Salem Falls

Finished reading Jodi Picoult's Salem Falls this week. Ever since My Sister's Keeper, I have been a fan of Jodi Picoult, and her books so far have not disappointed me. The difficult theme behind each book has always been sensitively handled.

Whilst the scenario in Salem Falls of modern witch-hunt may seem rather extreme, I wondered if perhaps this isn't unusual in the real world? A web of lies starting from someone's desire to be noticed or determination for the blame to be shifted from oneself, being spun needlessly until it hurts others.

It is easy to read the book and think "this wouldn't happen in real life", but then read the papers and it's happening every day. Philip Bosson told officials that his daughter Kayleigh was a victim of the Boxing Day tsunami. After many hours of police time, it emerged that Kayleigh never existed. Why would you want to invent such a horrible lie? I'm sure it's bad enough if you have indeed lost a loved one in the disaster but if you haven't, why pretend you have? How insensitive can you be to parents who have lost children, those who were left widowed, children who are now orphans, because of the disaster? I'm sure those who have been affected by the tsunami would do just about anything to have their loved ones back, so why - why lie about losing someone?

Then I read about the recent GP poll by Norwich Union Healthcare showing 3 in 4 put forward food intolerance claims just to follow celebrity sufferers. Don't waste valuable GP's time lying about allergies as they can better use this time to treat real cases.

If you want to be noticed, do something worthwhile. Volunteer for a needy cause, run marathons for charity, aim to be the next straight A's student, the youngest-ever CEO - whatever that is legitimate. Don't lie and hurt others, be it spreading rumours, cheating or suing for the wrong reasons.