On his way out of a doctor’s clinic at a pharmacy, my 73-year-old friend tripped in the corridor, falling heavily to the floor and landing on his elbow, with very painful consequences.

The six people sitting on chairs waiting their turn to see the doctor appeared shocked by my friend’s predicament. Their contribution to help, however, was only reflected in stares of surprise – none of them bothered to rise to their feet and help him.

On hearing the commotion, the doctor peeped round the door to his clinic and asked whether my friend was hurt. Due to the dizzy spell and embarrassment, my friend does not recall his reply. He only remembers the doctor returning to his clinic with his next patients, without coming to his aid and checking for any serious consequences.

My friend was clearly in pain and finding it hard to get back on his feet on his own, so he remained on the floor, recovering from the consequences of his fall. He managed to get up using an empty chair for support and walked out of the pharmacy, meeting me across the road and telling me of his unfortunate incident.

In his plight he referred to the Parable of the Good Samaritan. This time around, nobody stood up to help my 73-year-old friend at a time of need. His doctor ‘friend’ must have been more eager to attend to his other clients than to be recorded in the Book of Life as the Good Samaritan Doctor.

The story goes to show how Malta is fast losing its long-standing traditional values and respect for others. The Maltese are increasingly misinterpreting ‘values’ for anything that equates into money and tangible wealth. As for ‘respect’, this only applies towards people or situations that somehow offer monetary gain, temporary or otherwise. Egoism has become ‘KING’. 

I told my friend that Malta is now metropolitan: materialism has taken over Maltese society.

The parable of the Good Samaritan (falsely) stands only as a Biblical reference.     

 

Charles Anthony Falzon

Sliema