Do you want to share something you love or hate? Has something been weighing on your mind? Then write it out! If you have a quick rant or rave that youād like to submit for publication, contact the Opinions Editor at opinions@theotherpress.caāwe want to hear from you!
I think I may be alone here, but I canāt stand when intersections or guard railings have make-shift memorials planted beside them, āhonouringā someone who died there. First off, I thought thatās what cemeteries were for? If weāre going to be erecting tributes everywhere someone died, then places like hospitals would be overflowing with things like flowers and plush animals. Frankly, seeing roadside memorials is depressing and after a few days in the rain, unpleasant to look out. If you want a way to warn drivers about a potentially hazardous intersection or piece of road, maybe start a petition to have a sign put in instead of transplanting a temporary garden. -Roadside rage
Headphones are my favourite accessory. I want to acknowledge that few peopleāmyself includedāactually look good sporting massive pods on either side of their head, but after I recently canned my earbuds in favour of something more substantial, I know I canāt go back. Iāve always had trouble making earbuds stay in my bizarrely small ears, but even apart from that, the experience of listening to music on headphones is so much better. Ears donāt hurt from having music blasted directly into the drum; they block outside noise much better, so I donāt have to listen to honking cars or chirping birds if I donāt want to; and if you invest in a good pair, the sound quality is much better. Theyāre spectacularly dorky-looking, and arenāt nearly as sleek or subtle as the easily hidden earbuds, but thereās really no other way to listen to music. -Music to my earsĀ
Iām nowhere near being an expert in health, but Iām really sick of hearing about how unhealthy binge drinking is, and how college students are slowly killing themselves one bottle at a time. No oneās pretending that theyāre paragons of health by downing shots, and to be honest, few people even think about the effects of alcohol on their liver when theyāre at a party. Thatās one of the points of going to a party: have fun, and forget about exams, commitments, and other concerns. Iām well aware that it would be better to limit how much alcohol I consume. My hangover the morning after drives that point home just fine without articles and advertisements warning me that my organs are shrivelling up. Obviously people should be safe, drink with people they trust to avoid becoming vulnerable, and not die. Those warnings are fine, but Iām young, I like to have fun, and I donāt want to hear about how my having fun is dangerous to the health of my organs. -Sorry for party rocking
I donāt think this gets emphasized enough outside of fights that develop from little white lies, but honesty really is the best policy. Every once in a while Iāll find myself in a situation where telling someone the truth will be awkward and embarrassing, possibly hurtful, and almost definitely complicated, and like most people, Iām tempted to lie. Whether by omission or admission, a lie is almost always the easiest way to go, at least in the short-term. But Iām slowly finding, based on the few times that Iāve recently had to confront my aversion to honesty, that I donāt regret telling the truth. I donāt regret being honest about what Iāve thought, felt, or done. I only regret other peopleās reactions to my honesty, and their reactions are up to themānot me. So, much as I donāt really have anything against lying (itās still a tempting little treat), Iām finding more and more that I love being honest. -TBH
