Sunday, February 14, 2010

Another lesson in perspective

Blogger PM of NZ has drawn attention to interesting articles in today's NZ Herald (perhaps I found them interesting given my personal circumstances at the moment).

All very sad stories about marriages destroyed because of infidelity, and the war that has ensued over assets, with children caught up in all the animosity.

But one comment stands out.  A lawyer, Geoff Harrison, has said financial pressures had hit the marriages of the wealthy.

No problem with that comment, except why restrict the pressures to the wealthy here?

But then, with his two feet firmly in his mouth, he unfortunately tried to also stuff his knees in by continuing (my bold and italic):
Often they end because the relationship has gone financially bust."
For some, the loss of wealth was "not unlike when there has been a death of a child".
How utterly offensive and disgusting.  Yes, a marriage breakup, and the financial pressures that inevitably arise, are stressful.  Extremely stressful.

But nothing - NOTHING - can ever be as horrendous as losing a child.

Unless he can prove convincingly that his comment was taken out of context, and at this moment I am struggling to see how such a statement could be taken out of context, I won't be hiring that insensitive, thoughtless, callous lawyer in a hurry.  To put material hardship ahead of the value of the life of a child suggests he is unsuited to a career in family law.

1 comment:

Lindsay Mitchell said...

I'd hazard a guess that the birth of a child brings many relationships to an end.