The ceiling came down in our living room recently. This is bad enough when ceiling demolition is planned – I know nothing else which creates such a mess – but chaotic when it happens for no apparent reason in the middle of the night.
Fortunately, no-one was directly under it, but still...
All things are comparative, of course. The inconvenience and distress is nothing like that felt by so many flood victims from last year, in South Yorkshire and other places.
When all this is moved on to a world scale, the recent national disasters in Burma and China remind us of the fragility of our world.
Therefore, my experience is of only limited complaint from me in this advanced culture of insurers, wide availability of consumer goods and a friendly, talented local builder. Inconvenience must be simply lived with and sustained through my known reservoirs of patience and practical skills.
It did make me think of wider implications, though, during a recent meeting with the chair of the Health and Safety Executive. One of the sources of bad press for local government in recent years has been a perceived obsession with health and safety issues.
If the tabloids are to be believed, local councils are determined to spoil school outings and community activities, and restrict leisure pursuits, through an obsession with risk-aversion.
The HSE is not immune from this criticism either, but I was impressed by the determination from the top not to try to manage risks out of all situations. No-one can reasonably argue that workplaces, large gatherings and our homes and property should not be risk assessed, and we have a responsibility to promote and ensure safe environments.
The key word is proportionate. Public services must set a context and framework, but we have a personal responsibility to exercise appropriate judgements. We must adopt a can-do culture to guide our personal and community lives. A real shared responsibility.
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