[Nfbmt] How far have we really come?

[Bruce&Joy Breslauer]

Well, Montana Federationists, 

 

Here goes.  I hesitate to even post this because it’s old bad news, but every time I come across it I get angry all over again.  There are times I’m perhaps more forgiving, but this evening wasn’t one of those times.  This attitude comes up again every now and then, and it just gets to me.  I received the post below in an e-mail, and below that I will post my response.  Perhaps I should have waited 24 hours and sat on it a little longer.  It must have hit a hair trigger I wasn’t aware of. LOL Joy 

 

Content of e-mail:

To all of my great friends: Read this and many of the problems we think we have will become insignificant.   This has been around but we older folks tend to be a bit forgetful.

The World is Mine...Author unknown

 

Today, upon a bus, I saw a very beautiful woman and wished I were as beautiful.

When suddenly she rose to leave, I saw her hobble down the aisle.

She had one leg and used a crutch. But as she passed, she passed a smile.

Oh, God, forgive me when I whine.  I have two legs; the world is mine.

 

I stopped to buy some candy. The lad who sold it had such charm.

I talked with him, he seemed so glad.  If I were late, it'd do no harm.

And as I left, he said to me, "I thank you, you've been so kind.

It's nice to talk with folks like you. You see," he said, "I'm blind."

Oh, God, forgive me when I whine.  I have two eyes; the world is mine.

 

Later while walking down the street, I saw a child I knew.

He stood and watched the others play, but he did not know what to do.

I stopped a moment and then I said, "Why don't you join them, Dear?"

He looked ahead without a word.  I forgot, he couldn't hear.

Oh, God, forgive me when I whine.  I have two ears; the world is mine.

 

With feet to take me where I go.  With eyes to see the sunset's glow. With ears to hear what I know.

Oh, God, forgive me when I whine. I've been blessed indeed, the world is mine.

 

If this poem makes you feel thankful, just forward it to your friends. After all, it's just a simple reminder that we have so much to be thankful  for! 

 

My (perhaps ill considered) Response 

Well, I kind of find this insulting.  People are thanking the good Lord because the parts they have all work.  But what about the parts of the rest of us that don’t work?  Does that mean we’re any less blessed?  Why does comparing yourself to someone else whom you think is less fortunate make you feel better about your so-called problems?  Don’t the supposedly more fortunate among us realize that they are the problem for the less fortunate among us, and that if it wasn’t for them and their snooty attitudes towards us, things would be a whole lot better for the supposedly less fortunate among us? Whoever wrote this says God forgive me when I whine, because all my parts work and the world is mine.  Does that mean that those of us who don’t have all our working parts can’t own the world?  Maybe I’m being oversensitive, but any time anyone compares himself or herself to someone else “less fortunate”, that really bugs me.  Who’s to say who’s less fortunate? Maybe someone with the long nose and the haughty attitude is less fortunate than the rest of us who don’t have it so easy and know what it’s like to struggle and strive to live in a real but imperfect world.  Maybe the less fortunate among us are those who judge others by their appearance, skin color, or disability, rather than the content of their character.  Maybe the less fortunate among us are the ones who look at others with pity or contempt, instead of lending a helping hand or a listening ear or a caring heart.  And what makes it even worse is that the ones they consider to be these poor unfortunate souls are so angelic. They are kind, they smile, they show compassion.  They show the real less fortunates among us the true face of God, and how to live, while they eke out an existence or are allowed to live on the earth because of the beneficence and benevolence of those who are more privileged or so-called fortunate .  And they never get cross or put out about the way they are treated or mistreated by their more fortunate brethren or sistern?  Bah humbug!

 

Well, I sure went off on an unexpected tangent, didn’t I?  LOL Joy