I never promised to make friends with this blog... and this would be why.
I believe in getting people to think ~ although I never promise to be nice about it. I try to not make promises I can't keep.
So, here it goes, in a very non-politically correct way~
What the #%!&$%! is up with this Haiti thing???
Look, I'm not totally an idiot ~ I get it that there is extreme suffering, homes and lives are ruined, and the ability to save someone ~ anyone ~ alive grows lesser by the day. That would be the last thing I would wish on anyone ~ and I hope and pray that Haiti and her people come out of this disaster as soon as possible. But COME ON...
When was the last time three presidents called on all of us to reach deep, the Marines were deployed and the Red Cross ponied up millions of bucks for the hundreds of thousands of people living in their own private third-world hell right here in this country??? If anyone has any doubts, just go to the nearest reservation to you. Or go on a road trip to the Appalachias. Visit the Four Corners area in the Southwest. Or go visit some of the really small towns in the deep South. Have we really become that unphased by the suffering around us that we have to go to another country to find it?? Really??
I'm sure if we all thought hard enough, we would realize we all know those places in our towns and cities where no-one looks each other in the eye, and people tend to look as though they've bought their clothes from the nearest thrift store ~ or dragged it out of the trash. We would remember seeing those people on the fringe of our vision ~ when we looked up long enough from our Blackberrys and iPhones ~ reaching into the nearest garbage can to pull out the soda and beer cans for the extra change and maybe a little bit of food someone else threw out so the hunger was just sightly less intense. Those figures that walk down the edge of the road, bags full of their lives carried on their shoulders and often their loyal dog walking beside them.
I'm not saying that we should rush out and pour our well-earned cash into the nearest panhandler's hands. I rarely give money to the beggars with their signs standing on the side of the road. I'm more likely to give them a burger for lunch, or if they tell me they need gas, get them a can. I don't like giving a handout ~ I much prefer giving a hand up.
Nor am I saying we shouldn't give whatever we want to whomever we please. I just ask that you remember that suffering doesn't just happen in times of great tragedy. Or in some other place. Really look around you and you can see that tragedy has degrees, and there are many living in that state around us all the time.
That's it for now,
Susan
