FOR years now I have been disappointed with the way the word hero has been thrown around and devalued by the media, both print and electronic. If a footballer has a great game by scoring three or four tries in a grand final or a Test match, the headlines scream hero. If he makes a fantastic try-saving tackle, he is similarly a hero.
If a batsman stays at the crease for two full days and makes 300 or 400 runs, he or she is a hero, or if a bowler takes a huge number of wickets in a test match, they get the same treatment. In my opinion this is a gross misuse and devaluation of this word and it really does annoy me.
Call them a star, a superstar, a megastar or a super sportsperson. Whatever you like, but please do not refer to them as being a hero.
Our forefathers who put their lives on the line to protect our country were true heroes. Similarly, our firefighters who put their lives on the line to save properties and lives are true heroes.
In our current COVID-19 pandemic, our frontline doctors, medical staff, paramedics, police and others who put their lives on the line to save the lives of virus victims are true heroes.
These people quality as heroes because they have families at home hoping and praying that their loved ones come through this terrible episode in our history unscathed.
Please, all media outlets, instruct your staff to cease this devaluation of not only the word hero but also of the people who are "true heroes".
Dick McGuigan, Shortland
GOOD NEWS IN TOUGH TIMES
WEDNESDAY's Herald was full of good news stories.
Firstly there was the story on Hunter Valley Grammar and how the principal Mr Teys has done a survey of parents and 82 per cent agree to send their children back to school ('Grammar to break ranks', Herald 22/4).
Next we read that Virgin Australia's woes may create some doubt as to the running of the Newcastle 500 this year ('V8s face Virgin road block', Herald 22/4).
Given the massive disruption it creates for all residents in Newcastle East for three months each year, and that the 2020 event is or was scheduled for right on the Christmas period, is truly wonderful news.
Lastly, but not least, in Topics there is a great story and photo of and about 90-year-old Bill Cox, who has been reading the Newcastle Herald for 80 years.
He calls it his happy hour each morning.
Mr Cox, if I'm as lucky to reach 90 and look as great as you, I would be a very happy hour man as well.
John Fear, Newcastle East
PLENTY OF ROOM TO ROAM
I HAVE been composing a mental list of positives which have unexpectedly come into my life since I became a hermit. Quite surprisingly, it's a rather decent list.
All my positive thoughts went on to the backburner when I read Peter Mullins' letter (Letters, 21/4) about the crowds clogging Bathers Way at Easter time.
Now, I don't give a monkey's about those people's coffee or their clothes; that has no relevance at all. Nor do I particularly care where they live.
I do, though, care a great deal about their stupidity and total disregard for the wellbeing of others.
What were they thinking? In normal times I walk that route regularly, but I don't remember ever seeing so many people together at any one time as was shown in the Herald photographs
Didn't these people think that maybe that was not a good place to be, and just go home (maybe even walk)? There are so many places to walk; it doesn't "have" to be in a situation so completely in contradiction of the way we have been asked/advised to behave.
Where were our council officers? Where were the police who, quite rightly, watch other public places and move people on?
I don't want to contract coronavirus so I'm staying at home.
I'm slowly going nuts, but I'm trying very hard not to put myself at risk. It's starting to wear very thin and my blood pressure spikes every time I read or hear of people deliberately putting themselves and their families at risk, not to mention the medical staff who will have to care for them if they pick up the bug.
The catch cry of the moment is that we're in this together. We're not, you know, when people behave like that Easter mob and the authorities let them.
Ruth McFayden, Merewether
TIME TO TOIL RESERVING OIL
I AM aware of my ignorance of the intricacies in the international oil trade, but if ever there was a time for Australia to leap into action and build a national strategic oil reserve, is it right now.
It is hard to believe that oil is "selling" for minus US$20 a barrel and it's even harder to believe that that means the seller will pay the buyer US$20 for each barrel they take, but whatever it means one thing is clear: enormous quantities of crude oil are available now at very little cost.
