Man am I over all this self-congratulatory stuff about beating Covid. Latest example yesterday from my local council:
Kia oraNo need to nauseate you further. You've all heard variations of it time and time again, especially from Dear Leader.
We'd like to start this email with a thank you.
We should all be proud of our collective efforts to successfully stamp out COVID-19.
I don't buy it. Most of us just did what we were told to do (some less willingly than others). We do not deserve a medal, let alone constant meritorious mention.
I recently watched a 1968 news clip about the Wahine Disaster and was struck by how different the national psyche was fifty years ago. The stoicism, the pragmatism and practical response.Within hours the public were being advised of timetable changes to the Maori, Aranui and Aramoana sailings to accommodate bookings the ill-fated Wahine could no longer honour. No candlelit vigils, no maudlin social media preoccupation, no rahui on the harbour and no premature finger-pointing either. People just carried on.
Twenty years ago I sat in the end-of-year prize-giving audience at primary school. The list of recipients seemed endless. Each mounted the stage until there were more children upon it than left on the hall floor. It was ridiculous. Everyone's a winner. My son tells a story. He played soccer - or rather plodded after the last person in a group chasing the ball. Totally unsuited and he knew it. At the end of one game, after "Player of the Day" have evaded him yet again, the coach turned to him and said, "You can have a turn next week".
The accolade had become meaningless. Just as the current Covid congrats are.
The outcome of this foolish philosophy of embracing mediocrity is now rife. It's there in those dreadful Covid mental health ads that basically urge you to do nothing and feel good about it. Hang out in your PJs all day and pat yourself on the back for it.
It doesn't fly in my house. It isn't a preparation for real life. Nobody is well-served by this nonsense. And it needs to stop.
2 comments:
Thank you, Lindsay...
"The list of recipients seemed endless."
I recall an anecdote in Theroux's less-than-flattering book on Naipaul, wherein Naipaul refuses to issue a 1st and 2nd prize in a (I think) poetry competition during his stint at Makerere University. So there's only a 3rd prize. I just love that!
And, btw, I received a similar letter from State Insurance. Didn't we do well? Sick.
Post a Comment