You scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours!

In this time of coronavirus, the need for man to show consideration to and help his fellow man has never been more important. Regrettably, we are seeing the opposite of this, with scammers and fraudsters using this period of uncertainty to take advantage of the vulnerable.

Some governments have though provided much needed assistance to their citizens during this difficult time. The UK government, for instance, has done its bit and provided a lifeline to many employees by paying 80% of their monthly salaries while they are unable to work because of the pandemic. However, this furlough assistance will come to an end on 31 October 2020 and what then? The sad reality is that many of these same employees will be made redundant by their employers.

It is at such a time that we should show our compassion to our fellow man not just because it is the right thing to do, but also because it is in our self-interest to do so. We have to realise that national governments can only do so much to make their citizens' lives at least bearable during this international crisis. The rest of the responsibility lies with us, as citizens.

It will become clear to many that the days of the "job for life" or even the "job for a long time" are well and truly over. As such, we have to collectively come up with some credible alternative. Of course, we all need money to live, if only to pay our bills! That will not change, pandemic or no pandemic. With less money in the system however, we can alter our mindset and be more prepared to offer others assistance in even the smallest of ways. A good start would be us to consider doing work for others in kind. This would not be charity because we would be doing work for others in return for them doing work for us. But, no money would change hands. This already happens now. Such acts are called "favours". We may have to come to the realisation that we are now going to have to do others favours like never before, with the bonus that our good work will be returned to us.

In a post Covid world, we have to be aware that our priorities will have to change if we are to survive. Just as we can no longer rely on the security a job with an employer can provide, we have to also realise that we can no longer afford to just think about ourselves, excluding others.

If we do change our thought processes and make allowances for others, we will not be any the less for it. On the contrary, will be reinvigorated by our renewed sense of community. Furthermore, we will find we all have a support mechanism on which we can rely when times become tough as they are now.

However, it will mean that we have to be more considerate of others and perhaps less willing to act on our own needs.

Our actions do not need to be grandiose. A simple act of kindness will do the trick like helping an elderly person to cross a road. We are programmed so much to succeed and that this success that can only come in a set package that we have forgotten the art of common decency. If we can see the error in our ways and correct our behaviour, we will have really found something that no amount of money can buy.