Lack of Empathy

Our guests departed on Tuesday morning; we were sorry to see them go but it has been an excellent long weekend with them - apart from the big fall! The weather is gradually becoming more autumnal but it was still warm enough to sit outside in the garden on Tuesday afternoon and on Wednesday. We did some housework and had lunch at Tea by the Sea where I have become enough of a regular that I was given a loyalty card; I felt honoured! On Wednesday evening news began to come in from the USA that a young right wing influencer called Charlie Kirk (of whom I had never heard) had been shot in the neck while speaking to students at a university in Utah. A couple of hours later it was announced that he has died. Immediately reactions were mixed and controversial. Kirk supported gun use among other right wing beliefs so some people have commented that he deserved to be shot. This lack of empathy is troubling. It seems that many people think that people whose views differ from their own are not deserving of pity or safety, or even of life. When one news channel announced Kirk’s death, employees in the next room could be heard cheering. Cheering for the violent death of a young man of thirty-one who had a wife and two small children. Although his age and situation are not really the point; I don’t understand anyone celebrating the death of any person, no matter what their beliefs. 

Today the rain finally arrived. It has been wild and windy all day, and the ferries between Ullapool and Stornoway have been cancelled due to the weather. James lit the fire and it’s nice and cosy in the cottage.