CONGRATULATIONS Trinidad and Tobago we have become officially devoid of any sense of humanity!
This is not a new revelation. For the longest time I’ve known we are essentially a twin island nation with too many a@#h*#$es to the most monumental degree but over the years we’ve really begun to outdo ourselves.
We have developed a Me! Me! Me! attitude and as such have rid our collective national conscience of any and all empathy. We no longer stop to think how our actions affect others and in doing so we have de-humanised those around us, especially those whom we may believe are less than us.
Case and point – this week a video was circulated on social media of young man lighting a pillow on fire, a pillow that was occupied by a homeless man. A pillow, which the homeless man probably counted as one of his few possessions, was lit on fire which spread to the rest of his belongings and onto the man himself.
Did the young wannabe arsonist who lit this fire stop to think, “Hey what if this fellow cannot out the fire? What if it causes him serious harm? What effect could this have physically or emotionally on this already strained person?”
The answer is probably an astounding NO. The young man was most likely out to catch some kicks and seeing himself as superior to this street dweller decided this “less than human” would be a perfect subject for his amusement.
Yes there was a lot of outcry from those who viewed the video, chastising the young man but there was a great deal of silence and I guarantee you there were a lot of smirks or giggles hidden behind computer and smart phone screens.
This lack of empathy, this lack of awareness as to how our actions affect others is something we see every day. Another tragedy of the week was the choking death of seven year old Shazard Mohamed. While many expressed their condolences, a lot of blame was put on the ambulance services, harshly criticised for their slow response.
Slow response times of ambulances in TT continue to be a persistent problem, and while I am positive there are a host of reasons contributing to this, I would like to point out one particular issue.
Have you ever noticed how the majority of drivers react to ambulances on the road? The sirens start going and you can hear the collective steups of every driver on the road who takes their sweet time to move out of its way or in a few cases simply refuse to move to allow it through.
There have been countless times I have witnessed drivers simply refusing to give leeway to ambulances or literally waiting until they have stopped behind their car to move.
I wonder if those drivers ever think, “You know there is probably someone in need of serious care waiting for that ambulance let me do the decent human thing and move.”
Again I am sure the answer is NO. So I ask, if it is at all possible, the next time you are stuck in traffic and hear an ambulance screaming in the background, think about the person or persons in medical distress waiting for that ambulance or inside it waiting to get medical attention at hospital.
Imagine it is someone you love or someone who you at least tolerate on the most basic of levels. Furthermore, think about the ramifications of your delayed response, that extra ten seconds or so that you took to steups, cuss or taking your time to move could cost somebody their life. DO YOU WANT THAT BLOOD ON YOUR HANDS?
Finally, this week of scumbag-ness included the truly vile comments about Minister of National Security Stuart Young’s unfortunate tumble during the opening ceremony of the Penal Fire Station.
Listen there is a fine line between a joke and actually wishing harm on another human. Yes you may not like him, his party, and his goatie, whatever… but to publicly say he should have been more severely hurt or made to suffer is truly despicable.
I believe we are what we put out into the universe and if you are putting out this level of hate and disregard for a human life, you will never be happy. Your thoughts and actions will continue to fuel our nation’s unfortunate culture of selfishness and disdain.
In some way or another we are all struggling but our modus operandi of continuously blaming others rather than taking personal responsibility and our complete disregard of others and their own personal struggles will do nothing but continue to suck us into this vortex of misery that some of us seem so blindly comfortable in.
So congrats TT on being a nation of too many a@#h@$es! Hasn’t been working out too well for us but don’t worry it’s not our fault; we’ll find someone to blame.
To those who haven’t quite hit the full level of Trini Sociopathy and still have a few embers of empathy burning in the pit of your black hearts, you are our last hope. Let that tiny light shine, share it with others, let it spread and maybe then we can be saved from ourselves.
Start Saving TT: Show Compassion
CONGRATULATIONS Trinidad and Tobago we have become officially devoid of any sense of humanity!
This is not a new revelation. For the longest time I’ve known we are essentially a twin island nation with too many a@#h*#$es to the most monumental degree but over the years we’ve really begun to outdo ourselves.
We have developed a Me! Me! Me! attitude and as such have rid our collective national conscience of any and all empathy. We no longer stop to think how our actions affect others and in doing so we have de-humanised those around us, especially those whom we may believe are less than us.
Case and point – this week a video was circulated on social media of young man lighting a pillow on fire, a pillow that was occupied by a homeless man. A pillow, which the homeless man probably counted as one of his few possessions, was lit on fire which spread to the rest of his belongings and onto the man himself.
Did the young wannabe arsonist who lit this fire stop to think, “Hey what if this fellow cannot out the fire? What if it causes him serious harm? What effect could this have physically or emotionally on this already strained person?”
The answer is probably an astounding NO. The young man was most likely out to catch some kicks and seeing himself as superior to this street dweller decided this “less than human” would be a perfect subject for his amusement.
Yes there was a lot of outcry from those who viewed the video, chastising the young man but there was a great deal of silence and I guarantee you there were a lot of smirks or giggles hidden behind computer and smart phone screens.
This lack of empathy, this lack of awareness as to how our actions affect others is something we see every day. Another tragedy of the week was the choking death of seven year old Shazard Mohamed. While many expressed their condolences, a lot of blame was put on the ambulance services, harshly criticised for their slow response.
Slow response times of ambulances in TT continue to be a persistent problem, and while I am positive there are a host of reasons contributing to this, I would like to point out one particular issue.
Have you ever noticed how the majority of drivers react to ambulances on the road? The sirens start going and you can hear the collective steups of every driver on the road who takes their sweet time to move out of its way or in a few cases simply refuse to move to allow it through.
There have been countless times I have witnessed drivers simply refusing to give leeway to ambulances or literally waiting until they have stopped behind their car to move.
I wonder if those drivers ever think, “You know there is probably someone in need of serious care waiting for that ambulance let me do the decent human thing and move.”
Again I am sure the answer is NO. So I ask, if it is at all possible, the next time you are stuck in traffic and hear an ambulance screaming in the background, think about the person or persons in medical distress waiting for that ambulance or inside it waiting to get medical attention at hospital.
Imagine it is someone you love or someone who you at least tolerate on the most basic of levels. Furthermore, think about the ramifications of your delayed response, that extra ten seconds or so that you took to steups, cuss or taking your time to move could cost somebody their life. DO YOU WANT THAT BLOOD ON YOUR HANDS?
Finally, this week of scumbag-ness included the truly vile comments about Minister of National Security Stuart Young’s unfortunate tumble during the opening ceremony of the Penal Fire Station.
Listen there is a fine line between a joke and actually wishing harm on another human. Yes you may not like him, his party, and his goatie, whatever… but to publicly say he should have been more severely hurt or made to suffer is truly despicable.
I believe we are what we put out into the universe and if you are putting out this level of hate and disregard for a human life, you will never be happy. Your thoughts and actions will continue to fuel our nation’s unfortunate culture of selfishness and disdain.
In some way or another we are all struggling but our modus operandi of continuously blaming others rather than taking personal responsibility and our complete disregard of others and their own personal struggles will do nothing but continue to suck us into this vortex of misery that some of us seem so blindly comfortable in.
So congrats TT on being a nation of too many a@#h@$es! Hasn’t been working out too well for us but don’t worry it’s not our fault; we’ll find someone to blame.
To those who haven’t quite hit the full level of Trini Sociopathy and still have a few embers of empathy burning in the pit of your black hearts, you are our last hope. Let that tiny light shine, share it with others, let it spread and maybe then we can be saved from ourselves.