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.
1 comment:
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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