Pills

Some time ago, I went to collect a prescription for someone and while I was waiting, I looked around the chemist and happened to notice the vast array of medication, especially all the different tablets and pills. There were all kinds of pills for headaches, painkillers of various sorts, pills to keep you awake, to make you sleep, pills for hay fever, asthma and medications for all different kinds of goodness knows what. Indeed, it struck me that people, not just in Britain but globally, seem to take pills for anything and everything in order to get through the day and the night. In such an age it is hardly surprising that washing machines and dishwashers also need tablets to function on a daily basis.

I began to wonder when pills were invented as they seem to be in every aspect of human life. According to the Los Angeles Times, pills have been around since 1500BC and were first found in Ancient Egypt. Prior to this, medications were mostly crushed seeds, plant resins and leaves which were then dissolved in beer. The Romans used to coat their pills in gold or silver which meant these pills went through the human digestive system without releasing any of their medicinal goodness. A bit like a Salt Bea Steak perhaps and maybe just as expensive.

The Roman scholar Pliny (23-79 AD) wrote about pilule which is where the word pill is derived from. Pills in the modern sense were only really created in 1843 by the British inventor William Brockedon, who patented a machine which was capable of compressing powder in to the pill form which we see and use today. As technology improved the pill making machines became more complex and are now able to make tablets of any shape, size or colour by the million. Pills also need to be strong enough to survive the process of pill making and soft enough for the stomach to digest, which is no easy feat.

pills - a selection

The top ten most common used or prescribed pills in Britain today include paracetamol, statins, aspirin, propranolol and codeine. Pills are being prescribed and used by increasing numbers of people in Britain not including the NHS spending, leading to £9.1 billion on prescription pills and over a billion prescriptions being issued in 2018. These figures are likely to be even higher as humanity stumbles through the post Covid era.

It would seem that, to paraphrase Noel Gallagher of Oasis fame, taking pills is as normal as having a cup of tea and this looks like it will not change any time soon. Indeed, pills play a part in popular culture in films such as 'The Matrix ' starring Keanu Reeves and Laurence Fishburn. In essence, 'The Matrix ' is a film about a dystopian simulated reality where humans are unknowingly imprisoned and their bodies used as a bioelectric energy source by and for intelligent machines. 'The Matrix ' has a scene where a freed human, Morpheus (Laurence Fishburn) offers the hero Neo (Keanu Reeves) a choice between taking a red pill or a blue pill. If Neo takes the blue pill, he ends up back in the Matrix and living his unknowing life as a bioelectric power source. If he takes the red pill, he stays in the “Wonderland ” of reality and Morpheus will show him how “deep the rabbit hole goes. ”

red pill or blue pill - still from The Matrix, 1999

The concept of taking a red pill or a blue pill has now spilled over into the “culture wars” of America where “taking the red pill” or being “red pilled” meant people could see the political biases in society including the mainstream media thereby becoming independent in thought. Conversely, “taking the blue pill” or being “blue pilled” means accepting without argument the current unreal biased situation.

It just so happens that in America the colour of the Republican party is red and the colour of the Democrat party is blue. There are no points for guessing how being “red pilled” or “blue pilled” plays out at election time and in the culture wars there.

Perhaps one day there will be a pill that allows or enables people to see “the truth” and everyone can live in peace and harmony. Or would this be a gold cage rather than a steel cage and humanity would still be imprisoned? Maybe it depends on who makes the pills and what their motives are. Or maybe we should just open our eyes and seek the “truth” for ourselves.

Pills

Red or blue, it’s up to you,
which one to take, which one
is fake, will shake you awake
or will keep you from looking
around, hold you wrapped in
the cold clutch of dystopian
dread, where all is fine, having
a good time, unknowing,
uncaring, no idea how to be
daring, to seek new vistas, what
new life you can have, can
achieve rather than be deceived,
wallowing in ignorance, dissonance,
just listening to the same old,
same old, blissfully unaware
of what’s really out there.
Red or blue, it’s up to you.

