In praise of Cypriot drivers

Sir,

Your Sunday Mail edition is much appreciated in our household. I notice that there are a number of complaining letters in your columns and I would like to add something to redress the balance.

My wife and I, both well into our Senior Citizen years (76 and 77), last year came to retire and live in this lovely country.

I am registered blind and am only able to get about on my own with the aid of a long white stick, and wearing dark glasses – most people with major disabilities like mine really need to retain their independence.

My wholehearted praise is for the car drivers of Limassol.

When I need to cross the road, I put up my 150cm long white stick at an angle of 45 degrees, and in 95 per cent of cases, the drivers will stop and kindly allow me to cross the road – when busy and not so busy.

I would like to thank all the drivers who have given me this great courtesy since we arrived on March 1 last, and to all the others who will show this typical Cypriot kindness and consideration in the future. There have even been instances of people crossing Makarios Avenue to help me across, and across Leontiou, near where we live.

Please note that we lived in Limassol from 1962 to 1965, with our four young children, when I was Parachute Leader of the Near East Air Force Parachute Medical Rescue Team at R.A.F. Akrotiri.

The kindness of Cypriots has not diminished. I can vouch for that – every day.

John Robinson, Limassol

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.