Kindness
Posted by boatman on Jan 21, 2019 in Blog | 0 comments
The quality of being friendly, generous, and considerate.”
Desmond Tutu said,
“Do your little bit of good where you are; it’s those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.”
and Mark Twain:
“Kindness is a language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see.” —
When I first came to Australia, – I went as a stranger to a new church, met some very friendly, kind people – and came out with somewhere to live!
& they helped me learn all those unwritten rules here – there are loads, believe it or not – like how to park your car – and how not to!
Adelaide the rest of the world…!
He’s Jon in Mitcham, 10 mins walk from us, who also found and fitted a second hand gearbox when the old one died, and welded up the exhaust when the silencer fell off, so she no longer sounded like a motor boat! – not many mechanics in UK can weld.
Australians are famous for being friendly, easy going and helpful. Helped perhaps by speaking a language similar to English and having a very similar sense of humour often directed at themselves!
And being led by an on-going comedy show in Canberra…
But tough too..
- the Australian army was the first to break through the German line in WW1
- and the first to beat the Japanese army in 1943. In New Guinea, at the defeat of the Japanese at Wau.
And a distinctly unfair ratio of Olympic medals/ per capita…
And that she needed 3 layers of government – because she was so Huge
As I was to discover driving back from Perth when I came across the 90 mile straight! Salisbury near where I came from is 88 miles from London…and that road is far from straight..
And when you arrive at the far end, there is a sign which in true Aussie form says… “Turn”!
Demonstrations of kindness
Big sisters at the beach – mine ten foot tall and far older than me never let me drown or get eaten by a shark!
Parent to child.. (given!)
Runner stopping to help an old man cross the road
Simple things..
- Like saying good-morning to folk who obviously slept in the street, and even entering into a conversation with them.
- Likewise check-out operators in supermarkets driving themselves mentally numb punching buttons..
- Visiting old folk in old peoples homes – actually it’s a 2-way thing. You get just as much as you give. Many a wonderful story there, Keith Lowe who I visit, used to play as a lad in a barn in an old car… He learned years later it was the FIRST car made in Australia!
- Same fellow when very young, – with his cousin used to plough with a dozen Draft horses, 6 at a time, the spare 6 sheltering under a tree. Any problems? – none as long as you put them in the right order – then they’d pull all day!
- Kindness is known to return more to the giver than the receiver.
But there is a far bigger test on our kindness now emerging
At the beginning of WW1, there was no defence against the then new fangled submarines and their torpedoes – 2,500 ships were lost. Until the invention of the depth charge and the use of convoys contained the problem.
At the beginning of WW2 the atom bomb that finally forced Japan to surrender did not exist. And the Spitfire was just entering service, which helped stop Hitler getting access to the British sky, and invading, with 4 times as many aircraft.
Today, world emissions continue to grow and the sea level rises, the big difference now is we know exactly what to do to counter the problem – STOP EMITTING.
World emissions of CO2 sea level rise
But don’t be despondent.. My Dad was a Gunner Major – and got booted out of France with the rest at Dunkirk. He left on the Southsea ferry from Cherbourg, having left all his guns behind.
He later went to Burma, where again we were booted out by the Japanese.
We all know, the allies returned to both
and beat them both
at the same time.
WW1 lasted 4 years, WW2 6 years. The UN have now warned we have 12 long years to sort climate change out, so we have time, as long as we get going.
Already, on some Pacific islands, spring tides are flooding their houses,and most importantly their fresh water wells.
In only 31years time, dozens of cities worldwide and millions of people will be flooded and have to seek higher ground.
Global warming could create 150 million ‘climate refugees’ by 2050
Environmental Justice Foundation report says 10% of the global population is at risk of forced displacement due to climate change
Over a hundred coastal cities are threatened.
That is when our being “Friendly, generous and considerate” will score.
South Australia is already punching above her weight, with 50% renewables and on the way to 100%.
And its not just the big boys like Gupta and Musk – welcome though they are, its everyone. Domestic rooftop solar PV uptake is among the best in the land.
They did it,
And so can we, in our case… offering KINDNESS to our planet and our fellow man.
Today, 74 years after fighting each other fiercely, we must all link arms and turn to face the common enemy approaching faster now, with ALL that drive and tenacity – Climate Change.
Water boatman is a unit on the water, that takes in polluted or sea water, distills it & either stores the pure water – or pumps it ashore. Water boatman is a unit on the water, that takes in polluted or sea water, distills it & either stores the pure water – or pumps it ashore. 
