4 minute read
EDITOR’S LETTER
KINDNESS & DOING GOOD
It seems a bit mawkish and perhaps sentimental, but how many of us don’t long for a time when things were simpler, less complicated and just... nicer? People were nicer to one another possibly because they were less stressed. Kids could ride their bicycles or walk to school in innocence rather than have parents or lift clubs drive them to and fro because of concerns about crime or dirty men in raincoats – and being a Cub or Boy Scout or Brownie or Girl Guide – was kinda cool. And one thing those clubs had in common was doing good deeds – and doing unto others as you would have them do unto you.
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In mid-October Durban was hit by a sudden deluge with widespread flooding occurring in the space of an hour. The damage to property was devastating and people died – but amid all the drama there were stories of heroism and goodness. One which hit the headlines was about a courier company driver who shucked his clothes and went into flood waters up to his waist to save a grandmother trapped inside a floating, flooded Mercedes. It went viral because there were other bystanders who stood on the sidelines and filmed it before posting it on social networks.
The hero of the day – Sibusiso Matrick Mbhele – helped Janet Hart, simply because he could. He could see the situation was dangerous and that she was in shock. Reports later reflected that the driver helped a number of other people, children and adults, before getting back in his truck and making his delivery to Port Shepstone! The Hart family later rewarded Mr Mbhele who was grateful but said he’d simply wanted to do the right thing – to help someone in distress.
A few days later, fire broke out near the 12 Apostles Hotel in Oudekraal, Cape Town, and the city’s fires fighters were assisted by the men and women of the VWS – or Volunteer Wildfire Services. They fought the runaway blaze for days, working in tremendously difficult and dangerous conditions. While they train on weekends and evenings, trading family and recreational time to keep fit and learn how to back burn and douse or beat out flames, they do so knowing that they can make a difference.
And behind that line of defenders stand an army of others – normal people like you or I who might not be able or willing to plunge into floodwaters or flames but who can (and do!) contribute in some small way. It might be as simple as donating R10 to an SMS line or going to your local SPAR or TOPS at SPAR and buying water, cooldrinks or food for the teams who are dealing with whatever crisis has happened, making sandwiches or donating equipment, clothing and even basics such as toothbrushes and toothpaste to those who have lost their homes – it’s a good deed.
It might be a small gesture, a simple token or realisation that you can help someone who is in need, but it’s a really nice thing to do. The world would be an immeasurably better place if we didn’t need floods and fires to be kind and good. It’s called the Power of Positivity for a reason – and that’s because it produces results and those results – more kindness, goodness and niceness – multiply exponentially. Let’s all try to be a bit nicer to each other. Cheers, Fiona
FIONA MCDONALD CHEERS EDITOR
cheers team
TOPS at SPAR Jess Nicholson Group Promotions & Advertising Manager – Liquor
Publisher Shayne Dowling shayne@integratedmedia.co.za Editor Fiona McDonald fiona@integratedmedia.co.za Art Director Annalie Boshoff annalie@integratedmedia.co.za Advertising Eloise Meyer eloise@integratedmedia.co.za PR & Promotions Kaitlyn Bunce kaitlyn@integratedmedia.co.za Photography Thinkstock.com Contributors Clifford Roberts, Gerrit Rautenbach, Teresa Ulyate, David Bowman, Tinus van Niekerk, Emile Joubert, Gareth George, Nick Frost Head Office Cape Town Tel: 021 685 0285 Address Suite WB03 Tannery Park 23 Belmont Road, Rondebosch, 7700 Postal Address PO Box 259, Rondebosch, 7701 Printing Paarl Media Cape, a division of Novus Holdings Published by Integrated Media for TOPS at SPAR
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