My regular assertion that there are more good people than bad is frequently tested to near destruction, as it as when I read that rugby league legend and MND sufferer Rob Burrow had his disability van vandalised when the family were out for a meal. What kind of person does this? We’ve all done extremely stupid things in our lives – as a teenager I once put dog shit in books and took them back to the library – and there is simply no excuse for it. My mum and me were visited by the copper on the beat, I fessed up on the spot and was told no further action would be taken if I went to apologise in person, which I did that day. My feeling is that the person who trashed Rob Burrow’s van should do the same thing now.
I know I could dwell on the vandal, but I won’t. Assuming it’s a he, as it almost always is in such situations, then there is only one course of action: to walk into the local police station and, well, act like a real man and own the consequences. But regardless of whether he does, this incident has yet again proved my assertion to be at least mostly true. There are far more good people than bad ones.
Since the incident became public, the family has been overwhelmed by offers to pay for the damage caused or to repair the van without cost. I rather think the people who have reacted in such positive ways show the best of us. There is nothing in it for them, other than to help someone else, which is the best feeling of all. I bet a lot of people felt like starting off a crowdfunder as soon as they heard about it and I know just what the British people, or the overwhelming majority of them, are like.
At best, the vandal did something utterly brainless as a one-off. The alternative scenario is that it’s something he does all the time. Either way, if he owns up, offers to pay for the damage and, just as importantly, knows he’s done wrong, maybe some good will come out of it and he can become a better person doing good things. We can but hope.
Photo: BBC
