Rants and Raves

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 you’d like to submit for publication, contact the Opinions Editor at opinions@theotherpress.ca—we want to hear from you!

I think I may be alone here, but I can’t stand when intersections or guard railings have make-shift memorials planted beside them, “honouring” someone who died there. First off, I thought that’s what cemeteries were for? If we’re 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 people—myself included—actually 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 can’t go back. I’ve 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 don’t hurt from having music blasted directly into the drum; they block outside noise much better, so I don’t have to listen to honking cars or chirping birds if I don’t want to; and if you invest in a good pair, the sound quality is much better. They’re spectacularly dorky-looking, and aren’t nearly as sleek or subtle as the easily hidden earbuds, but there’s really no other way to listen to music. -Music to my ears 

I’m nowhere near being an expert in health, but I’m really sick of hearing about how unhealthy binge drinking is, and how college students are slowly killing themselves one bottle at a time. No one’s pretending that they’re paragons of health by downing shots, and to be honest, few people even think about the effects of alcohol on their liver when they’re at a party. That’s one of the points of going to a party: have fun, and forget about exams, commitments, and other concerns. I’m 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 I’m young, I like to have fun, and I don’t want to hear about how my having fun is dangerous to the health of my organs. -Sorry for party rocking

I don’t 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 I’ll 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, I’m 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 I’m slowly finding, based on the few times that I’ve recently had to confront my aversion to honesty, that I don’t regret telling the truth. I don’t regret being honest about what I’ve thought, felt, or done. I only regret other people’s reactions to my honesty, and their reactions are up to them—not me. So, much as I don’t really have anything against lying (it’s still a tempting little treat), I’m finding more and more that I love being honest. -TBH