So I am sure this was terribly inconvenient:
Several tug boats pulled a stricken cruise ship to San Diego Bay early Thursday, bringing the nearly 4,500 passengers and crew closer to freedom after four days of limited food, smelly toilets and dark cabins.
Three days with food and supplies being choppered to you, living on Spam and pop tarts. Toilets that don’t flush for a couple of days. No doubt many passengers will now sue for emotional distress after having to suffer the indignity of no running water, something hundreds of millions of people around the world live with as a daily fact of life. They should sue, after all the vacation they paid thousands of dollars for to be pampered on a huge cruise ship where their every whim was fulfilled was ruined. Ruined I say! I am sure that every passenger will get their money back or a replacement trip or a combination of the two. This afternoon they will be back on shore after three whole days of inconvenience.
It speaks volumes about us as a people that this is so newsworthy. Even in these “terrible” conditions, the passengers on this ship were being taken care of. Meanwhile all around the world kids are starving to death, dying from malnutrition and disease. People are being sentenced to death for converting to Christianity. People are facing hurricanes, epidemics and flooding in ramshackle tent cities. In America our breaking news, on Veterans Day, is of a cruise ship being towed safely to port after three whole days of toilets that don’t flush and Spam. A nuclear powered aircraft carrier, the U.S.S. Ronald Reagan that cost $4,500,000,000 is sitting nearby shuttling supplies to the tourists. Forgive me if I am less than sympathetic. I am sure that it sucked to be stuck on a luxury liner that wasn’t very luxurious but really people, get a grip.
Several tug boats pulled a stricken cruise ship to San Diego Bay early Thursday, bringing the nearly 4,500 passengers and crew closer to freedom after four days of limited food, smelly toilets and dark cabins.
Three days with food and supplies being choppered to you, living on Spam and pop tarts. Toilets that don’t flush for a couple of days. No doubt many passengers will now sue for emotional distress after having to suffer the indignity of no running water, something hundreds of millions of people around the world live with as a daily fact of life. They should sue, after all the vacation they paid thousands of dollars for to be pampered on a huge cruise ship where their every whim was fulfilled was ruined. Ruined I say! I am sure that every passenger will get their money back or a replacement trip or a combination of the two. This afternoon they will be back on shore after three whole days of inconvenience.
It speaks volumes about us as a people that this is so newsworthy. Even in these “terrible” conditions, the passengers on this ship were being taken care of. Meanwhile all around the world kids are starving to death, dying from malnutrition and disease. People are being sentenced to death for converting to Christianity. People are facing hurricanes, epidemics and flooding in ramshackle tent cities. In America our breaking news, on Veterans Day, is of a cruise ship being towed safely to port after three whole days of toilets that don’t flush and Spam. A nuclear powered aircraft carrier, the U.S.S. Ronald Reagan that cost $4,500,000,000 is sitting nearby shuttling supplies to the tourists. Forgive me if I am less than sympathetic. I am sure that it sucked to be stuck on a luxury liner that wasn’t very luxurious but really people, get a grip.
2 comments:
You know, this reminds me of a story I was told at a youth camp several years ago, and it has always stuck with me.
There was a little boy who lived on a farm, and he considered one of the chickens to be his pet. He cared for it, and loved it, and that chicken was his buddy. One day, the chicken was killed (I don't remember how), and as the boy sobbed, people would ask him, "Why are you crying, son? It's only a chicken!" He replied, "Yes, but it was MY chicken!"
The moral of the story is that we all have dead chickens in our lives. Things that may seem completely unimportant to others, but are completely devastating to us. There are people out there who have suffered (and are suffering) much worse fates than my miscarriages. But that doesn't make them any less hurtful to me. There are people who aren't making ends meet because they can't find a job in this economy. But that doesn't make working under a cruel supervisor any less stressful. There are people who cannot openly worship in their own country. But that doesn't make it any less frustrating to not be able to find a faith community you believe is true to Scripture. And yes, there are starving people all over the world, and it is horrible, and we should care about it and do something about it. But it doesn't mean people are selfish jerks for being uncomfortable with smelly toilets and Spam.
We went on a cruise for our honeymoon. We don't feel like we were pampered, and we certainly don't feel that our every whim was fulfilled. I have never felt judged for that decision until now.
I think it's often a dangerous road to make ourselves the standard of what is acceptable as far as spending money. Yes, the money those people spent on that cruise could have gone to feed and clothe the poor, but so could a lot of things. I didn't have to buy chicken this week at the grocery store. We could subsist on beans and rice and give all the rest of our money to the poor. Where do we draw the line between what is acceptable and what is luxury? My experience says that whatever is more than what I would spend--that's luxury. But thankfully, I am not the decider of such things.
Arthur, I love you as a brother. But this will probably be the last time I comment here, at least for a while. I don't know if you've changed, or if I've changed, or both. But this is not an enjoyable, or even a helpful place for me to come anymore. There are a lot of places I can go, both online and in real life, to hear about what's wrong with everyone else in the world. If I am in any sort of communion with other believers, I would like to be encouraged and challenged. But lately it feels to me like you're not really challenging people, but pointing the finger of judgment in their direction. I have no ill feelings toward you, but reading the sort of things you post is not what I need in my life right now. I wish you the best, and may the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
April,
If what you came away with from that was “Going on a cruise is bad because it is expensive and people who have been on cruises are bad people” then I didn’t convey my point very well. If people want to go on a cruise, that is their business. I have no interest in doing so just like I have no interest in going to Disneyland. I spend money on stuff that is frivolous, although I am trying to cut that out as much as possible, and how I choose to spend my money may not be how someone else does. I am not being judgmental about taking a cruise.
On the other hand, I am being judgmental about the sheer narcissism of Americans in general (myself included) who see this as some sort of tragedy. People interviewed in USA Today who were stuck on the ship (still able to talk on cell phones) described it as a “nightmare”. If having to wait in line for food and not having entertainment provided is a “nightmare” for you, I think that speaks volumes. I got irate at the store yesterday as I was buying a cart full of food because the woman in front of me was taking too long to bag her groceries, slowing me down 10-15 minutes from taking an enormous amount of food home to my family. We have no conception of what true tragedy looks like so minor inconveniences (and this absolutely is minor compared to what a lot of people experience on a daily basis) take on overblown significance. We are a spoiled people and that is as true in the church and in my own home as it is anywhere else.
I blog about what I am thinking about and what you see is what you get. What I wrote was my reaction to what was happening and honestly if I had been in a similar situation to these cruise passengers I would have been irate as well. That doesn’t make it OK, it just speaks to how far I have to go.
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