Temper joy with reason
Mmegi Editor | Thursday December 21, 2017 13:51
The malls are packed from early morning, traffic is flowing steadily out of towns and villages and the bus ranks and train stations are a cornucopia of activity.
The festive season has arrived and as it is a norm every year, the country has been transformed into a mass celebratory mood as everyone moves to make the most of the much-needed downtime.
It is very easy under such circumstances for people to let their guards down and pay the price. In fact, it is a tragic peculiarity of humanness that lingering great sorrow or danger always underlies great joy. This is never so clear as when parties to a wedding perish to or from the joyous occasion, or when tourists die undertaking one activity or another.
Both those examples underscore how critical it is that even as we celebrate, even as we let our guards down and relax, even as we of necessity believe our fellow humans are equally jubilant, great sorrow or danger is lurking nearby.
Since the beginning of the month, this publication has catalogued a series of tragedies revolving around merrymaking gone wrong. A highly qualified 33-year-old man drowned in a swimming pool in Letlhakane while enjoying an outing with friends, while another 27-year-old man drowned in Bokaa Dam last Sunday under similar circumstances.
This is over and above the numerous incidents of violence, rape and theft involving people at or coming from bars, entertainment areas, music festivals and other high-risk events. And hanging over these, is the high death and injury toll on the country’s roads as a result of intoxication, speeding and other reckless behaviour.
And the party spoilers are not limited to crime and alcohol-related incidents alone. As the ministries of Health and Wellness and Investment, Trade and Industry have indicated in statements, the festive season is clothed with higher risks.
The health ministry warns about the dangers of poor food preparation and handling, the importance of cooking food thoroughly and storing it appropriately and the care to be taken around water consumption.
Meanwhile, at the trade ministry, authorities there warn festive shoppers to be wary of rand pricing, differences between shelf price and till price, expiry dates and the state of products being bought.
The spectrum of threats is far wider than this, but the general principle applies across it. It is critical that we all maintain our vigilance and natural scepticism over and beyond the festive season, to reduce the chances of being attacked, scammed or falling into perilous situations.
There is a tendency to overly rely on the police for situations in which an ounce of prevention really is worth a pound of cure. Self-policing, whether with our health, our families or our possessions begins with each individual making a decision to temper their joy with reason.
Today’s thought
“Taking personal accountability is a beautiful thing because it gives us complete control of our destinies.”
- Heather Schuck