My job gives me a wonderful opportunity to meet different people, who all have different professions, different looks, and different interests. The most predictable of these are politicians. It is almost always predictable what they are going to talk about and how they will answer questions. Especially now, before the elections, it is clear that they will talk about how our country has blossomed (or will blossom) thanks to them and how it was destroyed (or will be destroyed) due to the opposition. New personal discoveries are more likely when speaking to people of other professions. An example for me was football player, member of the Ararat-73 team Sergey Bondarenko.
Two days ago, he was my guest on “Shant.” I don’t know how viewers felt, but I received very positive vibes from him. The reason is because this pure individual held the most important values for me. What are they?
The first is a good work ethic. “I would stay with Hovik (Hovhannes Zanazyan) after practices to work on different moves until the field workers would ask us to leave so that they could turn off the lights and go home.” And that was when head coach Nikita Simonyan would have two practices per day.
The second is good will. Bondarenko only spoke positively about everyone, from the neighbors who helped his family to his teammates and coaches, from his relatives to the Armenian people.
And the third most wonderful characteristic, in my opinion, is modesty. He spoke about the players on the Ararat 73 team with the most honest admiration, continually emphasizing their advantages and his role as a supporter. We have a lot to learn from such people.
In contrast to the three characteristics listed, there is one vice that is listed first in the seven deadly sins. That is called “pride” (more so arrogance). Why did the Christian forefathers place that first on the list of sins? Most likely because when an individual pictures themselves to be at the center of the universe and is convinced that everything needs to be as they want it, they are unable to accept and respect the wishes of others. And then they may be able to hurt those around them and hurt members of society.
I didn’t want to write about the elections today, but alas, it did not work out that way.
Aram Abrahamyan
