The usual run of events is a trickle of emails direct into my inbox either saying they enjoyed a piece or on the other hand, someone saying they didn’t. The latter are obviously more forceful in their view, and I thank them for the feedback and we both go our separate ways never to cross paths again.
Mind you, there has been a noticeable increase in the latter in recent times.
Any taking the piss out of Trump was met with his loyal supporters telling me not to be so nasty to the man. Usually in a very vociferous tone.
If I mention climate change, there are the inevitable correspondents telling me that there is no such thing or at least humankind has nothing to do with it if there is any.
If I touch on covid-19, there are some who obviously have no access to the media or outside world because they tell me that it’s a sham and a media-fuelled overblown crisis. I would like to suggest to them that they go and holiday in poor old Fiji perhaps, but we just agree to disagree.
If I talk about the vaccination programme, inevitably I hear from people who tell me that vaccination is an extremely bad idea. I tell them that the day the over 60s get called up, I will be there at the front of the line with my sleeve rolled up.
One fellow the other day was insistent that 400 Australians had already died from getting the jab. A quick search on a fact check website showed that the story going around on social media was in fact 210 deaths and the truth was that 209 of these deaths were from people who indeed had the shot but had died of other causes such as old age, heart attacks and strokes unrelated to the vaccination and would have died of these things anyway. In fact, the death rate of this cohort that was vaccinated and subsequently died was lower than the death rate of unvaccinated cohorts.
There was one death of a person that could be linked to the vaccination. This after over 10 million jabs across the ditch. I’ll take those odds, thanks.
I sent the link to the facts on this matter to my vaccination doubting Thomas and heard no more.
But suddenly, there’s a flurry of published letters in this paper tearing into me and pointing out my sins and wrongs.
One correspondent got stuck into me on the grounds that I was calling for NZ to be opened up to tourists again. Well, I had said that we’d love our son who has been away for two-and-a-half years to be able to get home but was struggling to get into MIQ – that’s hardly an endorsement for resuming tourism. Quite the opposite as I’ve made the point more than once that if we are actually serious about reducing carbon emissions, why are we so desperate to resume tourism given inbound and outbound tourists contributed 10 million tonnes of CO2 equivalents?
But if I had a tourism-based business, I’d have quite a different view.
Another stinging letter had me taken to task for my “insightful comments on flower arrangements”. I’ve racked my brains but struggle to remember ever cogitating over the mysterious art of flower arranging. I don’t believe I’ve ever done more than stuff a few daffodils into a vase.
But the more I think of it, the more I feel compelled to learn how to do a spot of flower arranging and then indeed deliver a thoughtful and yes, insightful piece on flower arrangements.
Give me time.