We need to start building mass storage facilities as fast as we can and get some of this ridiculously cheap oil. Tankers are chugging around the world's oceans as we speak, looking for places to unload.
Tony Troughear, Kotara
THE ALTERNATIVE IS WORSE
IT is with great disappointment that I read the letters from George Paris, Jody Bailey and Julie Robinson (Letters, 22/4) regarding the isolation measures currently in place.
Comparing Australia's performance against the world in restraining COVID-19 would seem a no-brainer for reasonable people putting up with a month of discomfort.
Language including dystopian, totalitarian and fiasco to describe the isolation measures in place at the moment would appear to be an extremely selfish view from your regularly supported scribes.
I hope others can share my disappointment with their attitudes as the government actions have left Australia with one of the most effective performances in the world against the spread of the virus.
Greg Fenwick, Toronto
A VALUED SUPPORTER
IN response to a challenge as to whom else may have been reading the Newcastle Herald for the longest time, I would nominate my mother Esther Spink.
At 98 she is currently in the Kurri Kurri Masonic Nursing Village. Every day the paper is delivered to her room; in fact it was one of the first questions that she asked of the management.
She has been a reader of the Newcastle Herald and Miners Advocate since she could read. At 98 that has been a long, long time.
Stan Spink, East Maitland
POOR Virgin airline workers ('Hard landing', Newcastle Herald 22/4). What about the thousands of people who have lost their jobs, and all the people who have lost their businesses? We are all going through a difficult time at present, and trying to make the best of the uncertainty.
Linda March, Merewether
WITH the changes to our lives and hardship we are going through, isn't it funny the long-term unemployed are very quiet?
Darren Sparks, North Lambton
SO much for the light rail tracks. There is a lot to be said for Australian steel.
Ken Stead, Lambton
CAN someone explain why it is that when Scott Morrison says our COVID-19 tracking app data is 100 per cent secure ('Barnaby doesn't grasp COVID-19 app, says minister', Herald 20/4) I get a mental image of someone rifling through Anna Smethurst's undies drawer?
Ian Osborne, Belmont
I AGREE with Greg Archbold (Short Takes, 20/4) that Speers Point Park is kept in great shape thanks to the workers from Lake Macquarie City Council. I just wish we could say the same about Foreshore Park and The Boulevarde in Toronto. Council workers are rarely seen at these locations, and unfortunately our main street and Foreshore Park are looking sad and rather neglected. When we finally see someone from council, perhaps they could also inspect the toilets at the foreshore too; they are a disgrace.
Diamond Porter, Blackalls Park
IN response to Joanna Davidson (Letters, 21/4) regarding Fernleigh Track, I drive on roads regularly and am also surprised that cyclists haven't realised they should ride single file rather than two across the road. It may not be sociable, but it's necessary to ensure the safety of cyclists let alone adhering to social distancing.
Phil Hatch, Paterson
JOHN Arnold (Letters, 21/4): capitalist + socialist = democratic society. Let's hope the people have learnt the lessons of the pandemic and become communists?
Phil Hatch, Paterson
THERE was a time in my life when I lived, worked and played hard and wild. I had secrets I wouldn't have wanted to become public, so I get that some are more worried about a possible loss of their privacy with the government COVID app than they are about the virus. With parenthood came a change in my values; life was no longer all about me, so I will be opting in to the app. Those concerned their secrets might be outed can choose not to opt in.
Dave McTaggart, Eleebana
WE have a problem, I think, with light rail tracks starting to crack already. One good thing is that the buses are running up Hunter and down King Street. Maybe we should have had electric buses doing the same route, not like the light rail to nowhere - just up and down Hunter Street. I pity the drivers, and hope they're well paid. It would be a boring job.
Wayne Ridley, Gateshead
LETTER OF THE WEEK
THE pen goes to Dick McGuigan, of Shortland, for his letter about heroism.
