A Real Bull Story.

We heard a week or so ago, via the family grapevine, that my wife’s oldest brother, who works on a dairy farm, had his shoulder broken from being kicked there by a Bull, a couple of weeks earlier. Our source had heard it from someone else and we in due course passed on what had been third-hand news by the time it got to us. As it was old news by the time it got to us we never checked up on it either, before passing it on. However this week we went up to Maffra to visit the Father in law and heard the story first hand.

It was something more scary than being kicked by a bull although the information about a broken and dislocated shoulder was true. However the bull never kicked him, but more dangerously, head butted him in the shoulder from behind, causing the shoulder damage and knocking him to the ground where it gored him briefly on the chest and legs, leaving bruising and discomfit, to this day, before the Bull was driven off by the Boss.

Nearly a month on the brother in law is recovering well and looking well for the month’s enforced rest. However, I was a little chastened when I heard the full storey and realized how lucky he had been, and also the fact that I/we had not taken the trouble to even ring him, not only to get the true facts, but to wish him a speedy recovery.

I also wonder how many times in the past I have pasted on incorrect or faulty information, simply because I didn’t think it necessary to even ring and offer condolences, let alone to find out if the story was 100% accurate before passing it on. In this case it was not serious or life threatening but what if it was, and I had passed on misleading information? What damage do we cause sometimes, by passing on unchecked news, as genuine fact?

What about you? Do you always check the facts before passing on the latest story? Do you even bother to ring to see if the other party is in fact okay, or do you rely on the news as passed on, often, like in our case, second or third hand.

What say you? Walter