First-world arrogance...or ignorance in some cases. Most of us have it, not many of us are willing to admit it.
We live in a society where most of us have the privilege of eating a warm meal and having a few dollars in our pockets (or bank accounts). Over the summer I have been working at a golf course which has been great so far. The best aspect of this job being the people that I get to meet, and sometimes talk to. This past week during a slow time, a 60-year-old man from Ontario, Canada walked into the clubhouse. The man greeted my co-worker and I by say, "Hey, how's it going? So, how do you guys feel about this year's top three presidential candidates? I'm from Canada, so I'm curious." Woah. Talk about a nice little ice breaker when you don't even know the guy. Because this article is not about presidential candidates, I will not disclose my answer. But what I am getting at is where the conversation lead to.
This man farms over 4,000 acres back in Canada and still comes down to visit his wife's hometown, Mansfield. Our conversation began with presidential candidates, and then it obviously moved to world food supply. The man had a very large interest in this area because, well, he produces a ton of food that is sold around the world. Talking to him was incredibly insightful and I enjoyed it very much so, but it was not until the man got ready to leave that he said something to me that really stuck. With his arm pushing the door open, he turned and said to me, "Just remember kid, if you eat a hot meal everyday and have five bucks in your pocket, you're more well off than 80 percent of the world's population."
Talk about really nailing an exit, right?! These are the kinds of conversations that I live for, because they are about things that really matter. I learned something about myself from this two minute conversation. As soon as the man left, I began to really digest what he said. Now I speak for myself and for many people I hear complain on a regular basis; how dare we? How many of us cry "Woe is me" all the time about the most pointless of things? When you live a very lavish lifestyle like many of us Americans do, you begin to lose sight of the big picture. If you told someone from a third-world country your daily routine, I would bet you $100 that they would give up their left hand to experience that for a week; and having been to a third-world country, I will tell you straight up, it is worlds different from the way we live.
Think about this the next time you feel like complaining about how difficult your life is: People in third-world countries, if they are lucky, might have one hot meal a day. People in third-world countries have to walk miles just to obtain clean drinking water. People in third-world countries might have one or two pairs of clothes, and usually, no shoes. While some of us choose to complain about our college cafeterias food, others are starving.
I guess what I am trying to say is, no matter how bad you have it, someone else probably has it worse. Be thankful for what you have and the stability we live in, because there are billions of people who do not live in the luxuries that we do.
