google-site-verification: google935433b691795853.html KRISTY BERRIDGE: 2017-01-22

Friday 27 January 2017

When are you too old to work?
If I answered this question from the bottom of my heart, I’d probably say it’s around about the time the nappies come off. Let’s face it, age is irrelevant when the inclination to never clock a time card, lift a shovel, educate the young, enter nonsensical data or stitch up cuts is forever in the forefront of our lazy minds.

It is a rarity indeed to meet someone who actually enjoys pulling time at a nine-to-five. Work is merely a consequence of existence, a way of life we humans have propagated since the time of bartering and monetary exchange. There is no such thing as a free ride and work has simply become a fact of life.

So the question of what age is too old to reel in an income really comes down to personal choice. Obviously there are physical factors that come into play: disabilities, declining function of limbs, vision impairment or mental faculties fading. These all play very relative roles in whether or not you are simply too old to go on making a contribution to society through paid exchange of work.

However, there has been plenty of research into the decline of the elderly post retirement and these studies have actually proven that as human beings we require purpose in order to function. So even if you have decided to throw in the proverbial work towel because it’s becoming a drag to tote your colostomy bag around, make sure you stay active—both physically and mentally. You don’t want to kick the bucket weeks after you finally decide to enjoy your retirement only to find your children will spend the inheritance on booze and cheap strippers.

Needless to say, work as long as you enjoy it, as long as you are physically and mentally capable and then make damn sure you spend all your hard-earned cash on yourself and partner. Don’t leave an inheritance and don’t worry about what happens when you’re gone, because life will almost certainly always progress forward whether you work yourself to the bone or live a life of relative happiness.


Kristy

Sunday 22 January 2017

Do girls matter and 
do we value them?
I have been posed what I think might be a ‘light’ question of relativity, but is actually a very serious question when considering the answer: Do girls matter and do we value them?

The natural inclination is to respond with of course: How can girls not matter? They are the other half of this planet’s dominating species and the natural-born creation in which the birth of human life is propagated.

Girls or women, as I prefer to say, are the peanut butter to a jelly sandwich, the hammer to a nail and the coffin to a grave. Without us, there is just a sickly sweet, carb-loaded sandwich; a lonesome nail destined to inflict tetanus without a proper home; and an empty grave in order for weeds to grow.

Women are as relative as men are and equally important. Sure, there are times when individuals are undervalued, for example: High-paid careers, homemakers and schoolteachers, but in saying this, so are our male counterparts. When was the last time you heard about a fantastic stay-at-home dad who takes care of the house and virtually raises the kids while mum is at work? When was the last time we valued the backbreaking work of our male labourers—a job that (admit it girls) is physically beyond our capabilities?

All too often men and women are compared and yet we don’t seem to stop and value the individual for their personal triumphs and academic accomplishments. Why does this topic arise so often and when will we see ourselves on equal ground that we never have to question whether or not girls matter and are we valued?

I’m simply going to end this by saying, I am Kristy Berridge—a girl and a human being—I am no more valuable than the kindly old man that lives up the street or my single-mother neighbour doing it tough with a teenager. We are all important and we all have credibility on this earth. The sooner we start to believe this, the sooner we can stop competing.


Kristy J