Living a Life for Others
Let’s hear it for the lifesavers, entertainers, campaigners, and investigators who devote their time and expertise to help others…
This is the introduction to November’s edition of the Off-Field newsletter, curating monthly tales from the fringes of sport and society. Read it here.
Passing through Frankfurt airport the other day, I did two things that made me look every bit the giddy tourist that I was.
I ordered a jaw-clogging Frankfurter, lashing it in mustard, ketchup and sauerkraut. There is no dignified way to eat these things. But dignity was a lost concept by then anyway. That’s because the other thing I did was take a selfie with Albert Einstein. Or rather, his sculpture, which sits on a bench opposite the duty free shop.
Doing my best to repress my first thought (“that tache must have made eating bratwursts a nightmare”), I spent my lunch digging out the German’s many thought-provoking quotes. “Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile” was one that landed a punch.
Easy to say for a guy who revolutionised humanity’s understanding of space and time. For those of us who aren’t theoretical physicists or Nobel laureates, it’s a little trickier to be quite so altruistic.
There are bills to be paid, packed lunches to be made, lawns to be mowed, Netflix documentaries to be watched. Where does Albert expect us to find the time? Not all of us have a willing Angela Rippon on hand to muck in.
And yet, the latest figures suggest that more than half of the UK population get involved in some form of volunteering. Like organising a weekly scouts group, shopping for the elderly, manning a food bank, or working the till at a charity shop.
Grassroots sport would crumble overnight without the thousands who offer their service gratis. From event marshalls and coaches to referees, organisers, and medics. That magic sponge only works with a benevolent hand attached to it.
And so, to keep Albert happy, this month’s Off-Field newsletter is dedicated to the good Samaritans of this world. The lifesavers, entertainers, campaigners, and investigators who devote their time and expertise to help others, often for little reward. Quite why they do it is anyone’s guess. But we should all be bloody thankful that they do.
Onto this month’s picks…
This is an excerpt from the Off-Field newsletter. Subscribe, for free, here
