There are a wealthy couple sitting with friends at a nearby table in this café. The man is complaining about the delay in the delivery of his new Porsche to Malta. Later, they move on with relish to discuss their forthcoming holiday in Moscow where they hope to visit the Winter Palace and are twittering on in a fashion fit to annoy anyone. They have that peculiar plumy English accent that sets your teeth on edge. He is babbling again at the top of his voice,
“Life is still fun and worth living”, the sixty odd year old
proclaims.
“The economic situation has not touched me, thanks
goodness.” He follows in smug tones.
I believe fate places such people nearby to annoy and test
me. Now, he is complaining about his
computer system’s inability to respond to his commands. I find myself strangely comforted that PCs,
at least, do not jump to the beck and call of that “rulers of the empire”
tone. Computers are democratic and as such
equally rebellious to all. It’s weird
that in Northern Ireland I’ll be
specific about coming from north of the border but when on an island in the Med
I morph into Irish for fear of being associated with these colonial types. My father always claimed that there was
something about ruling an empire that damaged emotions. He would name them one by one, tapping on each finger in turn, pausing at each tap
to raise his eyebrow as if exhibiting another proof of his argument. His reasoning was, if you had to keep the
locals underfoot it required you to be missing on certain wavelengths including
for example compassion, empathy, humility, modesty. It has taken years for recent research to prove that keeping a
nation or people in subjection is as damaging to those who rule as it is to
those who are abused.
It stands to reason then that keeping women in a lower state
will have equally negative effects on both men and women. Injustice is evil, not just because of its
unfairness but also due to its long-term damage on all concerned. In India 50 million girls are missing due to
abortion of unwanted female babies. In
that culture boys are preferred. The
end result of this tragedy is that girl abductions/rapes are common. How horrific that following the quiet death
of millions of female girls, young women who have survived this first cull are
being singled out for yet more violence.
Of course India is not alone, violence against women crosses all
borders, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Yugoslavia, South Africa, Afghanistan and one of
the highest rates of domestic abuse is found in Papua New Guinea. So much of this violence is under the radar
despite its horrific nature. Violence
against females in our midst is a world problem and not limited to any one
nation.
Whatever the realities that lie beneath the statistics you
can be sure that both men and women are being damaged in this process. I look forward to the day when we realise that injustices such as prejudice of race,
religion or gender damage us all. Sense
that the growing gap between rich and poor is another unsustainable trend. Otherwise the corrosion eating into the vitals
of human society will continue, I fear.
Time to leave, my one coffee has lasted an hour and a half
and the staff are becoming increasingly restless round me. At least I outlasted the plumy toned fellow
on my left. Obviously, I have prejudices of my own to weed out!
PS Proceeded out of the café and walked a good half hour
along the coast only to be brought up short with the dreadful realization I had
forgotten to pay for my coffee. Walked
back guilt ridden, apologized and paid.
This growing older business is embarrassing at times!
Interesting
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