MANNERS AND OTHER MATTERS

Teresa in the island's beautiful church (photo LP) Yesterday I received the following letter from a young woman who lives on one of the most remote islands in the world, Pukapuka, in the Northern Cook Islands in the Pacific Ocean.  I was fortunate to meet her and stay in her house during the infamous voyage on  SV Discovery   through the Suwarrow National Marine Park and other islands in the region in May 2011. Teresa's letter Prior to our departure I asked Edwina (Teresa to us) what she would like me send her from Australia. The island is regularly short of what we would regard as ordinary staples like rice, sugar, flour and medical supplies. The island " supermarket" with empty shelves (photo LP) But what Teresa particularly wanted for her family were vegetable and fruit seeds.  The islanders are largely restricted in their choice and eat mainly taro, every islander has their own small patch of soil in which to grow it, and coconut. ...

Gotye singing "Someone That I Used to Know " I had a call this morning from a client which deeply disturbed me.  Because it touched a raw nerve. The client asked me about the manners of personal breakups.  In 2012 should the conversation be between the two people involved, face to face, or is it appropriate to initiate the breakup by SMS, or email? What about a voice message or a telephone call? Her husband of 25 years, a well known doctor, had sent her an SMS while she was attending a conference overseas saying that he had fallen in love with someone else and wouldn’t be home when she returned the following day. I took a few seconds to compose myself before answering her. I very rarely wander into the realms of personal experience when offering advice but I decided to share with her my experience;  and when I had told her my tale she encouraged me to talk about the manners of personal breakups on this blog because the impact of internet communication is...