THE nature of current affairs means that it’s usually “bad news” that makes for headlines.
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A tragic accident, a horrible crime or a scandal in Canberra have not only an immediacy about them, but, I would hope, these incidents make headlines because they remain relatively unusual.
So following that line of thinking, perhaps the reason “good news” doesn’t resonate as loudly with the community is because most Australians retain the basic desire to lend a helping hand?
Is it that to most Aussies, it’s not news because helping out someone else is unremarkable?
It’s just “what you do”?
Well, perhaps the time has come to once again acknowledge these everyday heroes.
So, today, step forward members of the Riverina Relic and Jewellery Recovery group.
The Daily Advertiser this week reported the story of Lisa Matthews, who lost her engagement ring at Henwood Park during touch footy practice.
Mrs Matthews was understandably devastated and went as far as hiring a metal detector and combing Henwood Park – unsuccessfully – in a bid to recover her ring.
Serendipitously, she was spotted by a chap named Peter Erbacher, who turned out to be a member of the Riverina Relic and Jewellery Recovery Group.
After talking to Mrs Matthews and discovering her dilemma, Mr Erbacher put a call out to his group on Facebook and some of the members offered to join the hunt for the elusive ring.
One of those members was Darrel Ingram, who ultimately unearthed the ring – hidden under a clump of mowed grass – after three hours of searching.
As you might imagine, Mrs Matthews is delighted.
“There are good people that aren’t after a quid, but still want to help other people and not charge for it,” she told The DA.
Indeed, Mr Erbacher told The DA his group is happy to help people who have lost precious metal possessions and they don’t charge.
What makes this story so lovely is the unremarkable nature of it.
After all, it was simply a group of people helping out someone with a problem.
But it is also indicative of our community at its best.
Perhaps it’s because this nation has a long tradition of communities banding together to lend a hand that we don’t always notice acts of kindness.
Take a look around at any large community gathering and you’ll see a small army of volunteers who are helping out.
They’re rarely paid and often look for no recognition whatsoever.
From the SES and volunteer firefighters to the CWA and many, many groups in between Australians have a proud tradition of putting their hands up to help others when they’re in need.
Perhaps the next time some overpaid “star” chucks a wobbly at an airport or a couple of highly paid politicians start to pontificate in the Canberra echo chamber, someone should pull them aside, hand them a hard hat or a book or raffle tickets and send them out into the community to see what’s really important to ordinary people.
It would be nice to think these puffed-up show-offs would realise that there is more to life than garnering likes on a social media page and that most people are still more than happy to lend a hand with nothing more than the offer of a “thanks mate” as a reward.