Express & Star comment: Remember the good in our society – for every thieving waste of space there is someone who goes the extra mile for others
It is too easy to be cynical about modern society as we feel plagued by crime, tormented by mindless yobs and disheartened by the evil seen within our communities.
Just today police revealed there are around six or seven gangs of so-called “home invasion burglars” operating in the region, bursting into mostly elderly people’s homes and threatening violence to steal valuables.
Most of the victims are elderly or from an Asian background, and around 50 of these attacks are currently being linked. Meanwhile in Walsall raiders have targeted closed business premises to steal cash, charity boxes, workers’ possessions and stock.
Such vultures actually prey on the weaker members of society or on those who spend their days earning an honest living. The elderly are not respected, they are targeted.
It is depressing that such scum are able to operate among us.
Sometimes it is hard to remember the good people around us. But just looking through these news pages today we see that we are lucky enough to be served by firefighters like Lyndon Flavell, who perched on the top of a ladder 50ft up to save a five-year-old boy from falling out of a fifth floor tower block window.
The 42-year-old father-of-one from Penn, Wolverhampton, modestly said: “Any one of us would have done it, I was just at the end of the ladder.”
And then there is little Brownhills two-year-old Charlie Yates who’s video appeal has enabled him to collected more than £200 of selection boxes and goodies for children at a Birmingham special school. He is just one of many people, and local companies, who have gone the extra mile this Christmas to raise funds for charity or help out those less fortunate than themselves.
For every thieving waste of space, this region is home to many more like West Bromwich Albion employee Richard Eades, a ‘Baggie Bird’ and widely respected and liked member of the local football community, who has died suddenly at the age of just 42.
The passing of the father of two had the great good fortune to find a career with the club he loved and his passing has led to an outpouring of tributes from local clubs and fans.
Any society will always be plagued by the dishonest, the vicious and the mean-spirited, but they are just a minority. Their actions attract attention because they offend us. People like Richard, Charlie and Lyndon are the true face of our region: brave, good-hearted, cheerful and generous.
