Hung Up On Weather

We honestly do spend a lot of time discussing the weather and most of the time it's complaining about it.  Facebook is filled with complaints about the hot, dry weather we've had and the rainy weather others have had this summer.  We are so darned lucky that we have the time to post notices on Facebook about our less than perfect weather while others in the world are fighting wars and starvation.  If we're bitching about the weather then the rest of our lives must be okay.


Once you put your worries and discomforts into perspective, you can see that we Canadians and Americans have it pretty good.  I think it's therapeutic to complain once in a while, though because it shows we're still trying to better our lives.  We are always expecting more than what we have and that's not such a bad thing.  A stagnant world where no-one had hopes or ambitions would probably end in the demise of the human population on Earth.


I was laying in my nice comfy bed last night watching T.V. when one of those guilt inducing commercials came on.  You know the kind, showing a starving child in Africa with tears in their eyes and flies on their faces.  There is wealth beyond imagining in this world and I've always believed that there is no need for anyone in any country to suffer like this.  I also believe that generous donations to Africa from good intentioned people and countries don't necessarily reach down to the truly needy but, instead, end up enriching the politicians there.


I remember a few years back when one of the American church leaders was shown embracing a starving child and begging for donations to help his church help the child.  Unfortunately, the cameras caught something that wasn't meant to be noticed...the man was wearing a Rolex watch.  If he had donated his Rolex to the village the child was from the people of that village would have eaten well for a very long time.  I don't have too much trust in supposed do-gooders and that incident reinforced my distrust.   


So many of us sit here and complain about how uncomfortable it is for us to brave the heat between our air conditioned homes and our air conditioned cars.  Many complain about the time needed to attend exercise classes or weight loss groups.  We complain about every little deficit in our lives but not one of us has a fly covered child with a belly swollen from starvation.  The imbalance is frightening.