Extra Care Softens Iron Curtain
In the gusty corridor with shut gates and gloomy lighting, Anna walked alone to go back to her flat. In the building that she lived in, no one was willing to communicate or even say a hi to the neighbours.
One day, when she was going back home as usual after school, she saw an unfamiliar face in the lift of her building. It was an old man wearing shabby clothes and carrying a multitude of daily necessities. Anna guessed that he was a new neighbour, but showed no interest in knowing him and just focused on her mobile phone. Anna’s guess was correct. The old man exited the lift on the same level with her and entered the flat which had been previously left emptied.
Another afternoon, Anna passed the corridor again when going home. However, when she walked past the old man’s flat, she saw the man fainted outside his door. Anna was shocked and tried to wake him up. Luckily, after a while, the man became conscious. She then accompanied the man to enter his flat. Anna asked the man what happened to him. To her surprise, the man said that he had heart disease but his wife had passed away and his sons and daughters were not willing to take care of him. Hearing this, Anna was touched. She knew that she had to think of some ideas to help the man.
After chatting with the old man, she went back to her flat. “We have to pay our efforts to take care of the old man, “she thought. However, only she herself was not enough. She ought to join hands with the neighbours to take turns to look after the man, but how to raise her neighbour’s attention was the main issue. Therefore, she asked for advice from her mum, who always supported her for assistance. “Maybe we can start to act by ourselves to inspire the others,” she said.
Therefore, Anna followed her idea. Her whole family visited the old man once every day and provided him with some homemade, warm and delicious dishes and soup. One day, their neighbour, Mrs Wong, saw that they were visiting the old man and wondered why they were doing that. After hearing the old man’s miserable story, she also volunteered to help. In this way, more and more neighbours were willing to look after the old man. Not only was the old man benefited, the interaction among other residents was also enhanced. They understood the importance of having a caring heart. They would say “good morning”, “hello” to each other when meeting in the corridor or lift. Seeing such a significant improvement in neighbour’s relationship, Anna’s parents praised their daughter, “We are so proud of you, girl.”
We are not willing to see an ‘iron curtain’ built between people. We are not willing to see everyone just burying their heads in their smartphones. Only with some effort, a few kind words, you can break the walls between humans. The mentally more vulnerable groups of people in our society, for example, the elderly and disabled, require more intimacy and interactions. We should always show our extra care to them like what Anna did.