Pepper It

The Socrates Decision

Last sunday I found out about Socrates, the Brazilian football player, who had passed away. Only 57 years old. I remember him fondly. As a young teenager I used to watch Brazilian football matches in 1982 and 1986 during the World Championships. Socrates also played and scored some magnificent goals during that time but sadly never lifted the cup.

When I read about Socrates I was having a drink and smoking a cigarette. Ironically, these 2 things plagued Socrates most of his life. Although being a doctor, he made no secret of being a heavy drinker and smoker. Prior to his death he was hospitalized twice with bleeding in the digestive track. He recovered but attracted one final fatal infection a couple of months later.

Personally, I had major problems with my intestines as well. Just 2 years ago I was operated twice after developing abscess' and later on fistulae. Spend months recovering from what turned out to be an intestinal infection, a surgeon remarked to me that it looked like Crohn's disease. It's also a condition that keeps coming back. I only drink a fraction of what I consumed when I was younger. Smoking a pack a day however continued.

Last weekend was weird. Spend the morning mostly in the bathroom relieving myself. In the afternoon I looked up articles on the internet about intestinal problems and found out that smoking can have a tremendous effect on the digestive system. Than I visit CNN on the internet with my cigarette and drink in hand and I click on the article about Socrates. That was my last cigarette...

Dude, Where's My Car? XII

Why are car thieves often such bad drivers? I mean if you take the profession of stealing cars at least learn how to drive at high speed. Otherwise you'll simply wind up in jail like this fellow.

Sketchzoid #42