Make it a double

Ok; so some days are not so great and yes, some are even terrible, but trust in life to give you a nice slap on the ass whenever you are having a shit day and feeling overly mopey and piteous, in hopes that you’ll notice just how good you really have it. Today is one of those days for me and things have not been going smooth as silk as one would like everything to be always.

A healthy list of “problems” which includes a car bill for over 1K, a campaign that got canned, irrational deadlines, crappy work loads and a heavy feeling in the pit of my stomach just to name a few. I put problems in quotations for one very simple reason. I had a small fifteen-minute scenario where I had a “shit happens” moment which I kindly renamed it a “tongue in ass moment”. Why such a delectable title? Because my friends, it’s sometimes better to shove your tongue where the sun doesn’t shine and recognize that other people have serious problems instead of whining on a professional level.

Looking over the news you can realize how trivial many of our frustrations are. The war in Lebanon, the war in Iraq and the entire Middle Eastern conflict, the luckily prevented terrorist attack, the Korean conflict, the instability Cuba is facing when the possibility of the downfall of dictatorship means that they might have to change the entire way they live, the civil war in Venezuela, the socio-political disaster in Argentina, Indonesia and their ailing economy due to tsunamis, major political conflicts in Africa, the negative stalemate in Myanmar, New Orleans being far from recovered and Lance Bass having troubles with his partner… don’t even get me started with Brittney. With the obvious exception of the last two pathetic camera hungry examples, every day you see people in genuine dire straits. You see people with problems and of all the examples I think the most noteworthy reactions are the people from Indonesia who have adopted an irreverent smile of an attitude as they face adversity. Having withstood the most devastating natural disaster since the Ice Age, these people still keep coming and do their best to keep their chin up, even when they got pummeled by a second tsunami.

One can’t help but stare in awe at such a reaction. Not because it is noteworthy and something to be proud as a fellow human being, but because 99% of the people dismiss them as headcases because you’d have to be depressed in such a situation. You need to crumble because it is too much. Fuck that and fuck those people who dare say such things. I actually wish I could find what Indonesian gene keeps them coming strong. But wait a minute, they’re not the only ones and it’s not limited to people from said collection of isles in the Indian ocean. Every single day you see someone face tragic event after tragic event and they smile as people dismiss their go-to attitude. And it’s not because they don’t feel like shit, it’s not because they’re not sad, it’s not because they’ve lost it; it is all because their will is stronger than any problem that might afflict them.

Then you look around at the counterpoint and you see teens depressed because they didn’t get the laptop they wanted, or because their iPOD got busted, or because their cell phone doesn’t get a good signal and they have to face so much drama. You look at people beating their wives, you see wives beating their husbands, you see children hitting their fathers, and in some extreme cases, you see a father shooting his two year old in a moment of frustration (thanks to Fokid for the Puerto Rican 411 on that).

You also see bigotry at an all time high, and I’m not talking of a Mel Gibson Semitic hating tequila tirade. I’m talking about niggers hating crackers hating chinks hating kykes hating beaners hating camel jockies hating dagos/guidos hating wetbacks hating paleface Britton soap dodgers. A vicious circle ensues and I can’t say I get it, and I just hope people can take a sec and look to their surroundings to realize just how blessed they are.

Shit hits the fan each and every single day and truly, I haven’t had the peachiest fucking week ever. But guess what, my problems are chump change compared to around 90% of the world population. People starve to death while others groan about having to eat something below their expectations. I’m not saying we all don’t have problems that logically drag us down, I’m saying that most people really do need to get a reality check and feel better about their so called shitty lives.

For now though, let us toast to each other, to good friends, good families, good partners, good jobs (for however sucky they may really be), and good times. Right now might not be one, but a happy moment should be just around the corner.