When I'm having a crap day, in the back of my mind I almost always realize that I'm one of the lucky ones, educated, white, and financially secure. I still complain and whine about my job, the building is falling apart, my employees are absent, my customers are demanding, and the helpdesk is completely unhelpful. Still, I know in the rational part of my mind, that I would be much worse off if my customers weren't complaining, and I had no job. I bitch about my house, it's old, it's too much work, and my taxes are going through the roof. I complain that my partner is cranky and demanding. And after my little rant is over, I'm immediately grateful for my home and the person in my life who values my presence enough to make demands on my time.
There are many neglected people in this country, but I'm not one of them. In early September this year there was a great outpouring of generosity and empathy for the victims of Katrina. Our citizens and our leadership made all sorts of pledges and promises to help those folks that were left to wade through waste and toxins until a real effort was made to rescue. Many of Americans assumed that the competent leaders of this country who had pledged to rebuild the wasteland of New Orleans were on the job taking care of the problem, so that we could resume our daily lives and bitch about our jobs, our spouses, and our houses.
Yet still we read stories in the media about how the homeless in New Orleans are depleting their personal savings. Some people still living in hotels faced paying a daily rate, or finding other housing until today a federal judge ordered that FEMA delay the eviction notice until February. Now granted, hotels for refugees are not an ideal solution, and you have to wonder if the hotel owners are charging FEMA seasonal rates, lodging homeless people in hotels is not a fiscally sound decision. But where would you have them live? Ask yourself what you might do if your home was destroyed and since September you had depleted your savings keeping your family intact, and now your balance, like your job and your home after the storm, was gone? What if you were waiting for insurance companies to decide if the damage to your home was caused by water, or wind? And what if the difference between those two elements meant the difference between getting a check to rebuild, or having to rely on FEMA?
Some of us would still be okay. I figure even if I lost everything, and spent all of my savings, I still have some investments and stock to keep me in peanut butter sandwiches for at least a year. And I have family who like me enough to let me crash in the spare room for a few months. I have marketable skills, and have never been unemployed, so I would be fine. I'm young enough to start over, and I'm educated and white. I figure that as long as I'm able to walk and think, I can support myself and my family.
There are some people who play on a different playing field that those of us who are more fortunate. Maybe they don't have a savings account. Maybe they have family, but in some cases the families are not in a position to offer real help. Some of them don't have the money or the investments to liquidate during times of trouble. Maybe some are elderly and alone, or just plain poor. Maybe they aren't educated, or maybe they don't have the skills that are in demand. In any event, they are much less fortunate than I, and so I figure that my whining about the difficult day that I had today can just pass by the wayside, just some meaningless noise that came out of my mouth because in this country, being happy with what you have spoils consumerism and makes the markets plunge. We aren't content with a good paying job, because those of us who are, will never get promoted unless we jump through loops to get to the next level. And what makes us valued as a citizen is not who we are, but where we fall on the organizational chart.
We don't live in a hotel room, yet we search for that ultimate home, that piece of real estate that is sure to make us happy. We watch HGTV, green with Home Envy because our split level ranch looks nothing like the ones on House Hunting. We judge success by zip codes and titles. VP of Operations has replaced Duke of Whales, CEO has more weight than Prince or Sir. We long for the promotion, the sale, the deal that will put us onto that plateau of economic safety, and societal respect. On the great hill that we climb to get to that level playing field, we forget the places that we have come from, and how hard it was to get here. Being a good person has no value in America. Compassion has no value in the national dialogue. You are what you earn. Peace, whether pertaining to the world, or a state of mind is scorned. Contentment and satisfaction do nothing for the world economy, for if we achieve happiness, what will we buy?
We, the lucky ones, still have the option of buying happiness. Those Americans whose lives drifted away in the waters of New Orleans have a hotel room until February. The promotion or the title that we covet will elude us for a time undetermined.
And peace of mind and contentment will elude us unless we learn to look at those less fortunate.
