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David Harcourt
Administrator
| Joined: | 12 Jul 2006 |
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| Posts: | 1074 |
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Posted: 25 May 2007 11:22 pm |
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Six months ago, in the space of less than a week, disaster befell the lives of three people I know:
* One had for four months been in the process of applying for a job. It involved travel to other countries, several medical examinations, and lengthy interviews. The process was all but complete, and everything seemed to be going well, when it was abruptly brought to a close by the prospective employer. No reason was given. The opportunity was no longer open. That was all.
* Another had been in a marriage - his second - for twenty years or more. There were two children. This marriage broke up. In his early fifties, this man found himself alone.
* The third, a much younger person, had been in a relationship for four years. Latterly it had involved frequent travel, at considerable expense (arising from the air fares and the time off work), because the other person involved had decided that employment in Australia was the better option. At the end of four years my friend was about to travel to Australia permanently to continue the relationship when she was told by telephone that it was over, and she might as well stay in New Zealand.Attached Image (viewed 49 times):
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David Harcourt
Administrator
| Joined: | 12 Jul 2006 |
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| Posts: | 1074 |
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Posted: 25 May 2007 11:27 pm |
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I was interested to see that in each case a small, supportive knot of people gathered.
Outside that group, indifference was complete:
Do not ask for whom the bell tolls.
It tolls for someone else altogether,
Someone totally unconnected to me.
Do not ask for whom the bell tolls.
It tolls for someone else altogether,
What's for tea?
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David Harcourt
Administrator
| Joined: | 12 Jul 2006 |
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| Posts: | 1074 |
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Posted: 25 May 2007 11:42 pm |
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The position today, six months later, is as follows:
* The first person, after an extremely circuitous journey, most of which seemed to him to be in the opposite direction from where he wanted to be (and probably was), has this week been offered a better job than the one he applied for in the first place; something he has wanted to do for several years. He is happier than he has been for a long time.
* The second person seems to be settling down, although what the precise state of his mental health is I cannot say as he is inaccessible to me. At least he hasn't done anything drastic to himself. And as his wife and children seem to be profoundly repellent people he is may in fact be better off where he is. I certainly hope so.
* The jilted lover is a bit sadder, and a little wiser. A wonderful person, she was of course far too good for the new Australian, just as she would be far too good for most young men. I think she'll be OK.
So here we are, six months on. Three people have found that they can survive disaster, that some of their "friends" really are friends, and that some are not.
And so it goes, around and around, and on and on, through the centuries and the millenia, until the very end of time.
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