Hamish Champ: Getting a bit of perspective

Like everyone sometimes I have a crap day at work. Sometimes this stretches to a crap week, such is the way my life occasionally goes. Either it's the trains playing up, or people taking issue with something I've written or the opposition getting to a story first.

It's important enough to bug me at the time, but every now and again something happens which puts life into perspective.

We often hear of people, especially young people, being attacked, sometimes killed, on our streets. Such stories are shocking and depressing, but by and large we learn about them on the TV and in nearly all cases they happen to someone we don't know.

This was the certainly case for me, until this past weekend.

On Saturday afternoon the older brother of a friend of my son was attacked and killed in a baker's shop in Lee, near where I live in south east London. The 13th teenager to be murdered in London this year, he'd turned 16 the day before.

I was in the area around the time of the attack with my son when we saw the first police car speeding towards the incident, although we had no idea what had happened at that point. We even watched the air ambulance circling above our heads, trying to find somewhere to land in what is a crowded but relatively safe neighbourhood in the capital.

It was only yesterday morning that I found out the name of the victim and the circumstances of his death.

You often hear phrases like "a community in shock" bandied about when such terrible events occur. Well let me tell you, ours is a community in shock.

I watched the murdered boy's parents - who we know through my son's school - on all the main TV news bulletins last night. Their strength was amazing in spite of what is no doubt heartbreaking grief. They paid tribute to their dead son and said that their prayers were with the mother of the lad who killed him, because she would need praying for.

I don't know where such humanity comes from, but I'm glad it exists even in such terrible circumstances.

The next time I have a crap day in the office I'll try to get a bit of perspective.