First World Problems

One of my favorite youtube clips is entitled:
“When Kids In Third World Countries Read First World Problems”

During this short video you see children as well as men and women in Haiti describe actual complaints from First World people. In the background you see typical settings in the developing world….small cinderblock houses, washing clothes by the rocks on a river bank, dirty and dusty roadsides, with pigs and chickens in the background. You get the picture. And these are some of the complaints that are shared:

I hate when my phone charger won’t reach my bed.
I hate when my leather seats aren’t heated.
I hate it when I go to the bathroom and I forget my phone.
When I leave my clothes in the washer so long they start to smell
When my house is so big I need two wireless routers
When I can’t walk and text at the same time.
When I leave my charger downstairs.
I hate it when my neighbors block their wi-fi.
I hate when I tell them “no pickles” and they still give me pickles.”

This short video is actually produced by an organization that works to bring clean water to places like Haiti and India. Its intended effect is to help us hear ourselves in a new way, to understand our own struggles from a different perspective, to make us stop short and re-think not only our complaints but perhaps our lives and our lifestyles.

In a campus setting our complaints might include laments such as:

I hate it when my professor piles on the reading.
I hate it when my sorority hosts an event the same time as my soccer game.
I hate it when they take away Roly Poly and replace it with Dominos.
I hate it when the new student center isn’t open yet and there is construction mess everywhere.

When I start to whine myself I do well to be reminded that according to a new study from Harvard and the Asian Development Bank, only 6.7 percent of the world’s population are college degree-holders. We are all part of a very privileged community that enjoys not only food, water, and shelter but also the luxury of an education that helps us develop our potential, opens doors and opportunities, and provides us with knowledge and skills to help address some of the world’s real problems.

So the next time each of us find ourselves complaining, may we pause and consider our situation from a more global context and put our challenges into perspective. It really could be so much worse.

Peace, Anne