How people react when the chips are down is quite telling. Usually, we only see people getting all miffy and fraught when they have not had enough sleep, the traffic has been bad (as it always is – so what the point), they’ve had a tough day at work, the geyser burst, the baby cried all night and so on.
But what happens when there is a whopping great disaster? Listening to the radio this last week on the utter devastation in Japan I repeatedly heard reporters talk about the remarkable kindness, care and support they saw the Japanese people extend to each other on the streets, in the hospitals and shelters. That’s how you behave when the chips are down.
On Friday last week, listening to the radio reports as the tsunami was breaking over the coast of Japan I was horrified and kept wondering about those poor people and how the hell you actually live through that nightmare and devastation. I hadn’t seen any TV coverage at that time but just hearing the radio announcers say things look “good grief, I cant believe that’s happening”…sent shivers down my spine.
So I did something – I sent a little itty bitty email to the Japanese Embassy in Pretoria and when I hit the send button I thought, what an itty bitty thing to do… And now, here’s the thing. Yesterday I received a very gracious reply from the embassy, addressed to me personally, not a bulk letter; thanking me for my concern and extending their best wishes to me.
That’s how you behave when the chips are down.
No comments:
Post a Comment