Compassion - Have we really reached a point of no return?

I was on a train journey recently from Derry to Belfast and at one point in the journey a lady sat next to me, yes I know, some actually do! She took out a blue folder and removed a ‘paper’ from it and began to make notes and corrections. It became apparent very quickly that it wasn’t her own work but rather that of a student. Even down to the red pen (it’s already conjuring up images of your school days, right?) the paper was filled with corrections, words scored out or added in, and comments made- you get the picture. The comments and questions made were judgmental in nature, i.e., ‘too long’, ‘same’ and ‘do you mean’ and so on. Ok, doesn’t sound too bad so far but visually it looked a little like a map for the London Underground.

It got me thinking – first of all a large degree of sympathy for the student, then some sympathy for this lady – another paper to mark which was filled with, ‘spellos’ and ‘grammaticals’ (mind

you I’m pretty certain she’s getting well enough paid and thus consoled somewhat by her having to mark ‘review’ another piece of dross from a student) and so on.

The student had toiled over the paper (I assume so as it looked like effort had been made in terms of its flow and presentation) but this lady had annihilated the paper in a half-hour train journey. Or at least that’s how it appeared. No actually, London Underground image comes to mind again – that’s how it was!

Perhaps it was a lazy, ill-thought out, long-winded, missing the point not to mention overdue paper and combined with a lecturer who had run out of steam or patience with this particular student that evoked such a response, and after all, she was only doing her job – how would the student learn if she wasn’t honest with her feedback? Probably not a lot and of course we live in a world where it seems that no-one is allowed to fail these days but it wasn’t so much this that struck me but the manner with which the feedback or rather annihilation was dispensed.

The ‘operation’ if I can call it that was efficient, effective, to the point and almost without compassion – job done! In the space of a short train journey said paper had been completely taken apart. Red pen, corrections, comments and questions all dispensed with consummate ease and minimum fuss as if it was just one of many tasks on that day’s to-do list or just another beheading to a medieval axe-wielding swordsman. In essence, a job that should be got out of the way before the next stop – one that seemed to be not an exercise in supporting the student with constructive comments and ideas but merely an exercise in ‘ticking the box’.

The lady completed the task in but 25 mins, (not bad for a 9 page paper, approx 4000+ words) put the paper back in the folder, the folder in the bag, the bag on her lap and then waited for her stop – barely a movement, not a sound, hardly a glance to anywhere. Task accomplished, job done, time to focus on the next thing – the walk to work.

I have no idea who she is other than she works at an educational establishment. The manner with which she corrected the paper then sat almost motionless suggested rigidity, authority, impatience and a Lewis Hamilton-esque focus. On the other hand she could be a charming, warm, friendly, and endearing person. On another hand she could be a medieval axe wielding swordsman!

The nature with which she went about her task suggested otherwise – efficient, clear, concise, ruthless, and almost brutal. What struck me was the seemingly lack of compassion that accompanied each stroke of the pen – and made me think more importantly about how much or how little empathy we almost have for our fellow humans (in many cases) and how we have a lack compassion when it comes to others - we just merely do our job, fulfill our role, perform our tasks, do what is required of us without any real thought of the consequence or impact of our actions.

Are we really so lacking in compassion these days? Have we really reached a point of no return?