Saturday 28 March 2020

The call answered. How wonderfully British.

Only a few days ago, the call went out to find 250,000 volunteers to assist the NHS in the anti-virus effort. It was immediately answered by a veritable army of public-spirited people of all ages. In one day. I was so impressed. How marvellously British! Gosh, we'll get through all this yet, if that's how so many people will react. Hats off to them all.


But within hours, there was even better news. Over 400,000 people had volunteered. And within 24 hours, over half a million.


That's astonishing. I suppose that in the main they were people unable to work who were free to pitch in and assist. Some out of undiluted altruism, some just to be active - it didn't matter which. 

Well, talk about 'coming together in adversity'. I think this is remarkable. And it shows that human nature hasn't after all been altering for the worse, sliding into selfishness and cynicism: a lot of people, perhaps most, want to do good - and will do good if the opportunity presents and the need is acute. It will appear false to strike a world-weary pose in the future; and any such attitude will seem very 'pre-virus' and rather passé. The world has changed. And this grand effort won't be forgotten. I hope that the volunteers who stick it out all get a special medal.

Hang on, Lucy, you might be saying. Are you volunteering?

I thought about it, but decided it would be best not to. At nearly sixty-eight I'm not yet within the definition of 'vulnerable', but statistically I'm more likely to get infected and suffer serious symptoms than somebody even ten years younger. I don't want to push my luck. It's not really a personal choice: if I get ill, and it puts me in hospital, I'll have added to the NHS's problems. I don't want to do that. 

A cop-out? Despite the rationalising, it rather feels like it. Oh well; one can't always find a way to feel good about situations. And with so many hands already to the pump, one pair less - my hands -won't hurt the broad picture. 

And I'd hate it much more if I found myself hogging a hospital bed that somebody else in an awful state ought to have. But even that doesn't quite still the nagging voice inside, that tells me I may have found a perfect reason, but it's not a perfect excuse.

2 comments:

  1. Logic is fine. If we older folk clog the system and are likely to need more care and resources the health system will be wrecked for an age to come... Our best policy is to stay well out of harms way and for good measure keep our fingers crossed.

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  2. Thank you that comfort. I'm not a do-gooder, but it seems poor to stay out of it. However, nobody will thank an oldie who gets ill, and (as you say) clogs up the system now in place.

    Lucy

    ReplyDelete


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