Refrain, gain

I have absolutely nothing to write about. It´s probably because the last week has been lacking intelligent challenges (expect for new boardgames) and filled with telly and aimless wandering around the house. Another good reason for disliking holidays: there´s nowhere to go and nothing to do.

Before holidays, though, I was struggling with gift issues. Not because I was unable to decide what to get but whether I should buy stuff at all. I read someone´s writing about anti-materialism and it got me thinking. Of course I´ve been aware of the idea before. It´s true that nowadays people buy stuff mostly because we are used to it and encouraged to do that. If we all just stopped pleasure shopping it would be considered normal, right? Bad things would happen to the economy though.

I wondered what are my very own reasons for shopping. Is it the culture or that ancient instinct of a hunter-gatherer? As for christmas pressies, I think I just genuinely wanted to be nice to my folks after my few-months' absence. However, for many years I´ve been deliberately refusing to browse in shops: a pass-time shared by millions of westen women. It´s not normal, okey, if you don´t NEED anything!

Giving up unimportant shopping (or shopping as recreation) is like giving up fatty foods after having a stroke. Well, it´s not really. (But if you shop hard enough you´ll go bankrupt.) Let´s take another example. It´s like becoming a vegetarian. You know you´re doing the right thing. You might sometimes feel tempted to pop in to a sale and maybe you even fall. But at the back of your head you always know that refraining is not only good for yourself but also good in bigger scale.

Which leads me to a more current topic: chocolate! I have placed a bet on a Chocolate-Free January instead of "Tipaton Tammikuu" which is less relevant in my case. Me and my little sister will stay clear of Karl Fazer and friends for a month. The fallen one will bake a cake for the winner. 

The bottom line in this random writing seems to be that some kind of refraining can be a good mental practise. And usually something good comes out of it.

Breaking news (with an icicle)

United Kingdom is a country known for its rainy, mild weather. I personally find the constant greyness absolutely depressing. They also say that the weather is unpredictable which is actually false. It'll rain for certain every time of the year!

That's why it's with growing amusement I've been watching poor Brits face this exceptionally cold and snowy weather. In Wales the temperature even plunged 17 degrees below zero whereas in Manchester things were pretty okey with mere -5 or so. We saw some serious snowing during about a week in the end of last month. It hailed as well and roads were covered with, if not thick layer of snow, so called black ice. Train and bus services were delayed or cancelled and people got stuck on the roads and airports.

The most amusing bit is yet to come! (I don't see anything funny about sleeping in a cold car because it broke down. Although you fellow-Finns might think to yourself why that kind of thing even happened in the first place!)

Delays in public transport caused tardiness and people complained. I asked myself if somebody has that great a job? Number of schools were closed because of "the freezing weather" but of course mine was open all along. I read a story in the paper where a teacher said that they sent pupils home around noon because of the weather. But if they've already made it to school what's the point sending them back home?  I suppose heavy snowing is so shocking for kids that they're better off at home.

I don't envy car owners either. Car can be rather a curse than a blessing. It's such a pain to boil the kettle and go out pour water over the windscreen. And wipers! Dear god, they're completely useless in removing frost!

It's utterly stirring for a Finn to see how people simply aren't use to the cold or the white matter. For the whole duration of the "chaos" I felt weirdly fresh and brisk and enjoyed my cuppa tea and mittens more than ever. Some people seemed to actually get quite excited about. I smiled at students playing with the snow. Teenage girls were "soooo embarrassed" when falling over in their UGG-boots and leopard-leggins. (Please, notice me, am I not cute just like Bambi?)

The funniest thing is that media, and people, too, see "extreme" cold and snow as a large-scale nature disaster. The word "chaos" is seen in papers more often than comma and people are urged to "tell their stories and send their pictures" on the snowy hell. I'm sure the media is not exaggerating. What I don't understand is why people have to try to go to out in the first place.

Don't get me wrong, dear Brits. I'm not trying to make you look like whining wimps. I think you've been very brave. Keep stocking up that bread and milk!

P.S. The police got nearly hundred reports on kids throwing snowballs. I guess you always need someone to blame.