We have all been asked this question, and often by people we do not know very well. Some people are able to answer it without a second thought. Others have to choose their words carefully because they know their answer is likely to be met with a negative remark.

Apparently there is a social code that dictates what is classed as a profession worthy of respect. This same code gives others a licence to;

• insult an individual solely on the basis of his or her career
• make negative generalisations about a person’s profession
• forward an email to someone containing lame jokes about their area of work
• declare “I hate _______!â€? (Insert ‘unworthy’ profession of your choice)

I am not sure how many professions are considered ‘unworthy’ but I know that people who work as any of the following have been at the receiving end of someone else’s negativity;

1. Traffic Wardens
2. Lawyers
3. Police officers
4. Politicians

As one who is a member of a profession that has been vilified by society I know what it feels like when someone you barely know dismisses the reason you get out of bed everyday. I often wonder what sort of person one must be to have the audacity to speak ill of something that I have worked hard for, spent years studying.

I am fed up with such remarks and the people who make them. If a person needs to be reminded that there is a good and bad in every profession, then in my view such a person is not in a position to hold an opinion on anything.

Maybe I need to speak in defence of the above examples, giving reasons why I feel they deserve respect but I am not sure. What I do know is the next time someone makes a ‘smart’ comment about what I do they shall wish they hadn’t. I am not standing for it any longer.

I am quite certain that there are other professions that are equally as hated and if I have missed one out let me know.

It is estimated that more than 22,000 people have died, thousands are missing and millions are homeless as a result of the earthquake . Over 10 countries have been affected.

You can help by:

• Visiting the British Red Cross website and making a secure online donation by credit or debit card.
• Giving over the phone by ringing 08705 125 125
• Sending cheques, made payable to British Red Cross – Asia earthquake and flood appeal, to: Asia Earthquake and Flood Appeal – Internet, The British Red Cross, FREEPOST, LOM 18968, Sheffield, S98 12A

I was at a party and I was talking to a Hungarian-German-Canadian man (I thought I was the only one with a confused sense of national identity!) and he mentioned a new search engine which was launched earlier this month.

Acconna.com , which takes its name from the swahili phrase Hakuna Matata meanining ‘no problems/worries’, is based on artificial intelligence and is backed by the Chinese Government.

The Hungarian-German-Canadian told me to search for ‘human rights abuses China’ on both Google and Accoona and compare the difference.

Google had a list of sites whereas Accoona offered the following spelling suggestion:

human rights buses china

For a good laugh try searching for Taiwan on both search engines…

I am a little bit apprehensive because the first term of Bush, he had come in as a lame duck.

Now it appears as if he is winning very convincingly. To me, I think we are going to see more dictatorship on an international scale. We are going to see more extremism come out of there.

We are going to see even more isolationism where America will not bother about the United Nations. To me that is a very sad affair.

To find out whatthe rest of the world’s leaders have to say visit the BBC News site

The Guardian wrote about Kamwaura Nyogothi’s story and this was Mental Acrobatics’ response:

Although Kenya is not a paradise now, wouldn’t she be better off going back to Kenya? She sounds very very low in Middlesbrough?

Surely we should be condemning the people in her community? This is a woman who has been imprisoned; she has suffered physical and sexual abuse. She has undergone the trauma of fleeing her country, leaving behind her friends and family. She now has to face verbal, physical and racial abuse in a place where she thought she would be safe. How many times is she expected to keep packing her bags?

This woman is not complaining about her experience in England as a whole, if she were, I too would suggest she leaves the country. It is not being in England that is making her feel suicidal. It is the racism that she is experiencing in Middlesbrough that is making her sound so ‘low’. That is the issue that needs to be addressed.

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