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If only we took the time and trouble to ‘do as we would be done by’

Aug 06, 2011 Letters

 

Dear Editor,
The outraged comments of letter writers about the passenger being charged US$20 by the taxi driver, to be driven away from the airplane crash scene, brought to mind what happened in another part of the world – a sophisticated country – some years ago.
At the scene of major accidents/crashes, while official investigations were being conducted on site, members of the general public were in the habit of taking snapshots of the whole scene, including the casualties, and setting up refreshment stalls, selling hot dogs, hamburgers, and fizzy drinks at inflated prices.
These activities caused distress to the families of the casualities and they objected strenuously.  Their
objections were carried in the Press and this caused widespread anger.  Eventually measures were taken to protect accident scenes and the ‘snapping and selling’ ceased. Profiteering from someone’s misery is cruel, heartless. It is amazing how so-called ‘normal’ people could unexpectedly turn mean.
On holiday in the 1990s, one morning I travelled in an owner-driven car along the East Bank. The chap was on his way to work in the city and stopped at a gas station for a fill-up.
There was a problem with the minibuses, which were  few and far between, and a neatly-dressed young man, anxiety written large on his face, was waiting outside the filling station for a bus to take him to work.  He asked for ‘a drop to town’.
The chap refused, because, as he told me later, his lunch was on the back seat. I would not have objected to sitting at the back with the lad, the lunch could have been put at the front.  The young man could have lost money by being late, or even his job – I hope he did not.
I remembered my own father’s attitude towards helping those in need.  He was a Bookers driver, one of twelve, handpicked and recruited immediately before WWII, to drive the American forces.
As long as the car was empty, any elderly person limping along would be offered a lift – a risky thing to do, as his job could have been at stake.
If only we took the time and trouble to ‘do as we would be done by’, to put ourselves in the other person’s shoes, to remember our salad (hard guava season) days. But, as the saying goes, some people are like that.

Geralda Dennison

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