I AM NOT going to do a column on trying to make sense of the coronavirus even though it is the dominant talking point in society the world over.

I don’t want to add my voice or a message that could add confusion to our current understanding of the situation or distract from official guidance. What I have noticed is a lot of change in people’s behaviour since the pandemic began.

Shopping today, there was a particularly aggressive man who snatched the last tray (not the last few tins, or even the last tin) of tinned tomatoes with verbal threats to anyone who challenged him and asked him to have a bit of common sense.

That brought home to me how disgustingly selfish humans can be. There is no food shortage, except that caused by people over buying or acting like the thug in the supermarket.

That said, I also saw another side of human nature this evening, the humane caring side. I had a text from a young neighbour of my mother who just let me know he’d checked on her, bought her some milk and a few essentials. Talking to my mother it turns out that he just wanted her to know she was not alone; he wouldn’t take any payment even though she offered.

My mother does not go out and has been, effectively, in self isolation for some weeks. She lives hundreds of miles away so I cannot easily get to her all that often. Of course, I have arranged for her to have regular food deliveries and support.

But her memory is failing. She has no idea what all the fuss is about; I’m not sure if this is good or bad.

When we see extremes of behaviour, especially aggressive threatening ones, we talk about people behaving “like animals”. I’ve often thought how unfair that is to so many animals who are more caring and sharing than many humans.

We know from observing them in the wild that certain animals can display empathy towards each other, kindness, selfless behaviour and they will protect the very young, sometimes the old and vulnerable.

It suits us to think that we, as humans, are more than just “animals” but far too often what we see demonstrated when society is threatened and pushed to the brink, is that ultimately some people behave in ways that expose the worst of human nature.

That’s not to say animals cannot be violent and selfish. We know that chimpanzees are capable of murder – that is, they intentionally kill other chimpanzees.

Researchers who have studied numerous chimpanzee colonies have directly observed and seen evidence of chimps ganging up on other chimps and killing them. Initially it was thought that human influence, such as destroying the environment they inhabit or altering the supply of food in an area could influence such behaviour, but ultimately the evidence shows they will kill for no reason.

They will attack and exclude chimps from the various troupes that form in the wild for no other reason than what appears to be a dislike of an individual.

At the other end of the scale there are many nurturing animals that are protective and who look out for the welfare of others. If ravens find a carcass to feed on, they will call other ravens to come and share the bounty.

Dolphins are well known for being helpful, not just to other dolphins but to humans in trouble at sea. From herds protecting their young by surrounding them with bigger adults as they travel, to one of the most amazing videos I have ever seen online, animals constantly surprise us with many human-like attributes.

About five years ago a video emerged that appeared to show a macaque monkey that had been stunned and left unconscious after it received a jolt of electricity from an electrified railway. It was being “revived” by another monkey in its group. The first monkey was lifeless on the railway tracks and the second hit, bit, even appeared to massage the monkey before dipping it into water.

The stunned, electrified monkey then came around (some say came back to life) as a result.

As we weather the storm of this pandemic – something that is the equivalent of the modern generation’s ‘World War One or Two’, we need to remember that kindness, empathy and common sense is what we need.

There is no doubt in my mind that we will see a societal shift once the pandemic ends, as it will. I just hope for us all that the shift is towards greater tolerance and understanding. We need a world where we are all less selfish and focussed on ourselves. We need compassion and, above all, kind-heartedness.