Is this OK nowadays?

I am somewhat saddened by the world at the moment. When bad things happen, there is an outpouring of grief, shock, anger and disbelief. Communities, be it local or global, come together to share their emotions and try to make sense of what has occurred.

But some people seem to think it's all right to use bad things as a way of making a point and seem to dispense with expressing any kind of emotion about the tragedy.  

Remember how it felt when a political aide said that September 11th was a good day to bury bad news? I found that a shocking response to the unbelievable sight of planes being used as weapons. "Screw what's happened. Let's just get some benefit from it", the aide seemed to be saying.

Isn't it just as bad to use current tragedies to make a political point?

Or is the world now such a cynical place that every news item is there just to be added to the "And this proves my point" bucket or to be ignored because it disproves a belief?

I go back to something that I don't remember being taught, but I certainly associate with the sentiment of my upbringing:

"If you can't think of anything nice to say, don't say anything at all."

And as I've got older, I appreciate Abraham Lincoln's phrase:

"Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt".

Though I'm sure my critics will feel that this post as proof of the latter.

At least Tim Peake is back safely from his travels. Now there is some news to celebrate.

You gotta friend...but have you?

Friendship in the world we live in seems different to what it used to be. But is different better?

The word friend used to mean someone you hung out with. A close friend was someone who shared your secrets and your lipstick. Friends were the people around you - the wider circle of those who inhabited the same part of the world as you. When you were a teenager, it was your school friends and those who lived nearby. When you went to work, your circle widened to include those in your department.

Not that all of these people were your friends. There would always be people you didn't like or who didn't like you. But friendship was primarily a physical thing.

Now you can have friends anywhere. They live in a virtual world, liking or ignoring the selfies you post of FB or Instagram. They can make comment on your life without consequence but so can you, knowing you wouldn't say it to their face but hey, everyone does it. You can kid yourself that a celebrity likes you because they re-tweeted your latest witticism.

People are cruel on these sites, not just through what they say or do but in subtler ways. If you post up a tale of your latest woes, is it worse if someone is unsympathetic or if they ignore you? How many posts disappear when the Like count isn't up to the mark? Surely that must heighten the sense of not belonging?

And so what if you have 500 "friends"? If there's no-one there to give you a hug when you're low or laugh with you at life's misfortunes, then do the platitudes of the 500 make up for that? Is it better than nothing? Or does it serve to maintain the illusion of friendship in today's world?

Because somehow it doesn't seem quite real. And surely a step away from reality is not a good direction to go in?

Or is it?