Get it off your chest!
Introduction: If something is really concerning you, and you feel frustrated because you can’t do anything about it, why not have a good rant? It will make you feel better. A rant is when we speak strongly and quite angrily about something we feel bad about to anyone who will listen. The purpose of having a good rant is to get something off your chest and make you feel better. Listen to Max, Patty and Sid having a rant.
Max: This is something I feel very strongly about, and it concerns all teenagers. But we put up with it and don’t do anything. This morning when I went to school, I had twelve different textbooks in my backpack that I needed just for the morning’s lessons. Twelve! They weighed a tonne. Teenagers should not have to carry loads like that because carting heavy weights around can damage your back. I have looked at my geography textbook, and in my opinion a third of the pages are completely useless. They could have been cut out and then the book would have weighed less. Most of my textbooks have pages that serve no purpose. I believe that publishers do this so they can charge a higher price for the book. A textbook should be as lightweight as possible, and publishers should not waste space and add extra pages to the book when they're not needed. I would really like to talk to someone who publishes education textbooks and tell him what I think.
Patty: My sister is a nurse, and I really think everybody undervalues her and her colleagues in the nursing profession. This annoys me so much because they do a wonderful job. Everyone is nice and polite to doctors, but they treat nurses as if they are servants. Yesterday, my sister was looking after fifteen patients by herself. That causes so much stress? But no one ever thanks her or offers her praise. Attitudes must change or people are not going to go into nursing as a profession. Hospital bosses should also look at better pay and better conditions for nurses. I honestly admire my sister and the job she does, and when people don’t value her work, I get extremely angry.
Sid: One thing that really annoys me is how easy and cheap it is to buy junk food in our city. Don’t people realise how bad junk food is for their health? Fast food, like burgers, French fries, fried chicken wings and pizzas, is packed with fat and preservatives. These cause obesity and major health problems. And there is no excuse for eating unhealthily because it is just as easy to buy a low-fat sandwich as it is to buy a burger. Everyone should take responsibility for their own health and say "no" to junk food. Don’t tell me that a healthy sandwich is not as delicious as a fatty burger. Of course it is! Hospitals should not have to treat people who have fallen ill by eating badly. All fast food outlets should be forced to display the fat and sugar levels of what they sell. This might change people’s attitude to diet.