RE-Juicing the Common Ground with Rowan Duczek
I wholeheartedly respect other people – their differences, views, origins, backgrounds and issues. I respect all forms of life and the Communitys and other peoples property.
I have thought about the above and have to admit, NO, I do not wholeheartedly respect all others. There are some, whose personality, views and actions I wholeheartedly despise. It is interesting, however, that these tend to be people I do not know personally, I know ABOUT them from the Media; politicians here and abroad, certain so called ‘celebrities’, or Business people, for whom self-aggrandizement and greed are the main focus for action.
And there are times in my life, when I did not respect other people’s property and I stand by that. I remember the taking-down of 8 miles of military fence at the Greenham Common Base together with thousands of women and the elation when the fence collapsed like Dominos. I believe there are situations when actions against property are justified, and – who knows – I might feel called again to Direct Action in the context of the complex Trident Issue.
When it comes to ‘all forms of life’ I am afraid the slugs, who have decimated my Hostas are dealt a blow with Slug Pellets, while I do carry snails to the neighbouring field. And I feed the stray cats that have adopted my garden, in addition to my own five furry beasts.
Thankfully, ‘Hate’ is not an emotion I am familiar with, but I am no stranger to frustration and exasperation. I remember an incident with my daughter. While the dinner was on the table, she took a phone call against her mum’s wishes. The call took a while, she listened, talked and joked before she put the phone down, while I sat in front of my plate, getting more and more frustrated. When she finally returned to the table and happily tucked into her now lukewarm dinner I asked, who – on earth – she was talking to? “Oh, just some Call-Centre guy, asking for money for a Charity.” On my suggestion just to tell ’em to ‘buzz-off’ and put the phone down, I got ‘the Look’ and a lecture. “Mama, some of my friends worked in Call-Centres. It’s a shit-job. People are aggressive and verbally abuse them. What’s the problem with being friendly and polite? They are people, too, you know.” That was me told off, and – of course – she is right. I vowed to change my ways. This is now some 5 months ago and never ONCE did I receive a Call-Centre call since then. Well, point taken!
