Get over ourselves

We need to get over ourselves. Yes, the storm and the damage have knocked out power for some, forced others out their homes and required us to boil our water. It sucks. But we are living in a world of privilege and luxury. Those that have been forced out are able to find other lodgings. Yes, our water is possibly tainted (and I emphasize the word 'possibly'), but all we have to do is boil it. To hear complaints from people that are buying Perrier to give to their pets sickens me. To listen to people act as if the need to boil their water before consumption is a nearly unbearable hardship leads me to believe that the vast majority of GVRD residents are completely ignorant of how difficult life can really be. Thailand is still recovering from the tsunami of two years ago. New Orleans is still only partially livable. Afghanistan and Iraq have had their infrastructures reduced to rubble. And it doesn't take a tsunami, storm or war to make life horrible. The shanty towns in Latin America have never had running water or proper sewage systems. The people that live there have to struggle just to get food and shelter and drink what water they can. So our petty complaining about being forced to drink slightly discoloured water or having to give our pets bottled water are a rather disgusting insult to the people around the world who have real problems. I understand that being forced out one's home is a traumatic event, but as you convalesce at the Holiday Inn or the spare room of your friends or family members, try to remember how lucky you really are.