Warning!
This is a book for the open-minded only!
If you feel that you already know all about the mysteries of our existence, your view of life is set and you would like to keep it this way, then this book is not meant for you. Don't bother reading...
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With self-discipline most anything is possible.
- Theodore Roosevelt
All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed our short trip to London.
Like Paris, it is a city full of life, diversity and history.
And equally expensive (except for the food).
Still, the atmosphere is quite different. Have you ever noticed how you can often tell what country a group of - for example tourists - is from, simply by watching them? There is something in the way they look, move and interact that binds them all together and links them to their home countries.
In fact, some studies show that even couples that have been married for a long time tend to look similar. Therefore, how much more influential is probably the environment that somebody was born into and has been exposed to all his life. . .
And I do mean this in the most positive way possible. (As I personally don't subscribe to the view that we should pretend all people are the same and that acknowledging that somebody is different automatically means that we discriminate that person. Why should diversity be a bad thing? After all: nobody would really want to live in a world where everybody looks, acts and thinks the same, would they?
On that note: I also believe that there are differences between men and women. Just to give one example: women's bodies contain a higher percentage of fat than men's (sigh). Again, I don't think that this is a bad thing (although I could do with a bit less of that fat. . .), as long as these diffences are not being used as an excuse to suppress one gender or the other.)
But I digress (once again. . .).
Having safely arrived back home and after having endured another challenging week in the WFA, I allowed myself to relax in front of the tv the following Sunday. Sitting in the living room on the couch, I absentmindedly ran my fingers through Niggi's fur, while using the remote in my other hand to flip through the five TV-channels we were able to receive.
One program in particular caught my eyes and I decided to stick with it. A guy - probably a scientist - was talking, explaining an experiment he and his team were conducting. It definitely sounded interesting. After all, I've always loved learning about all kinds of experiments!
This one was carried out with a man who was allergic to so many different things, he was basically not able to lead a normal human life any more. Every time he got into contact with any of the substances that were offensive to him, his bodily reactions would quickly go from normal via sneezing, itching and swellings to asthma attacks. And he had come close to having an allergic shock a few times.
Unfortunately, he was in the habit of developing these possibly lethal symptoms just by being exposed to tiny quantities of usually harmless agents like dust, pollen or animal hair. Which are kind of hard to avoid, if you as much as step out of the door. . .
