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As most people now know, last week two Australian DJs impersonated Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles and called the hospital where Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge, was being treated for acute morning sickness. They fooled Jacintha Saldanha, the nurse who answered the phone and transferred the call, enabling the impersonators to tape, for all the world to hear, personal medical information about the Duchess.
A couple of days later Jacintha committed suicide.
Obviously, the DJs are not responsible for Jacintha’s death, but their prank raises an important question: can’t we just be kind? We live in a world in which meanness, deception, and harrassment is well-compensated. The DJs bragged about their success. Until Jacintha’s death, they seemed both thrilled and smug. No longer.
Before we do anything to anyone, it would help to remember these words: “Be kind, for everyone is fighting a great battle.” Would the DJs have made their prank call had they held this sentiment close to their hearts? Would Jacintha be dead and her two teenage children left without their mother? We’ll never know, but the lesson in this is still there for each of us to heed.
Just be kind.
- Zoe
Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: | human rights, humane education, Jacintha Saldanha, Kate Middleton, Kindness
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I don’t know if we can say that they didn’t cause her death directly. If they had not called, would she have committed suicide? The causation water here seems a bit muddy.
As for being kind, boy the world would be a lot of people started with the premise “What can I do now that will cause the most good?” instead of “How can I help myself now as much as possible?”