November 15, 2003

Keepin' it in Perspective

I heard something tonight while going to waste swipes that really helped me gain a renewed sense of perspective on life, which has perhaps been lacking in the last few weeks. I was at the Den and while waiting in line, the guy at the counter was having a conversation with a woman directly in front of me. Apparently they knew one another because the conversation went beyond "Thanks" and "You're welcome." The woman asked the man, "How was your day today?" and the man responded with "Hey, everyday that I wake up is a good day! If I don't wake up ... well that would be a bad day."

Just as I was thinking to myself, "Wow, what an interesting and refreshing perspective on life," two idiotic freshman behind me began complaining about the rainy weather, and how they "didn't know if they could go on, if this rain persisted." Yeah - it raining is a great reason to "not go on." Perhaps we should encourage stupid idiots like this to actually kill themselves. The world needs less of these fools, anyway. Perhaps if I mentioned "50% chance of showers" they would poison themselves. Oh wait, would that be stupid-ocide? The dichotomy of the situation was astounding. On one hand we have a guy who's happy just to be alive, and on the other, we have whiny brats complaining incessantly (not to mention loudly) about rain. I think this brief episode struck a chord with me because as of late, I've been feeling pretty burned out and apathetic. This has made me whiny, complaining about stupid things, like "having duty on a Friday night," which is only slightly above the standard of complaining about rain.

Waa! Waa! Waa! Look at Rohit being a big baby! And worse yet, no one has told me to shut up yet! I would have told myself to shut up long ago if it was me. What? Nevermind. In any case, I just noted that I think a lot of people could stand to gain from this perspective on life, myself included. There is nothing wrong with complaining a little bit, but when you start to actually believe that your trivial problems are actually serious, then your majorly messed up. This seems to be a raging phenomenon in recent times too. People behave as though everything in their life is falling apart at all times, but if you take a closer look, you realize that they are all living lives that probably many people with real problems can only dream about.

This infuriates me - people do not even realize their own privileges! No, your girlfriend dumping you is not the end of the world. NO, the fact that you got a B on your last midterm is not worth killing yourself, and NO, the fact that it rains in Berkeley does not make your life shit. Get a little perspective, people! At least I can rest assured in the fact that I have never contemplated killing myself over a transient change in weather patterns. Think about that: a butterfly flaps its wings in China and I jump off a building. Ridiculous. Using a little phrase I picked up during CalSO, "It's all G double O D good in the hood." If more time was spent appreciating the holistic, and less, fixating on the incongruities that make life what it is, perhaps we would all live a little less angry. I know I would. Dammit! I'm getting philosophical! I really need a damn vacation!