LIFE'S LITTLE INDIGNITIES

(This is a shortened version of the rant I was going to post. Sometimes it's good to write A LOT--and then not use it.)

In Iraq, there are folks who've gone without power and running water for months. In New Orleans, there are people who are still homeless a year after Hurricane Katrina and still without the necessary funds to re-build. People in Pakistan are recovering from devastating quakes. People in Indonesia are rebuilding from the tsunami. And I hate to think of all those who are suffering in Darfur. I would love to authoritatively place the blame on all those who have the ability and resources to help those people and have failed to do so, miserably. But I am ignorant, woefully so, and therefore am in no position to point a finger. Probably, we ultimately should blame ourselves for not holding our elected representatives accountable, at the very least. Our apathy has allowed them to literally get away with murder, while we have sat back and whined about our lot.

But one thing I am telling myself, whiner that I am, is that my little problems, life's little indignities, are nothing compared to what these people are suffering. So what if the cable is out, the new job allows for no facial hair, long-promised checks are failing to show up in the bank account, and no humans can be reached by phone, just endless computer-voiced "help" systems?! What if the job market is just not jumping to hire someone with 30 plus years experience? What if trying to keep up one's health insurance is threatening to sink one's entire financial survival? One has to recognize that these are "small potatoes" when compared to the suffering of the rest of the world. And as annoying and upsetting and even humiliating as life can be right now, it could still be much worse! Even when fear speaks, reason must provide a context.

(And less is more.)