Dear Friends

A true story. An elderly disabled gentleman was trapped in his living room, having accidentally pulled the handle off his door. He phoned the GP's surgery where he was well known, and an exceptionally kind receptionist took it upon herself to try and get help. She phoned the police who told her that sadly they didn't do welfare checks. She phoned the fire brigade who said they could only attend if there was a responsible adult on site (he lives alone). She phoned social services who told her they would be pleased to help but there was a three week waiting list. Finally, she phoned the gentleman's local Vicar.

One of the joys of my job is that I don't have a job description. If something needs doing, and I can do it, I can just go and do it. As it happens, by the time I got there, he had found a pair of pliers and had successfully extricated himself from his living room. Nonetheless, the hour or more it took me to get his electricity switched back on was probably not something the emergency services would have been able to do. I am normally a great fan of job descriptions. People ought to know what's expected of them, but sometimes as with the Good Samaritan, that is to help the person in front of us.

Rev Greg Smith

Rector of Pontesbury and Stiperstones