I spent several hours of Saturday afternoon in the company of a close friend of mine. I have mentioned several times in the blog the value of friendships and the importance of family. Dave and I are very much alike in that we have a small circle of just over half a dozen or so friends; but we place a great deal of importance on these friendships. My circle includes in no particular order; Dave, Adam, Francis, Daniel, Joe, Jane, Nick, Jeff and Michael. When I lived in South Wales this short list would have been expanded to include Doug, but we drifted apart at his choice. My friends can call upon my help at any time, and providing it is within my capacity to deliver and the request is legal then I would be there to help them. This does not mean that we speak every day or that we meet every weekend, it is simply an understanding brought about my mutual interests and trust. I enjoy Adam’s company as he is particularly intelligent and sometimes is quite funny, but I suspect that he doesn’t realise that. I haven’t spoken with Joe for a long time as he has been studying hard to become a Doctor. It is always great to meet up with Daniel as he operates in a different World than me; he is successful and works in the City. For those in Africa or the States reading this blog (and I know that you do as Google Analytics has told me the location and number of unique readers) the City is London. Some 6 hours by road from where I live, that is if the traffic is light. On a bad day the journey can take 8.5 hours.
Dave and I can put the World to rights and can chat at ease on just about any subject. Yesterday we discussed amongst many other things; the ways in which people discharge a social obligation to their fellow man. This is often undertaken through a sense of community, or a realisation that others need to be helped. Sometimes people look after others through their sense of duty. What is clear is that the catalyst for discharging this social obligation is not a birth right. Whilst I suspect that in 1918 and again in 1939 it would have been reasonable to have expected the upper classes to have enrolled in the armed forces; history has shown us that it was the working class who clamoured to ‘the call to arms’. My father was born in 1917 and with the winds of war blowing across Europe he enrolled in the Army prior to the outbreak of the Second World War. Unfortunately while serving in France during the period known as the ‘Phoney War’, Dad fell ill and had to be shipped back to the United Kingdom. After some eighteen months in hospital and convalescence, Dad was medically discharged from the Army. His sense of patriotic duty, his desire to serve King and Country meant that he could not languish to one side while others fought. Because of this, my father joined the Auxiliary Fire Service for the remainder of the War. As they say; ‘and the rest is history’. Another time, and another place back in Ghana and Mrs ‘G’ displays similar attributes. There appears to be a burning desire to look after her fellow man; people who almost dependent upon her within their small community. But I wonder what will happen when Mrs. ‘G’ is no longer there to protect her friends and extended family?
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