Dear Editor,

On the day of writing this, I had an experience worth sharing with aspiring and existing politicians.

It was beginning to rain, and this ex-politician was struggling to walk to his home. He realised that he could not make it home before the rain and stretched out his hand asking for a ride. I stopped and offered to drive him to his home. He was frail, with hands that seemed slightly disabled. His voice was weak. I asked what he was doing out and he indicated that he went to buy a lottery ticket. I then asked what he would do if he won. He was unsure. I drove him to his house and left.

As I drove away, I thought of the man I knew decades ago. A proud person with some serious bouts of narcissistic behaviour. Today, in his luxurious house, he was just thankful to be able to still move around. His pride was almost totally gone. But he was still proud that his name was on his property. I wondered how different his life would have been if he had been less arrogant and more dedicated to helping others.

I also had another experience a few years ago with a younger politician. We were at a netball parade together; I was a parade judge, and he was the area representative. I said hello to him, and he did not even look back at me. He was so full of self-importance, so full of power that his arrogance covered him like a veil of pride. How I wished he had the opportunity to see one of his ex-politician colleagues, a past government minister, grateful for a ride to his home.

Life is fragile, the material things, the power, the importance, and the feeling of invincibility can quickly be lost with sickness and death. Then there is the inevitable, we all must and will get old. If you want your kids to come home and spend time with you when you are older, treat them kindly now. If you want the people in your neighbourhood and the public to love and respect you, now is the time to treat them with kindness. If you fail to understand the importance of being a good person, do not be fooled, time will have its role in your life. And the bed you make today is the one that you will lie on.

Recently, some good people that I knew passed on to the other side. The voices of praise and adoration as well as the platitudes were treasured by those left behind, not only for the moment but for generations.

We have the opportunity to work together to make our country a better place for all our citizens. If we do that with love and sincerity, we would be remembered for generations; otherwise, we would be sadly forgotten as we did nothing but wallowed in self-importance and false pride.

Steve Alvarez

bilcoa@hotmail.com