Oh! Colombo 

I am sure many of us are familiar with that telephone call from a buddy who only wants us to hear his or her side of the story. The one sided conversation could last for twenty minutes or longer with the buddy venting off his or her anger at what is happening in their lives that they are obviously not happy with. The only relief they seem to find is to bend someone’s ear about their misery and who better with than if they have a friend to call and let out their steam. Even better when this person is aware that the listener is not one who would gossip and spread his or her story around town. 

Such is the world now. Many are hell bent on making money or doing some deal and the rest are jobless women who have all the money and their only occupation limited to wondering which tea, lunch or dinner party to attend and gassing up to go to them. It would seem that, in a way, people have become so selfish and heartless and do not have the compassion to be a good friend. Gone are the days where someone would invite you to spend the day or hang out with them for absolutely no reason; if they now do it is with the intention of being competitive or showing off or to imply to the other person about their great life. A very few people seem to know that in the end peace of mind and joy in one’s life with no worries is probably the richest feeling in the world. One certainly needs money to live but one also has to have a life. 

Recently on social media a new game has begun where people challenge others to post five black and white pictures of their youth or a specified number of years back. People are thrilled and women who look like double decker busses now are found uploading pictures of themselves in their youth, looking quite sensational, and earning a lot of praise for them. Trixie, who is always quite amused with all the goings on in social media, observed that if such a challenge came with the caveat that each uploaded picture should also contribute an x amount to an identified charity the majority would drop out of the game immediately since the mere thought of parting with a sum of money paralyzes people. 

It seems strange that in a city where there are many well-to-do people and many who are foot loose and fancy free that there are very few people who are willing to lend an ear or part with a small sum of money towards a worthy cause.