There, but for the Grace of -Insert Divinity of Choice- Go I
What does one do when faced with ungrateful people?
I don't mean ungrateful in the sense that they didn't thank me for dinner or for the fabulous gift I gave them.
I mean ungrateful in general. Healthy people who have been given every opportunity to succeed, love, create, exist peacefully and yet they feel that life dealt them sucky cards.
It does not help to stomp in with the "Oh-aren't-you-lucky-boots" strapped on.
It does not help to relate to them the horrific trials of other people you know.
It does not help to help at all.
Call too often and you are being disruptive, call seldom and you are being thoughtless.
Can we start a program, I wonder?
A program called "The Big Switch-A-Roo", meaning, these incredibly lucky people who always find something to complain about, can we send them to, say, the Darfur area of Sudan? Or Chechnya? Or Haiti, can we send them there? And instead get somebody who has walked for days in search of food, somebody who has buried most of their family, somebody who has never known what it is to sleep securely.
Mind you, gratefulness is not the same as complacency. Trying to better ones life is not being ungrateful, but can we at least appreciate that anyone capable of reading this on a computer is:
I don't mean ungrateful in the sense that they didn't thank me for dinner or for the fabulous gift I gave them.
I mean ungrateful in general. Healthy people who have been given every opportunity to succeed, love, create, exist peacefully and yet they feel that life dealt them sucky cards.
It does not help to stomp in with the "Oh-aren't-you-lucky-boots" strapped on.
It does not help to relate to them the horrific trials of other people you know.
It does not help to help at all.
Call too often and you are being disruptive, call seldom and you are being thoughtless.
Can we start a program, I wonder?
A program called "The Big Switch-A-Roo", meaning, these incredibly lucky people who always find something to complain about, can we send them to, say, the Darfur area of Sudan? Or Chechnya? Or Haiti, can we send them there? And instead get somebody who has walked for days in search of food, somebody who has buried most of their family, somebody who has never known what it is to sleep securely.
Mind you, gratefulness is not the same as complacency. Trying to better ones life is not being ungrateful, but can we at least appreciate that anyone capable of reading this on a computer is:
- literate
- computer literate
- connected to the internet
- quite possibly rich enough to own a computer
These are things many of us take for granted, when in fact they are sources of great joy.
The richest 25% of the world's population receives 75% of the world's income. The poorest 75% of the population share just 25%. If you live in a household with a computer you definitely belong to the richest 25%.
Stunning facts. Insane, maddening facts that I cannot change, except just do a little Switch-A-Roo that is: "Yeah, you're feeling like being among the 25% of the richest isn't really doing it for you? Well how about a game of The Big Switch-A-Roo? You'll love it."
posted by disinterpreter at 5:31 PM
2 Comments:
Hello!
You don't know me, so please feel free to delete this comment if you feel I'm being invasive by posting on your blog!
I stumbled upon your post by way of a link from google images (I searched for the word 'freezing' because we have no heating!)
Anyway, I just wanted to say how much I agree with what you've said here and maybe just expand a little in the other direction - I believe that every single individual world-wide has his or her own problems but while these (relatively) insignificant troubles shouldn't be dwelled upon, they definitely shouldn't be underestimated either.
The issue, I think, stems from this desire that we all have to be happy. Everybody has the potential to be happy within their lifestyle/circumstances (putting war, famine and similar aside for a moment) and the only way to achieve a feeling of moving closer to being happy is to break down the little trivial problems that affect us one by one until there's none left. I think this causes people to become not obsessed exactly, but so self absorbed and unintentially ignorant that they lose sight of the fact that they've been given a tremendous head start in the first place. Being a caucasian, middle class (if there is such a thing), British male I definitely fit into that category, but I have a very strong awareness that I mustn't take things for granted - not my partner, not my food, not my financial status, not my nationality (and so forth) hence my response to your post!
Unfortunately you/we can't expect people who live in safe, developed countries to empathise or truly understand the suffering of of some, but they shouldn't be penalized or judged because of that: ignorance is not a defence, but neither is it a crime. However, all it takes is someone to reflect and think about their situation now and then as you clearly do regularly, and, although it may make no physical or worldly changes, I think it makes a difference and it makes us better people.
Anyway take care, keep reflecting. and I hope I haven't overstepped my boundaries by writing here
Dan
Dan,
I think you're right, actually.
I think it is very hard for most people - no matter what their situation is - to think about what life is like for others.
"Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself." Leo Tolstoy
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