Woe is Me

After my freshman year in college I spent the summer on the rec-team. Basically getting an awesome tan all while leading church campers in strange unique games. Occasionally we got to do double duty when the higher-ups considered us trust-worthy enough to act as counselors after the evening worship service.

So one evening, it was double-duty time. I got to "counsel" with two girls. These girls had the polar opposite of my up-bringing.

I grew up in a town of 2,400 people. They grew up in downtown Austin.
I drove a truck to school. They took a city bus.
My classmates all knew my name. They're "parents" had trouble remembering their names amidst they're drunken outbursts and highs.
My friday nights were absorbed with sports activities year round. Their friday nights were spent trying to avoid being raped.

Get my gist?

I felt incredibly out of place "counseling" these girls.

At the end of the summer I came home with an awesome tan and a gamut of stories to tell to my family, one of which was the story of the two Austin girls.
My sister, three years younger than I, who had the same upbringing, hit the nail on the head with her response:
"My worst problem is that I've got a drawer full of mis-matched socks!"
Witty (and wise!) beyond her years, Bekah reminded me how very small our problems in life have been compared to the struggles of others!

Anyway...point of the story... I was reminded of all this the other day when I was sitting in my worn out favorite spot on the couch. Commercial time came, and this came on:


I laughed out loud at first because I thought it was a joke.

No, no. It's for real.

It's depressingly real. Sad real.

Because if someone's biggest problem is that they've got eggshell in their muffin and need the "EZ Cracker" to make it all better, they seriously need to get out, do some traveling, see some impoverished parts of the world with people that would gladly eat an egg-shelled embedded muffin so they wouldn't starve.

Spend 19.99 and get the EZ-Cracker so you can crack an egg without getting goop on your hand or buy 2 mosquito nets for people in Africa so they won't get malaria while they sleep at night.

The reality, (it seems to me) is that our problems as Americans go as deep as eggshells in our omelets while others fight starvation.

And it makes me want to vomit. Vomit up my muffins.

(which don't have eggshells because I know how to crack an egg without applying 20 lbs of force!) sheeeeesh!

ahhhh, a venting blog post is needed every now and then!