Okay. So what’s a little sunshine, eh? Perhaps not much to most of us, but it seems to be quite a big deal for the inhabitants of this small island. I woke up today to sunrays peeping through my curtains, and as I stepped off into the street to catch my bus to Uni, there seemed to be a lighter feeling in the air.
Strangers walking past me smiled, for no apparent reason (that is still not a crime here, as opposed to in London). The usually cranky bus driver didn’t bat an eyelid when I gave him a fiver for the return bus fare of £1.60, when he usually snaps at anyone without the right change. When we arrive at Uni, people usually rush off the bus, not giving way to others. This morning, not only was I given way, I was given way with a smile!
Okay.. so I may be imagining things. Or perhaps it’s just a manifestation of my own perkiness this morning. Or it might not be the sunshine – just that it’s Friday. But Brits spend 2/3 of their lives surrounded by rain. Can’t blame them for relishing a bit of sunny weather. Come to think of it, after the seemingly prolonged winter, even I’m excited!
“The opposite of love is not hate, it’s indifference. The opposite of art is not ugliness, it’s indifference. The opposite of faith is not heresy, it’s indifference. And the opposite of life is not death, it’s indifference” – Elie Wiesel
Indifference. Not caring. That’s our biggest enemy. Not the person who completely disagrees with what we stand for, because at least he has the guts to believe and be counted. It’s the other guy, safely ensconced in his comfort zone, not caring about what goes on outside his four self-constructed walls.
Hate may kill. Indifference doesn’t care that they’re dead. It won’t be for the lack of love that the world disintegrates. It will be because there is too much apathy.
Janice: Oh! My! GOD! It’s such a small world…
Chandler: And yet, I’ve never met Beyonce
(Or something like that, anyway.. )
Yes, we always do say that it’s a small world. It has even happened to me on more than one occasion. Everytime I meet someone new, chances are we will share a mutual friend. My favourite is my connection with Adniz, who is Ana’s brother Khalid’s girlfriend, and also my sister’s friend from some part of her teenage years. Adniz and Khalid’s friend Afni is also a friend of my sister, and I know Afni too – and while at Warwick, Adniz stayed in the same house as Nila, who was at STF with me and we were in the same dorm block.
But is the world really small? If proximity is an issue, I live within a 100 mile radius of where David Beckham lives, and I go shopping at the Trafford Center where he and Posh go as well – and yet we’ve never met, never mind having mutual friends.
So how come we bump into people who know people we know? What is it that makes the world constrict in size? One’s social circle? Education level? Age? Is it really a small world, or do birds of a feather truly flock together?
On another note, here’s a blog worth reading – Back to Iraq. Thanks to the young doctor for pasting this link into my YM earlier today.