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We are spoiled beyond belief.
- Nov 10, 2008 at 10:46 AM
- By
- Comments (58) Total Views (1693) Everyone can see this journal post.
It seems nearly every time I watch Sesame Street these days, Grover visits Africa and they show the clip of the wretchedly poor children attending school. It breaks my heart every single time, and I think long and hard about how easy we have it here in our country and how badly we take our conveniences for granted.
The clip shows a woman with her baby strapped to her back, waking her young daughter up for school. The child has slept on the floor of a hut, and washes her feet from a bucket and then cleans her teeth with her finger from the same bucket. Her mother hands her lunch, a small amount of food wrapped in paper. Then the child walks barefoot to school, where dozens and dozens of other children are all crammed into one room and taught by one teacher. They learn to write using chalk and small pieces of blackboard. They are eager to learn.
The children do not have expensive, safety approved playground equipment. They jump en masse for fun. They wear worn clothing and few, if any, have shoes. They don't have nutritionist-approved meals in the school cafeteria, or computers in the library, or teacher aides or overhead projectors or textbooks or school budgets. They don't have the luxury of being finicky about their food.
I wish Americans would stop being such spoiled bitches about everything. Whine, bitch, moan and complain. We are so oblivious to how other people live their daily lives elsewhere in the world. We are petty and selfish and self-absorbed. We are luckier than we'll ever know.
A child watching that clip on Sesame Street may not realize the depth of poverty it portrays, but an adult should, and it should make an impact. One Christian phrase that always has resounded for me is that "if not but by the Grace of God, that would be me." Apply that sentiment to your own personal spiritualism or philosophy and it will go a long way to refreshing your compassion for those less fortunate.
Comments:
We are very spoiled here. We just re-watched Cinderella Man, set during the Depression, and I was near tears with the guilt of all we have! Love your words!
I've seen that one too. I love when Grover or any character my kids watch shows different countries and how their children live. It gives rise to conversation.
By the way....
I know I've never been so desolate as these people in 3rd world countries, my kids have always had insurance, shelter, clothes...but I miss the days when we were poor and enjoyed ourselves. Living with my parents has spoiled my children in the wrong way...they eat what they want, wear what they want, make a mess for someone else to clean, watch tv in 4 different rooms. Can't wait for school to be over and out on my own to show my kids the simple pleasures of life again.
Thank you for this poignant post.
Amen to that!!!
Dangit Joye!! You HAD to slap me with that reality check this morning, didn't ya?
*sets down Starf*cks cappucino*
s'ok, I need to be reminded sometimes to be grateful for all the blessings in my life. I think we all do. Makes me curious to see some Sesame Street nowadays, sounds like they've really grown up
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Anita 2.0 - You missed the point. It is not about whether or not the OP's portrayal is "all that bad"...it about looking outside of our egocentric American selves which your comment proved beautifully. It is about perhaps trying to have more compassion and a better UNDERSTANDING of the world we live in. Look up one non-American newspaper about what is happening in The Deomocratic Republic of Congo right now and ask yourself why we as Americans care more about what Governor Palin cooks for dinner than 350,000 displaced people? Or how about the the thousands of women in bondage to sex trafficking in downtown San Francisco? One location being right next to the biggest tourist parking garage for Union Square.
I agree with the lovely lady who stated that our sense of what we think people in other countries may need is not necessarily accurate.
But it is time we get our heads out of the sand and educate ourselves about the needs of others and then DO SOMETHING about it.
Myself included....and I even "do this stuff" for a living.