Stifling an involuntary snort of derision or stopping an eye-roll in mid-rotation are never easy things to do, and such actions of dissent have got many generations of children into trouble with adults.
“Do as I say, not do as I do” has to be one of the most hypocritical of epithets and just as galling as the old “little children should be seen and not heard” gem.
The idea that one generation should act in one way while their elders and supposedly betters can get away with something else is breathtakingly arrogant and sets a terrible example.
Yet these hypocrisies are everywhere around us in our daily lives. The latest high-profile example is the behaviour of the, now former, British secretary of state for health Matt Hancock.
Until this week, the health secretary had appeared akin to a beacon of hope in the midst of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s shambolic, some would say reckless, handling of the Covid-19 crisis there. Mr Hancock had also been one of the most vocal critics of other political figures breaking lockdown rules.
How quickly things changed for him. Thanks to the efforts of The Sun tabloid, photographs and later a video surfaced showing his unseemly snogging and steamy cuddling with a non-executive director of the Department of Health, Gina Coladangelo.
The kissing and embrace were clearly in breach of the strict United Kingdom social distancing guidelines he had so vigorously defended. In his resignation letter, Mr Hancock said the Government owed it ‘‘to people who have sacrificed so much in this pandemic to be honest when we have let them down’’.
Mr Johnson’s former senior adviser Dominic Cummings is another who appeared to think the rules applied to everyone but him.
After he and his family had largely recovered from Covid-19, he broke lockdown to drive about 40 kilometres from Durham to Barnard Castle, ostensibly to check his vision was OK before making the long drive back to London.
In New Zealand, former health minister and Dunedin North MP Dr David Clark lost that cabinet portfolio after resigning in the wake of bad judgement calls over a mountainbiking excursion and driving his family 20km to the beach during the 2020 lockdown.
Whole governments can also be guilty of failing to walk the talk. Just consider this Government’s apparent commitment to transparency but its poor record in meeting the requirements of the Official Information Act in releasing information which the public has the right to see and know about.
Mr Hancock’s resignation was the right and proper thing to do. There are millions of people who have made huge sacrifices during the past 18 months in an effort to stop the spread of this malign virus.
So many families have been separated around the world because of the pandemic. So many sons and daughters have been unable to visit sick relatives or be there in person to tend to them in their final days. So many have not been able to hold proper funerals for their loved ones because of the rules.
What is it that happens in the minds of those people who think they are immune from the rules they help set?
Many pursue and take up public office for good, altruistic reasons. But it seems that the trappings of power can come with a perception that they have the right to stand apart from the regulations governing most others.
Unfortunately, it is also a less desirable aspect of human behaviour that, for some, the more they have, the more they think they are entitled to.
When our managers, our sports coaches, our priests, our teachers, military leaders and politicians give us directions, we should be able to feel safe in the knowledge they would not ask us to do something they are not willing or prepared to do themselves.
There are many true leaders out there, people who inspire us in some way and set us on the right path. But we always need to be aware of, and call out, those who are happy to accept the perks of power but play fast and loose with the rules they want everyone else to follow.
