In the 80’s I was an Operations Manager in a security company with around 500 staff in all manner of contracts. Often at night I’d drive around the sites to visit our guards who were on minimum pay and 12hr shifts on various duties, many were Indian and Pakistani.

They would always insist on sharing their meagre rations that they’d bought in to last the shift and would be very offended if I refused. In the beginning I felt embarrassed and tried to refuse but soon realised how important it was to them to share.

Food is the staff of life and to be a good human you should share something so important so as to not be greedy. It’s equally important to both parties to ‘break bread’ and share, from these people I learned something really important.

They were on minimum wage, struggling to live, often working 70 – 80 hours a week to survive and the only food available was what they brought in with them.

When I look at our society where people cling on to obscene wealth, where so many in society who have plenty are not willing to share with desperate refugees and even our own indigenous families struggling with hunger and poverty my mind goes back to those humble guards who always shared whatever they had irrespective of who the other person is.

And yet we worship the greedy and uncaring and despise those who share – what’s wrong with us?