Wow, seriously, stop complaining. It took me only one day on campus and I was already sick of hearing everyone moan about their “hurricane situation.” It’s like walking through a nursery and hearing nothing but crying. Thing is, I’d understand if people had trees fall into their living rooms or three feet of flooding in their houses; that’s understandable. Yet, what I continue hearing is: “Omg I got power back like on Tuesday after the storm, but you know, like my cable is out. I am so pissed.” Oh no! God forbid you miss the next episode of The O.C. or the next installment of Viva la Bam; both highly acclaimed shows, that is, if you’re duller than a lobotomy patient.
Now don’t e-mail me with “I can’t believe you made fun of The O.C., it’s a great show that exhibits the reality of life in California!” On second thought, send me hate mail, I dare you. You’ll only fan the flame and I’ll continue making fun of things you like.
Events like the disaster in Louisiana or the earthquake in Pakistan (which killed more than 30,000 and was quickly swept under the proverbial media rug) should make you step back and reevaluate your priorities. But no, while you listen to your 9,000-song music collection on your iPod and drive your fancy car, you’re complaining about such frivolous things as no cable or the-end-of-the-world no DSL. You have it bad, your world is over.
Then you have some of my personal favorites, people who literally go around asking, “Hey, do you have power at your house?” Then when you say yes, they respond with, “I hate you.” Good job, here’s a tissue, wipe away the mock envy from your face. Too bad that horrible attempt at pseudo-contempt stopped being funny in 1992. Get some new material, and for the record, I hate you too. There’s more to powering a whole region than flipping a light switch. If you don’t have power and the guy two blocks away does, it’s for a reason. It’s not like the guys at FPL are sitting around a control panel saying, “Dude, let’s turn off sector 38 and turn on 37, 38 will be so pissed.” Things don’t work like that, stop being ignorant.
What I am trying to get at is that there are people who have it off a lot worse than you, to the point where they no longer have earthly possessions. The fact that you complain that you have no cable, DSL or power for a week is disdainful and downright pathetic; I know a few thousand people who would love to only have no power a few days. My advice to you is, as a friend of mine likes to say, “man up”-rough it out a bit and appreciate that in a few days you can go back to the way things were, unlike many others around the world.
Jovanni Bello can be contacted at j.bello2@umiami.edu.