                                        DM, 2023

Thanks for reading, Dermot

Read More

Truth - Be Honest

I overheard something at my mother’s funeral. Fifty years have passed and the words still hurt.

“Poor Sheila, so young. Still, she lasted longer than we thought.”

My auntie, dabbing her eyes, was holding court with other relatives outside Carleton Crematorium Chapel. I can’t remember if it was before or after the service, not that it matters. Nothing mattered, except the deep deception that cut through my very soul. All these people, family and friends of the family had known that my mother was terminally ill, yet they had spent the last however many months speaking to me along the lines of, “When Mummy’s better…”, “When your mum is better…”, “When Sheila gets over this…”.   At nearly fourteen years of age I was old enough to ‘be grown up about all this’, but not considered to be old enough to be included in what was happening or given a chance to say goodbye. I was shattered. I had believed I was secure in a close-knit family. Everybody was hiding the truth.

Well, not quite everybody. My nanna was honest without actually coming out with the words. She was looking after us, my sister and me. Our family ran pubs and we were staying out of town at their pub, rather than ours. I adored my nanna, she was my rock. I wouldn’t usually have stepped out of line with her for the world. There was much love, respect but also a tiny bit of fear because I expected she could be even angrier than my mum if she was cross with me. I don’t know where it came from, but for the one and only time in my life, I gave her a glimpse of my 'stroppy madam' mood and I answered her back. I don’t remember what was said between us or why but I regretted it immediately and braced myself for a slap. It didn’t come. Instead, she hugged me tight and I cried. Tears for being rude to my lovely nanna and tears for worrying about my mum.

“Where there’s life, there’s hope.” Nanna’s words spoke volumes. Sheila, my mum was her daughter. Nanna had already suffered the loss of a daughter, a child, before my mum was born. I wish I had half of her northern grit.

What I overheard at my mum’s funeral taught me about truth and about compassion. My relatives wanted to protect me, though deceiving me into false security was the outcome. It was with the best of intention, I can understand that. My importance of honesty in life-threatening situations is borne of that experience.

 My husband was very ill when our son was about twelve, maybe thirteen. The illness seemed never ending. He was in hospital for months, no diagnosis, no improvement. I’m sure our son thought long and hard before asking me if Dad was going to die. The situation was on his mind more than I realised.  I told him with total honesty, that until it was discovered what was wrong, we didn’t know what would happen, but we hoped Dad would pull through and I promised, I would always tell him the truth. My husband recovered, eventually, thank goodness. My children appreciated the truth.

 

A poem from Muhammad Ali,

 

The face of truth is open.

The eyes of truth are bright,

The lips of truth are ever closed,

The head of truth is upright.

 

The breast of truth stands forward,

The gaze of truth is straight,

Truth has neither fear nor doubt

Truth has patience to wait.

 

The words of truth are touching,

The voice of truth is deep,

The law of truth is simple:

All that you sow you reap.

 

The soul of truth is flaming,

The heart of truth is warm,

The mind of truth is clear,

And firm through rain or storm.

 

Facts are but its shadows,

Truth stands above all sin,

Great be the battle in life,

Truth in the end shall win.

 

The image of truth is Christ,

Wisdom's message its rod;

Sign of truth is the cross,

Soul of truth is God/

 

Life of truth is eternal,

Immortal is its past.

Power of truth will endure,

Truth shall hold to the last.

 

Muhammad Ali  (1942 - 2016)

 

 

Thanks for reading, Pam x

 

Read More

Toxic Times

It feels like it's a toxic time at the moment. Global warming, Trump, Brexit - need I go on?

I love animals and always have done. How they brighten the world and create a sense of awe and beauty. But tragically more and more are becoming endangered. I am mortified about the Amazon rainforest burning. Such a loss of life.

