Even if you’re given wrong envelope, help is out there
IN A week when the world went into a nosedive because an accountant handed the wrong envelope to an ageing movie star and for a few moments one movie was lauded over another, it was another envelope that landed on my desk that brought me back down to earth with a bang. ‘My age is 65, I am on sleeping pills for 43 years. I started taking tablets just to get away from everything for a while, it released me a couple of hours every day.’
On Liveline we were talking about the scourge of loneliness and I then read out on air this devastating line from the same letter. ‘My husband is retired, takes no interest in me, never talks. If he died tomorrow I don’t know where he’d be buried. I know nothing about him.’
A plaintive call from a listener who spoke movingly of sitting at her window all day literally watching the world go by, hoping that someone might call or drop in, gave us a glimpse – and a reminder – that there is a world beyond the daily grind. We know in Ireland not a day goes by when the words, ‘disgrace’, ‘outrage’, ‘horror’, ‘shame’ and ‘under-resourced’ pepper our national public conversation. It is hard not to be overwhelmed by the ‘awfulisation’ of the world we live in – where we are told, unceasingly that Ireland is the ‘worst in the world’. If Oscars were given out for the worst country in the world, we would not even get a nomination. Nor would get a gong for ‘best’ country on the planet.
It was the overwhelmingly positive reaction to people who spoke publicly about loneliness this week that reminded me that, at heart, we are a generous, giving, helping community. People offered money, others offered friendship, helping organisations offered plans and networks – it was a powerful reminder that we are not alone.
There are countless examples of how people come together to help neighbours and friends in distress. Look at the organisations in Ireland, often run by volunteers, who reach out to help those in need.
As we approach the first anniversary of the Console suicide charity scandal, think of the reaction to that crisis. It showed that the actions of few individuals could quickly and powerfully be righted by the actions of others in society.
We still live in a country where the horrible death of one of our elder, honourable and decent citizens, Paddy Lyons, is the main story across all our media – and rightly so. Let’s be clear, outrage and deep cherishing of human life does not exist everywhere else.
So let’s put things in perspective. Some people are handed the wrong envelope in life – which can deliver pain, loneliness and distress. But there are thousands in this great little country who will rush to try to help family, friends and neighbours at their time of need.