‘Social’ Intelligence: You’re Not Alone

Link to podcast to follow

Bronchitis; nasty stuff.

It nails you down to bed and makes you think about...well, life, the universe and everything.

As you try to cough out your misery, the unbearable pain stabs you in the chest with the familiar sharpness and firmness of a five- inch stiletto.

You reach for your phone and, as you stare at the screen in a somewhat horrific disbelief, you realise that you have been in bed for almost fifteen hours.

Your light- headedness annoys you to such an extent that it causes your forehead to wrinkle.

‘That’s quite about enough’, you try to say out loud but you soon realise that that’s quite impossible owing to the fact that you have lost your voice.

Lying in your bed for another half hour, you start realising that you haven’t got the physical strength to get up.

The cold sweat creeping up your spine reminds you that you’re human after all.

You need some medicine.

Now.

You start panicking for three main reasons:

·         You know full well that you haven’t got any medicine left at yours

·         You also know that you haven’t got the strength to go to the chemist’s

·         You are alone

By alone, of course, you mean that your incredible stubbornness will never let you ask anyone for help because that would mean several things, namely:

1.       That you’re weak
2.      That you’ll owe someone else a favour
3.       That you can’t cope on your own

You toss and turn for another hour and finally decide to get over yourself and ask a couple of people for help.

Texting them that you’re half- dead and in need of some medicine and tea, you lie in wait, hoping for a miracle.

Naturally, no one shows up, no one picks up.

‘If you want something done right, do it yourself.’

You use what’s left of your strength to get up and go to the local shop to spend £ 20 on medicine.

Exhausted, you get back to the prison that is your bed.

You don’t feel too well; not because you’re sick but because you’re alone.

Well, both, really.

And then, your phone starts vibrating; several text messages come through.

 ‘I heard that you were sick, did you want me to get you anything?’

‘Sick!? Why didn’t you tell me, I would’ve come straight away, you dimwit!’

‘Pull yourself together, get better and let me know if you need anything, d’ya hear?’

‘You’re not alone, stupid.’, you think to yourself.

‘You just need to know whom to ask for help.’