In times like these I think our authentic self is so important as we are in danger (see what I did there!) of losing ourselves in the black pit of stupidity. What I mean by that is: don't follow the crowd, vote and do what you think is right! Oh and please recycle!.

Now for a poem by moi.

Truth
Look at you.
If only you knew the truth,
that the world can be changed in a day.
If we all made one change,
imagine how life would be.
Free, free to explore.
No more dictators, waste.
The world would be a magnificent place.
I know this may sound like a dream,
trust me - this is the truth,
the world can be changed in a day.
And it starts....
Today.
Hopefully...
Maybe...
Probably not...

Helena Ascough x

Read More

Mouths - Open Wide!

“Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings comes forth wisdom.”

 Or sometimes surprise, but nearly always truth, as they see it, and they always say it. I was mindful of this when out with my three year old son, many years ago. We were walking along a street in town when we saw a rather large gentleman taking time to get into the driving seat of his car. The car was a Metro and I was thinking he could do with a bigger vehicle when my son piped up, ‘He’s a very fat man, isn’t he Mummy?’ We were right next to the car by now and of course, he heard my son. I remember offering what I hoped was an apologetic smile to the man as we passed. My son was just saying what he saw. The innocence of his young age had not yet grasped the feelings of others. That would be a chat for later.

It was a privilege to spend a few years working with young children. They are amazing at sharing details of their lives in and out of school. I was good at keeping a straight face. ‘Mummy was being sick because she had wine.’ There was lots of ‘My Nanna/Daddy/Mummy said…’ followed by a serious sounding statement from them. I would be sympathetic hearing about fall-outs and possible consequences, who was shouting and who was crying. I shared in their joy of holidays, parties, friendships and special family occasions. I loved to feel included in their lives. Parents would have been horrified at some of the things their children said, whether truth or fiction. I’ve missed being part of that school. I should have stayed longer.

Dentistry has been a major part of my working life. I trained as a dental nurse before moving into other things, then coming full circle to work on reception in a large NHS practice. I’ve done my best to help people and I hope I’ve been successful in that but I’ve had enough of mouths and teeth now. I’m planning a slightly early retirement, soon.

And where will I be? Back to the ‘mouths of babes and sucklings’ with everything my grandchildren tell me.

Try this to the tune of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star

 

‘Got my toothpaste, got my brush,

     I won’t hurry, I won’t rush.
     Making sure my teeth are clean
     Front and back and in-between.
     When I brush for quite a while,
     I will have a happy smile.’

Anon.

 

Here’s Pam Ayres,

   

 Oh, I wish I’d looked after me teeth

 

Oh, I wish I'd looked after me teeth

And spotted the dangers beneath
All the toffees I chewed,
And the sweet sticky food.
Oh, I wish I’d looked after me teeth.

I wish I’d been that much more willin’
When I had more tooth there than fillin’
To give up gobstoppers,
From respect to me choppers,
And to buy something else with me shillin’.

When I think of the lollies I licked
And the liquorice allsorts I picked,
Sherbet dabs, big and little,
All that hard peanut brittle,
My conscience gets horribly pricked.

My mother, she told me no end,
‘If you got a tooth, you got a friend.’
I was young then, and careless,
My toothbrush was hairless,
I never had much time to spend.

Oh I showed them the toothpaste all right,
I flashed it about late at night,
But up-and-down brushin’
And pokin’ and fussin’
Didn’t seem worth the time – I could bite!

If I’d known I was paving the way
To cavities, caps and decay,
The murder of fillin’s,
Injections and drillin’s,
I’d have thrown all me sherbet away.

So I lie in the old dentist’s chair,
And I gaze up his nose in despair,
And his drill it do whine
In these molars of mine.
‘Two amalgam,’ he’ll say, ‘for in there.’

How I laughed at my mother’s false teeth,
As they foamed in the waters beneath.
But now comes the reckonin’
It’s me they are beckonin’
Oh, I wish I’d looked after me teeth.

 

 

 

Thanks for reading, Pam x

 

 

 

Read More