Sigh
In lieu of the Smackdown I wanted to present today, I hand you a Throwdown courtesy of this post and the letter N.
A new comment on “We Have Electricity!”:
Comment by Uros
August 1, 2006 @ 8:11 am |Edit This
How about Beirut?
Whatta hell are you talking about people!? Half of the planet does not have ellectricity or drinking water! And you are bitching about couple oh hours of darkness! Get serious! Be gratefull that Israel is not droping bombs on your heads and heads of your children… (37 children were killed in one nights raid)How claustrofobic can you get
?
The throwdown my your blog mistress:
Comment by Melissa
August 1, 2006 @ 2:10 pm |Edit This
Uros,
I don’t think anyone here has mentioned anything like that and I think you are a TAD off your rocker for suggesting so.
This post is about people who are not used to a power outtage and the differences in their lives it caused. This does not diminish the atrocities in the world, nor does it diminish our awareness of it.
There is always something worse happening to another person than ANYTHING I am going to go through in my life. That does not mean I can’t talk about it on my personal website. I don’t believe anyone here thinks were are not privilaged to not deal with those issues. I am part of the working poor in the U.S., yet I am infinitely better off than many others considered working poor for a variety of reasons. I can still bitch about the details of my life in this venue. I paid for the $7.99 for this domain, I can write about nothing but biscuits if I want.
I do work for better living conditions, I am against the warfare that Bush so loves, I hate our president and can’t believe he made it into office, I am outraged at what happens to women and children in the world, I think women are marginalized at best and tortured/murdered at worst without penalty, I can’t believe we can’t feed everyone when my grocery store is lined with boxes of junk, I work very hard for women and children’s issues the best I can with the small resources I have. It does not mean that I am not allowed to fuss over any detail of my life that I want. I am sure that just today you have fussed over some detail of your life without thinking of how much worse most of the world has it.
Look, it seems as though you are in Norway (love that statcounter). One of my beloved professors hailed from Oslo and another friend moved there this year with her Norwegian husband. You have a much better healthcare system than the U.S., but do you think about how many American homeless people never see a doctor everytime you visit your doctor? You have tax-funded health and dental for all kids, do you realize how many chidlren in America cannot see a doctor or they extremely poor healthcare and NO dental services because they can’t pay for our crazy privatized system? Nevermind the people around the world who suffer. Wanna talk about Darfur and how you bad you should feel every time you walk into your home after work?
It’s a ridiculous way to live. I am all for being aware of global issues, working and spending in any way you can to help rectify those issues, voting for officials who can make change, educating yourself and others to stop the spread of ignorance. I would never spout off about how terrible my life is on a public forum about Darfur. My life isn’t terrible, but anamolies in my world and yours matter to us as humans. I refuse to stop LIVING and talking about my own life in this personal, yet public place.
There are better, more finely tuned political, globally-oriented blogs than this one. Finding me on a google search for “does not have electricity†makes me wonder what you needed to find. I can’t imagine why this site was #2 on the google.no search, but I hope you come away with less smugness and righteousness and more understanding that individuals matter. You matter. Global atrocities matter. But this .com is mine and my little world is discussed here more than the larger world out there. I discuss those more often on tightly focused websites. I suggest you do the same.
Discussion?
Posted by Melissa on August 1st, 2006 under Blah, Observations13 Responses to “Sigh”
Leave a Comment
Recent Posts
- Happy New Year, Darlings
- New Year’s Eve Menu
- Now, how does one throw a New Year’s Eve Party?
- Holiday Love
- Can’t. Keep. Quiet.
August 1st, 2006 at 2:48 pm
Nicely said and right on target. I feel the EXACT same way. Thank you for saying it so well.
August 1st, 2006 at 3:33 pm
Wonderful post! Your points are so right on target and, like you, I live in shock that our president was even elected into office and when I meet people who say, “Oh, I don’t vote” I want to snap them in 2!! VOTE, you fools!
I linked here from Stephanie of “Pickelness” and am looking forward to lurking through your archives.
August 1st, 2006 at 3:33 pm
I have nothing to add, Melissa. You covered nicely, I think.
What a smug, smarmy person - and bravo to you for putting it in his/her face.
August 1st, 2006 at 3:34 pm
IT nicely. IT nicely. For fuck’s sake.
August 1st, 2006 at 3:37 pm
Yeay You. Brilliant!
August 1st, 2006 at 4:49 pm
She shoot,she scores.. do you ’score’ with skeet shooting? Cause you really just blasted that one out of the sky, and I bet his head is really shaped like the clay plates you shoot.. (i’m kidding… seriously, no for real its a joke.)
I think people who take everything everybody says at every moment as gospel and a complete reflection on said person, typically have self image issues and cannot be trusted with sharp objects or common sense. one whould think that personal opinion would be safe, it is not as though we don’t have opinions we would be more than willing to voice on any of the topics he mentioned - but sometimes its nice to bytch to friends.. people who don’t have friends tend to get a little touchy about things like that. Joking again people..
August 1st, 2006 at 4:54 pm
BTW did I ever mention how all of your nifty research before you kick ass just turns me on?
man - if you were a man, and i wasn’t married and you wern’t married and you were still really cool as a guy cause testostrone can screw up a great package,
you’d get it
August 1st, 2006 at 7:03 pm
I just … your smack-downiness. I love it. I want to buy some of it.
August 2nd, 2006 at 2:09 am
Your response to this horrid person made me laugh out loud in the office.
Congrats on a dignified response!
August 2nd, 2006 at 10:46 am
Nice job.
I have the feeling this person hasn’t had to go without power, in an entire industrialized city without power, for several DAYS (not hours) before.
Some of the people here DIDN’T have clean drinking water when the power went off, because the water treatment centers also lost power. Some people DIDN’T have food, because their perishable food all went bad when the power failed, and the grocery store down the street didn’t have power either, so it wasn’t open. And some people couldn’t drive out of town to get food, either, because they couldn’t get money out of the bank that had no power, and they couldn’t get gasoline from the gas stations that had no power.
Some people actually DIED due to this situation, okay?
When your entire social system is based on the constant presence of electricity, your ability to get access to the basics for survival can be seriously compromised when power to an entire neighborhood goes off.
This doesn’t in any way diminish the fact that people in the U.S. are much more privileged than many others in the world. Many of us are well aware of this fact and would very much like to help change it. But it is very difficult under our current government to help the poor in our own country, let alone in others.
Half of us didn’t ask for this government, or its policies. Just because some Americans are sheltered, selfish idiots doesn’t mean we all are.
August 2nd, 2006 at 11:23 am
Amen, Jaelithe! I’m so glad you added all of that, I kept thinking about going back to it for a lot of these issues but you nailed them all, better than I would have! Thank you.
Supa, it’s $3.99 a minute, this smack-downiness
August 2nd, 2006 at 2:13 pm
Yes. Sigh.
This reminds me of a conversation with Patry over at her place. Go here, and read the poem “A Brief for the Defense” posted by the blog’s author in, I think, the 23rd comment. I think it says it all very beautifully.
August 2nd, 2006 at 2:26 pm
Ooh, thank Sara. I’ll have to go check it out!