mijmeringen en ervaringen uit mijn dagelijkse leven - musings and experiences from everyday life

 "It really doesn't feel right, there is clearly something wrong" "Well, then you should make an appointment with the doctor or go to the emergency room. If only to make sure everything is okay, to feel more at ease again. " She worries easily. Especially when she is pregnant, then she is extra alert. So everyone around her tries to reassure her that it will be nothing and that everything is ok. She doesn’t go to the emergency room. On Monday morning, she contact her gynaecologist directly. His diary is packed, but he will come to his practice half an hour early on Wednesday. Nina has been a patient there for a long time, he too assumes it will be nothing. So far, the pregnancy is also going perfectly, there is no reason to think anything would be wrong.   Wednesday morning I go to the gynaecologist's practice. Nina is already there. I took the two eldest to school first and therefore join a little later. We don’t have to wait too long. Almost immediat...

 “Het voelt écht niet goed, er is duidelijk iets niet in orde” “Tja, dan moet je een afspraak met de dokter maken of naar de spoed gaan. Al is het maar om zeker te zijn dat alles in orde is, om je terug geruster te voelen. “ Ze maakt zich snel ongerust. Zeker wanneer ze zwanger is, dan is ze extra alert. Iedereen in haar omgeving probeert haar dan ook gerust te stellen, dat het wel niets zal zijn en dat alles ok is. Tijdens het weekend gaat ze niet naar de spoed. Maandagochtend neemt ze wel direct contact op met haar gynaecoloog. Zijn agenda staat overvol, maar hij zal woensdag een half uurtje vroeger naar zijn praktijk komen. Nina is er al heel lang patiënt, ook hij gaat er van uit dat het wel niets zal zijn. Tot nu verloopt de zwangerschap ook perfect, er is geen enkele reden om te denken dat er iets mis zou zijn.     Woensdagochtend ga ik naar de praktijk van de gynaecoloog. Nina is er al. Ik heb eerst de twee oudsten naar school gebracht en sluit daarom iets lat...

May 1998 With some nervousness, I make my way to the city festival hall on Antwerp's Meir. A place I go to more often. Today not to party or tap beer, but to apply for a job. The neighbourhood surveillance department of the city of Antwerp is looking for two new neighbourhood surveillance officers. A job I can see myself doing. I know a few of them, and every time they tell me about it, I think of it as a really cool, social and fascinating job, really something for me.   It would give me the opportunity to do something for my city in a positive way. A commitment that could counter the negativity after yet another black Sunday for me. (This is how people named the elections here, due to a lot of success for a far-right racist party)   So I prepared myself thoroughly. Not only studied additional information about the job. But also who in the current city administration is a deputy councillor for which authority. Someone told me that they are sure to ask questions about ...