy in people in order to revive them. I assume that is how people like me. And when I don’t, boyfriends got angry. Always. I am tired. I hardly restore in the weekends. Eat bad convenience foods in order to try to revive me but well, we all know that does not work. I fear to feel. I fear to not be connected to a computer, I fear to realise that I am alive. I keep on thinking that ‘all will change after the audit’. I think I need to change before otherwise I will not survive. Aaah, the forces within.

New day: the production team of 8 has now 2 people less. 1 Head person and 1 good employee both left for reasons to do with their private life. The packing department was upset over everything and called a meeting with the boss. All kinds of things go haywire at work. Difficult to keep my centre. Worked hard today but went home ‘early’ as in after only 9 hours of work. Off to bed now, no use in hanging around Netflixing. 🙂 The need to take care of me is big. The powers within are big and unstable.

I am happy that I quit though. I can well remember the nausea I would feel by now over drinking too much. The actions I would have to take to wake up ‘fresh’ tomorrow. Aaahrg, gross. I am happy that I quit and I will go do what a woman who loves herself does: take care of me.

I am grateful for the new tire in my bike. Grateful for the beautiful weather and the tiny ducklings in the pond on the way to work. So sweet. 🙂

Wishing you a nice sober day / evening.

xx, Feeling