Pokemon should be for the children - let's leave them to it | Emma Kay

Now it can be like a rotten tooth that is festering in our mouths that we refuse to extract because we are used to the pain and permanence of it.

We all do it. We look back and think of our childhood decades as some rosy renaissance that kids today ‘just don’t get’. But is nostalgia making us ‘buy out’ the new generation?

There is a Pokémon card shortage for kid collectors which, not surprisingly, has been caused by the coronavirus pandemic and predictably, with all sought after goods, the company producing them has been unable to meet the onslaught of demand.

This has led to so called adults competing and fighting in a wanton display of pure shame to grab every last card they can get their hands on. They are fighting each other in their hunger like seagulls dive-bombing a single sandwich. Making the shortages worse are those using retail boys’ and girls’ for bulk buying of all the available cards, only to then resell them at a ridiculous premium price. These ‘Scalpers’ have been buying up loads of the cards and be sure, there will be no shortage of desperate adult customers who will opt to pay the ludicrously high price rather than go without.

McDonalds has now had to impose limitations on their Happy Meal tie-in with Pokémon cards and restricting them to only one per customer amid fears they would be snapped up and sold on with the rarer cards fetching thousands on eBay. Sadly, this has happened before. Sadly, it is likely to happen again, because of the gluttonous and gutless adults financially forcing their way into a hobby and pushing out what was supposed to be a ‘fun’ promotion for children.

Do people not feel ashamed of this? Of course not, greed will always deal from the top deck.

Happy Meals are meant to be just that, intended for children to have a happy time eating their lunch. It has transformed into an ugly profiteering racket that is slowly chipping away some of the few instances of happiness at the literal expense of the children they were designed for.

Gone are the days when a Happy Meal was just that, with a predictably plastic piece of fun.

Now they are nothing more than pure little profit boxes that we have to guard and protect from gregarious greed. If we are perfectly willing to exclude children from such fun, what else are we going to exclude them from?

‘Value’ of an item is ultimately decided by our willingness to pay. We have all clearly outbid each other and forgotten to share fun.

Hot Paws

The sun has got his hat, sunglasses and sunscreen on and is lighting up the pavements in brilliance and glory.

Summer can be equally fun and cruel in measure. Those of us that suffer from the heat can take simple steps to easily alleviate our discomfort. We can duck down in the shadows to avoid ballooning up like merlot-coloured kippers, as easy remedy for us humans to ensure our own comfort.

But when the tarmac gets so hot, that it is akin to lava, we would shudder at the thought of walking on it in our bare feet. So why do we not give the same consideration to our pooches?

Paw pads are great for protecting the feet from rough surfaces and provide shock absorption for your dog but they cannot stop burning injuries.

A change in walk schedule is a small thing to alter for your pet’s safety and comfort.

Reading Therapy

As lockdown nears its final lift, there are some newly found habits that we definitely should not put back on the shelf. Regular reading is a must that should stay at the top of our ‘to do’ list.

Books can colour an otherwise subdued day, painting our imagination with pallet of mystery and vibrancy.

Reading is a superb way to transform our sometimes plain existences into something meaningful and offer us an escape from the relentless realness of everyday life, even if only for a short while.

We all need an escape from reality. You can plunge into a fresh paperback or re-read an old favourite for safety and comfort.

Reading also aids in crucial life skills such as analytical thinking, development and comprehension. It benefits our well-being also by lowering our heart rate, blood pressure and remedies our sometimes turbulent mental health. Reading is a therapy we should all partake in.