Mary Kenny
We humans find it difficult to reach perfection at all times, writes Mary Kenny
The Welsh government has decided to ban ‘vaping’ with electronic cigarettes – known as e-cigarettes – from all public and enclosed spaces: that is to say, to subject these devices, which contain nicotine, but no tobacco or any other noxious substances, to the same prohibition as conventional cigarettes.
Thus a person who chooses to ‘vape’ with an e-cigarette will forthwith have to go out of doors somewhere and ‘vape’ alongside the banned real cigarette smokers.
There is no hard evidence that vaping is harmful, and the Welsh decision has been met with critical reactions from some cancer charities, such as Cancer Research UK. As the use of e-cigarettes has expanded, the use of tobacco cigarettes has fallen, globally, which would indicate that the spread of vaping is contributing to the decline of cigarette smoking.
However, the Welsh health minister, Mark Drakeford, believes that e-cigarettes could be a “gateway” to tobacco smoking. He says that vaping can “normalise” and “glamourise” smoking, and therefore it should fall under the same prohibitions as conventional smoking.
This could be an illustration, in my view, of the saying “the best is the enemy of the good”. The Welsh health minister wants everyone to be absolutely perfect in refraining from smoking, or even refraining from doing something that looks like smoking.
But if vaping helps ex-smokers to quit the tobacco habit – and there is plenty of anecdotal evidence that it can do – why not welcome an improvement in health, rather than insisting on the very best outcome in all circumstances?
Vaping contains nicotine, yes, but so do certain chewing-gums and skin patches which help smokers to quit.
The puritan conscience – once quite embedded in Welsh non-conformism – can be inclined to demand too high standards from fallible human beings. The truth is that we humans find it difficult to reach perfection at all times, but we can prompt ourselves to self-improvement through aiming for the good, when we can’t reach the best.
Variety in names shows ethnic diversity
Children’s names have become much more elaborate in recent times. Here are some of the first Holy Communion children’s names listed in a church in the Irish midlands: Amber, Callum, Karinqa, John, Katie, Aaron, Cody, Josh, Minotay and Michael.
Here are some of the children’s names from a church in the south-east of England: Cassius, Cora, Danika, Ella, Finlay, Hannah, Libby, Megan, Oscar, Samara, Tamzin, Pamela and Ronan.
Obviously the names reflect a greater ethnic diversity – and I welcome more variety in children’s names. I think it helps a child to feel that his or her identity is special and unique – just as it says in the Scriptures anyway. I think we went through a period when too many of our names were repetitions of family names: the child was baptised with a view to pleasing a family tradition rather than imparting a real sense of being their own person.
Michael and Mary are both grand names but when I recently looked at my own family tree, there were so many baptismal names repeated that it was difficult sorting out who was who…
Some progress becomes regarded as outdated
The fashionistas have decreed that the most outdated item in a house is an avocado-coloured bathroom. It’s so 1970s! Not being a follower of décor trends, I thought avocado-coloured bathrooms were still all the rage.
But it’s an interesting example of the fact that not all things that are deemed to be progressive and the latest fad, remain in high regard. High-rise tower blocks for family dwellings were once considered the most progressive form of architecture, in imitation of the French architect Le Corbusier. Now they are widely condemned as wholly unsuited to families, a cause of anti-social behaviour and depression – and Le Corbusier has been unveiled as a Fascist.
‘Instant tea’ was another innovation that was thought to have a great future – tea reduced to granules in the manner of instant coffee. But it just never took off, because people simply like making ‘a cup of tea’, albeit with a teabag (and some of us still actually use a pot). Indeed, instant coffee has seen a decline in popularity as real coffee, and the rise of the professional barista, has taken over.
Churches thought that electric candles would replace wax or tallow candles – and some switch-on candles can still be found. It can be argued that they are safer, which is certainly a consideration. But people still like to “light a penny candle”, and the act of lighting a real candle has retained its meaningfulness.
Some progress is good, and some new ideas are welcome. But some progress is eventually overturned and comes to be regarded as outdated and even ugly.
– Throughout the summer, I will examine modern examples of old proverbs and mottos.
