Entitlement

A couple of months ago, I posted a video on Facebook from comedian Louis C.K. about how "Everything's amazing and nobody's happy".  Chances are you've seen this, especially if you're on Facebook a lot (which I am, unfortunately).  If you haven't seen this, I strongly suggest you take four minutes and watch it.  No, go ahead!  I'll wait.  :D

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Welcome back!  Wasn't that a hoot?  Aside from being hilarious, though, Louis brings up some very valid points - the main one being, since when did the world owe us anything???

If you read some of the comments below the You Tube video, you'll see a lot of people blaming TV, the Internet, parents, lenient schools, etc. for Gen Y's attitude.  Maybe they all did play a factor in the way people these days (and not just younger people) feel entitled to pretty much everything, and the sooner the better.  Maybe it's just that we've had it good for so long, that we don't know what "bad" is.

Louis talks about how that guy on the plane was really upset when the in-flight wireless connection, which he knew about for all of 10 seconds, went on the fritz. And Louis' reaction is perfect.  But just this morning, as I was getting ready to watch the news with Brian before he left for work, I tried turning on the TV and it didn't work.  I got super annoyed because Brian was playing Sudoku on our AT&T U-Verse yesterday and I didn't know how to get it back to the TV mode.

Oh REALLY?  I'm complaining about this??  MY TV PLAYS GAMES!!  Isn't that unbelievable?  If you stop and think about it, that's just amazing.  We can now play games right through our TV, with no added console or anything.  And you can play with other AT&T subscribers.  Incredible.  And while we're on the subject, most of us have over 100 channels to watch!  Remember back when you had 4 - NBC, ABC, CBS and maybe, PBS?  There was no Fox yet, even!

"Entitlement" should be a swear word, in my opinion. I know how good I have it. And even when I didn't have it so good, I still had it better than 95% of people living on this planet.  There's no war waging in our backyard.  There are equal opportunities for women.  There are programs in place in this country for people in need.

Check out this photo, entitled "Migrant Mother",  one of my favorite of the 20th Century.  Now THAT'S something to think about. 
The story behind this brilliant photo, taken by Dorthea Lange, is that this woman had just sold the tires on her car to pay for food.  And I'm sure this isn't the worst story of the Depression.  My dad lived through it (he was nine when the Stock Market crashed), and my grandpa had to keep moving them around the Midwest just to find work (of all things, he was a jeweler).  There was one story about my grandma, who was stoking the fire one night.  She had newspaper in one hand and a $10 check (a month's worth of work) in the other, for some reason.  Guess which one went in the fire.  My dad said she wept and wept, because that money was going to have to last them for some time.

I don't mean to be a major downer, but maybe we do need a reality check.  Just take a look around you today!  Chances are you have at least one vehicle in your family.  You probably have a nice, warm house or apartment.  You most likely won't go hungry tonight.  You'll probably sit down and watch TV or plunk in a DVD and relax at some point.  Some of us will work on our hobbies.  And then we'll sleep, on a mattress, under warm blankets.  In a house.  With a furnace.

Maybe a lost Internet connection isn't so bad after all.