Mark of shamelessness

THE EDITOR: When you willingly embark on a course of action knowing that it will cause you utter embarrassment, such is a mark of shamelessness. There is a non sequitur here, for if you are aware that such embarrassment will result it shows some foresight, but what makes it doubly shameless is that you engage in the action nevertheless.

Shamelessness is an absence of self-respect knowing that your behaviour is demeaning and you will be diminished in the eyes of others, yet you carry on.

Shamelessness is the indifference to the dignity of the person and a sense of self-worth that make you stand tall, but if not, at least to stand up among others.

Shamelessness is seeking to advance the self with no moral, ethical or professional consideration about what you are about to engage in irrespective of how you violate appropriate accepted standards of behaviour.

Shamelessness is knowing that you are neither prepared or up to the task for what is involved but you accept it merely for the money or the sheer opportunism involved.

Shamelessness is knowing that what you are about to engage in is larger than your individual self and that you represent a nation, but you care little about the shame you can bring to a people and a country.

Shamelessness is grovelling before your superiors, those who have abused you in terms of mutually satisfactory arrangements, for your enterprise but you put your own shame behind you. And similarly so for the same superiors who are equally unconscionable to reduce players to this kind of humiliation.

Shamelessness is walking among your fraternity, in this case “the sporting,” with little care about how members scoff at you for bringing the game into such ill repute. The last sentence is deliberate to give you a hint about who are these shameless ones, but our recent humiliation in Pakistan should give you a hint, in case you missed it.

DR ERROL BENJAMIN

docbenj742 @outlook.com