BY DENNIS FITZGERALD
SOMETIMES it’s the small events that bring home an issue to you, as the saying you can’t see the trees for the forest can be so true.
At the usual Friday coffee catch up one in our group mentioned in passing that they had lost their holiday house in the fires that are attacking so much of Australia at the moment.
When you are safe and the fires are nowhere near you, the losses of life and property shown on TV and discussed on the radio seem distant and unconnected to your comfortable life. There is, of course, a feeling of regret and sadness over the tragedies, but the realities are not so clear.
Like most young people who grew up in a farming community I contributed to fire risk reduction exercises, clearing breaks and reducing the fuel loads around houses by burning them off before they accumulated too much material. It was hot, uncomfortable and actually boring but it had to be done each year and it was just a part of the farm routine. It was also effective.
Their beachside holiday house was empty as they wouldn,t allow any of the family to go there while there was danger. The house and all of its contents including the new table and fridge were gone although insurance will help cover loses. It has been a part of their annual holidays from before their children and grandchildren were born although it’s not likely to be replaced as the fires are likely to become more common due to climate changes. It might now become a camping ground for the younger family members. All that really has been lost are some memories.
The country needs to look at why these fires are becoming bigger and more frequent and find a solution before more lives and property are lost although at present the politicians are mostly offering words and handshakes, many of which are refused.
One house out of hundreds lost and fortunately no lives is a small item in a massive issue, but we all need to address it.
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As we enter a new decade and strive to the future, I read a lot about “AfterPay” which seems to be of great benefit especially to its shareholders. I have decided to reintroduce a well-established concept “BeforePay”, this has been in use for a long time and the benefits will help our economy.
The concept is simple and very popular with older people, you save the money and then you buy what you need or even what you want. There are no interest costs or fees for late payments as you can’t forget any payments.
Perhaps we all need to be realistic and take the sensible approach although some items such as cars or houses may need to be bought with bank assistance. With so many people in need it might also be worth considering the idea of only buying what we need rather than what we also want and giving to charities. Give now, Karma will repay you later.
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An 83-year-old man gets his arm grabbed causing obvious pain and as the person won’t let go he slaps her hand twice for which he later apologies. This shouldn’t be a worldwide story featured on most TV news and in daily mewspapers, although as he is the Pope and he is a leader and role model for so many people the action takes a new meaning.
The message as reinforced by the Pope later is that you shouldn’t hit women although in reality you shouldn’t hit anyone, even in self-defence, if it can be avoided. A couple of slaps on the hand won’t cause too much harm but we see so much violence in the world that every slap and worse diminishes us as humans.
There should be no violence anywhere and I am sure that this is the subject of many prayers although I think divine intervention may be needed as no one on this planet seems to have a solution.
Let’s prayer for a better world but more importantly let’s put it into personal action, even in our own small daily lives.
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I am not sure if today’s Non Sequitur comic strip, published in many newspapers, is hilarious or horrifying. The gist of it was a warning sign about a warning sign ahead.
We are seeing advice that is no longer just common sense with warnings that coffee may be hot and that ice creams may be cold. Sometimes the warnings are not enough with most wet paint signs being checked rather than believed. With the opposite approach warning signs about climate change are being ignored.
As a teacher I have seen the rise of warnings about content in Literature. Yes, Shakespeare does have naughty bits and plenty of violence but do we really need “Trigger warnings”? I was chastised by a child for mentioning the sinking seen in the Titanic movie, “Don’t spoil the ending.”
Let’s look at the world in a more positive way and try to be brave.
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Correct spelling and typing are important, except perhaps if you are a President. At times it can also be expensive with NASA missing a symbol in the programming for Mariner 1 leading to an $80-million disaster. There are, however, times when it can be fun, depending on how well you read your Bible, when London’s Baker Book House published a modified list of commandments with “Thou shalt commit adultery.”
Sorry to say, recent copies have been updated with the boring version of the commandment.
A more recent, basically minor error occurred when the city of Prichard, Alabama had their garbage bins putting them in Mobile Country rather than Mobile County. Yes, there is a difference. As there were about 10,000 of these typos there could have been a dilemma as to how to get rid of this many bins and how to send the garbage bins to the garbage pile but fortunately wiser heads prevailed and it was ignored, except for the numerous news items about it.
Given how much pollution there is now, the suggestion of trashing the trash bins was just silly. Perhaps all councils, counties, states and countries should take heed and make sure to cut back on their spending and even if a mistake happens just accept it and move on.
Let’s put all the political rubbish in our mislabeled bins. <dfitzger@melbpc.org.au>
