JUSTIN CASE - OUR HERO

We believe that there is nothing better than to stir up a Hornet’s Nest when the town slides back into its dull and dreary ambience. So here we go marching into the breach of controversy .....again.

Time after time we hear about the ‘Heroes’ in a society. Firstly what is a ‘Hero’? We am not about to give you the definitive answers but to throw in some ideas for you to mull over in your own mind, breast the bar and have a pot or three over a Pizza.

Is a hero someone who goes out of their way voluntarily to attend emergencies and help others? Maybe they are. The C.F.A, First Response and S.E.S along with other front line Volunteers may certainly come into this category. But what about the Ladies Auxiliaries, the Raffle Ticket Dealers and Badge Sellers all those behind the scenes without whom the front line would be unable to exist let alone operate. Are they Heroes?

Is a hero someone who gets paid to lay their life on the line?  Maybe they are. Police, professional Fire-fighters and Ambulance Paramedics. Are there levels of heroism between being paid and doing it for nothing? Is a hero a volunteer or are they conscripted?

If they were forced to carry a gun and kill are they a hero? If they risked life and limb to support those fighters are they heroes? If you kill an enemy soldier are you automatically a hero or just saving your own skin? If you come up against an enemy combatant and he kills you is he a Hero?

You hear a lot about men at war but you don’t hear as much about the women who fought the war. Maybe they weren’t in the firing line, but they were there treating the wounded and in WWII they were growing the food and helping shear the sheep, making the munitions, building fences and building defences. Are they, were they heroes? You constantly hear of Vietnam Veterans being referred to as ‘Men’ but we know of many women who ‘don’t speak of the war’ too.

What about the sportsmen that hang out their wilting dicks for admiration. Who slang off at each other and fix matches. Who get totally shit-faced on drugs and booze in public places. Should we be calling these yobboes heroes?

But we have another very important participant in this story. They didn’t know it at the time, they didn’t even think of it in that light. They did not volunteer nor were they conscripted they did not expect financial gain or to be worshipped although some will belatedly seek it.

We speak about those men and women who through no fault of their own end up in the right place at the right time and save someone or maybe many someone’s lives. Be it a car accident, a burning house, a mine collapse or an explosion. Do they think about being heroes or do they unthinkingly and automatically render assistance?

Statistics show that more innocent civilians have been involved in preventing terrorists from achieving ‘Paradise’ than all of the paid so-called ‘Security’ personnel. One may wonder sometimes why we even pay A.S.I.O and all the other professionals to prevent nothing. Then again if they do prevent something they can’t tell us that they did in the interest of security. In other words we can’t  know what we don’t know.

Finally, if we do save someone’s life, maybe it’s just a case of not being able to stand by and watch someone die if we can prevent it. If you’re stuck in the dark for a month with thirty other men and don’t end up strangling each other or maybe doing other things are you a hero or just experiencing the natural instinct to survive,

If a small baby falls into a swimming pool do we call out ‘kick your legs darling’. and watch them sink or do we jump in and haul them out? Someone is dangling by their fingers a hundred metres up the side a collapsed building. Do we yell out “Let go you bastard” or do we look for an inflatable jumping castle?

Let’s be honest everyone has the capacity to be a hero we just don’t know it ......yet.