The End of The Age of Comfort

I just got the news that a very close friend has not long to live. He is 60 and healthy -- other than the stage 4 cancer.

It is not the futility of the thing or the fact that these things happen only to others or not at all; it is the feeling of helplessness that descends upon me like an ugly,  itchy, dark & heavy blanket thatI know I can never shake off: I just have to live with it, until it dissipates, or I metabolize it, or I reach my personal fulfillment -- in which case I will have transcended the blanket... Unlikely although I bet that is what my friend is hoping will happen to me.

It is a situation where I cannot find something wise, or smart, or essential, or anything worthy of anything, to say.

As it has been said countless times, planning for the future is a futile exercise unless you are a young person or a large corporation. And of course any plans we had made with our friend our relegated into our past as historical trivia from back then, when things were much more comfortable.

Things were in place, then; people were alive and healthy, things ticked according to plan and if not, in a polite, accessible and foreseeable manner. Life ticked along well, none of the wheels in the life machine were out of place and all things needed to get better now and then was a small adjustment.

Now everything is upset; people one counted upon, the short-list of friends, the reliable few we had chosen to grow old together...

I know that one has to find comfort in life itself, life is its own underpinning.

Easier said than done! For now, we are living the end of the age of comfort...

Corruption: Have You Noticed? Why Do You Tolerate It? Nothing You Can Do, Eh...

Corruption is news nowadays. Even Adidas, a sportswear designer and producer, claims to be "concerned" at allegation of corruption within FIFA -- FIFA being a major client of said Adidas for over a decade...
As political decision makers, allegedly at the forefront of the purported "corruption scene" (should some such actually exist...), scamper to denounce the practice and vociferously proclaim their allegiance to the fight against corruption, the rest of us sit around busy forgetting, talking about, and generally doing absolutely nothing about it.

Why is that?
Obviously for some, having their hand in the till is their God sent right. So we will leave them out. For the rest of us, it is a cause of indignation, anger, sadness, whatnot -- yet, there is no action.

I think it can only be one of two things:
 a) Hope that one day it will be our turn (at the till)
 b) Helplessness: the hollow feeling of being able to do nothing about the matter at all, accompanied by fear that any action can engender retaliation.

It is probably b) much more than A. And I understand peoples' concern... The alleged leaders of corruption are, at the same time, the people who make the laws -- or break them, as it were. Having lived in a country that investigated its President on alleged misconduct as well as in a country that enacted laws that protect past corruption, and allow civil servants to be bought, I understand the concern... especially in the latter of the two.
By the way, both of the aforementioned are EU countries-- in case you wondered...


Yet, each and everyone one of us is involved, in one way or another, directly or indirectly,with cases of corruption. We may all be victims or bystanders, or both, but we have a story to relate. And most of us have some sort of proof to offer... So offer it!

I say, USE THE INTERNET:

Furthermore, to help you hide, disappear, keep your anonymity, enlist the help of the neighbourhood geek. They are usually quiet, generally very helpful, and amenable when the cause is good.

What are you waiting for?
Your turn will never come