First World Problems

The kitchen sink is leaky. The tub needs new grout. The bathroom sink is barely a trickle. It’s hard to sleep in the hot bedroom. The floorboards in the dining room are warped. All the cabinets and drawers in the kitchen are dingy, and several of the drawers are hard to pull out and push in. The windows let the outdoor elements make their way into our bedroom. Last week I killed the biggest roach I’ve ever seen.

Yes, everyone has a gripe list about the place they live in, and being a renter it’s not easy to take the initiative to fix these things, although most if not all of them are pretty easy to wrap your mind around.

• I was just pondering, well, some people have dirt floors in their homes or no home at all.
• Our AC isn’t great but it’s below 85 in here and it’s 105 outside.
• The windows may let the wind in but they keep the rain out.
• I should be thankful to have clean running water at all (this week I had Doug test the water at work for heavy metals).
• I should be glad I don’t have to turn on a propane tank to provide my bathroom with hot water (my host family did this in Morocco).
• I may have killed a cockroach, but I don’t have to fear for mosquitoes or flies that transport malaria or yellow fever.
• The drawers wouldn’t be a problem if I didn’t have any food or medicine to store in them. I’m thankful I have both.

Think about your gripe list and how it may pale in comparison to the extreme alterative, and take a moment to count your blessings.

Have a good weekend, everybody!