Western Morning News (Saturday)
The importance of respect and responsibility
2020 is a surreal year to look back on. It’s been a year that has truly divided and ruled like no other in my memory. A year of tragedies at every level for so many.
There are the wonderful, brilliant, hardworking people who have endeavoured to keep our hearts beating, our spirits up, our futures bright. Then there are others who, like weevils have wormed their way into our minds, making us question reality.
These people have truly taken on Franklin D. Roosevelt’s comment that “There’s nothing to fear except fear itself”. And taking advantage of our bemused, confused state, they’ve got to work. As we’ve all been confined to home much more, it’s been a wonderful breeding ground for people who spend their days making up things for the internet.
In a past life, these are the people who would rouse up football hooliganism, anti-hunt brigades, attack statues of people whose names they never even knew, or what they stood for.
The stuff that pours out under the name of “science” unsettles me – simply because most of the people who read it have no idea whether something is “peer reviewed”, wouldn’t know how to check if an article was validated, believe the references, the names, qualifications hook line and sinker. These people have no idea how artificial intelligence works, no idea that once they start looking on search engines, they attract articles to them like flies to honey, all bearing the same messages dressed up in a different guise. The reader becomes vehement, an expert, unable to see truth from fiction. The ignorance and rumour that abounds divides friends, families, neighbours and nations.
And because of this, I’m sitting on the fence. I listen, and I wait for things to pass, because the honest answer is that I don’t have a clue about the provenance of the virus, don’t understand the scientific research and have no idea that if I’m vaccinated I’ll be protected or grow a third leg within a week. So I wait. Without fear. And as the days and months unfold so the truth about the situation will unfurl and in time the “know-alls” will learn their truth too.
In the last year I’ve learned that the importance of the two “r’s”. Firstly Respect - being tolerant of others, respecting the law. Yes, masks are a pain. Not seeing friends is a pain. But having due regard for the feelings, wishes or rights of others is a real test of being grown up.
The second “R” is Responsibility. In these strange times the two words are, to my mind, inextricably linked. I feel responsible for others around me, whatever their thoughts or opinions. I respect them and don’t think it’s too much to ask for their respect back. But sadly, these two words are forgotten as the “It won’t happen to me” brigade have their parties, visit friends without realising the domino effect their actions may possibly have.
It’s understandable. I feel desperately sad for kids and young people who so want to have fun. It’s tough when, as invincible youngsters, life stretches ahead and they can’t live it.
It’s all part of tasting the spark of life. I hadn’t realised, until now, how essential excitement is to our human psyche. And when life seems so uneventful, there’s nothing to ignite that spark of excitement, adrenalin. Over the last year it’s been well and truly damped down for us all and I sometimes wonder if, for me, my mojo has been lost forever.
We talk about how much worse it would be to live through a war. And of course, it would be devastating beyond any words. I’ve had a small taste of this when I was a reporter in a war zone, I’ve worked in Greece with refugees who have had every shred of hope, of dignity, of dreams ripped from them. I wouldn’t, for one minute, try and compare this transient Covid event with living through those traumatic and terrifying times.
The one difference though is that during wars there’s always the chance of companionship of some sort. We’re being denied that support at the moment. For those on their own, there’s no hugs, intimate conversations and worries are harder to share when not face to face. Essential communication is being challenged – no church, clubs, choir, pubs. Humans are naturally sociable animals and the current situation is an alien existence for so many of us.
For many, life won’t be the same again post covid. Digging deep to activate survival instincts will stretch many to their limits and they’ll need to feel the milk of human kindness flowing to them from all of us.
As I write this, I can see daffodils pushing through the winter soil. Buds, pregnant with anticipation about an upcoming spring remind me that life goes on, always. And however much we feel the V word is eating away at our quality of life, I take hope from the eternal cycle of nature and know that mankind will get over this – eventually. And when it does, I’m going to polish my mojo, put on my dancing shoes and relearn how to have fun. You joining me?
As the days and months unfold, so the truth about the situation will unfurl