As the last firework faded away to leave us amazed, we appear in the glorious time of the new year. Essentially, 2016 was crap. We know it. It’s numerologically proven that it was meant to be pretty hard—the sum was nine which simply means hard times. Just a quick interesting fact: 2017 has, just differently, number one—new starts.
Now it’s the right time to shout your cheerful woo-hoo and make happy dance moves as the rest of this article won’t be that optimistic, or at least to us, Czech, as it’s mainly about bans. The government has apparently taken numerology’s new starts part too seriously and has decided to come up with overflow laws—so what news brings this year to the Czech republic?
Considering it’s just a week from the New Year’s Eve, fireworks just seems like the best topic to start with. Here at the heart of Europe, it might have been the very last chance to have your own firework. The Prague center along with some other townships forbade them as they claim it scares pets (how could they forget animals that aren’t domesticated – aren’t birds, deer and rats out there terrified as well?), leaves mess in the streets and all in all it just makes the city look like the start of an offensive. So, if you live in Prag and want to enjoy the lovely colorful show, you’ll have to wait till the city makes their own – the next New Year Day. I’m sorry but you’ll have to find an alternative for your birthday – I suggest screening some Pink Floyd show on the wall. (And yes, I just did make a joke on the album.)
So now the kids won’t be able to watch the joyful fireworks – but at least, they’ll be healthy. Due to a new public notice, it’s now impossible to find unhealthy food at schools and some high schools as well – as if children couldn’t eat unhealthy at home *eye roll*. This inevitably means the vast majority of snack bars are at the end of their service. To my horror, it includes coffee machines as well because most of the children are just too young to drink it. Walking past the machines has never felt so dead. Being me, I constantly forget snacks home and I’m sure I’m not the only one starving now, unable to save it with Müsli stick or little chocolate bar. If the government think they won, they’re deadly wrong. The ingenious students have already found their way to make a cuppa in the morning.
In 2017, people also won’t be able to smoke in public. This should be in effect since 1st June. Not such a big deal for children, right (I’m writing this in a good hope they don’t smoke, please don’t devaste me), but smokers feel chained. What exactly do they mean by “in public”? Well, short version is everywhere apart from your house. Cigars in pubs? Forbidden. Can you light the tobbaco stick on a bus stop? Absolutely no! Cigarettes are bad for your health and it’s purely your decision to breathe the smoke. But we can’t speak that highly about your surrounding. Passive smoking is also bad so why should we be forced to inhale the fumes?
Well, thanks to this ban, we won’t. Easy. Actually, it’s so easy that there has to be something in it; and it really is. Where are smokers probably gonna smoke? At home. In children’s presence. And the little ones will have to breathe it anyway despite the ban and that’s what I kind of fear.
Eventually, we never know what future brings. Maybe smokers gonna find their way to smoke and concurrently not to ruin their kids health, just like students’ alternative. Who can tell whether we’ll be getting on with the new laws? Maybe we’ll like it, maybe we’ll not. I’m certain about one thing. None of these bans are too serious to wreck the enthusiastic atmosphere of 2017 – I mean, it’s just a week one and we’re blessed with Ed Sheeran’s music already! Happy new year everyone.
