Taking Things Forr Granted Essay Research — страница 2

of water ? they operate on a first-come, first-served basis. Considering their dry climate, if they?re even a little bit late, they can forget about taking another shower for the next few days. Furthermore, it?s a common sight to see someone go up to their mother and complain, ? Mommy, I need another pair of jeans ? I got this big pen mark on the pant leg.? What?s wrong with this picture? Well, you might say it depends on who you ask, but there is indeed a common theme. My dad never discards a shoe, sock, shirt, or the like ? if it gets stained, he works in it outside in our garden. The fact it, though, that he has the power (both monetary and mobile) to go out and buy something that he needs to wear anytime he wants. While most of our society is becoming more and more concerned

with the outside-in instead of the inside-out, our materialistic ways serve as a foil, if you will, for those without resources. One can go into the heart of Mexico City and easily be approached by over 20 kids asking you to buy $.05 chiclets from them ? their basic source of income. In India, where my cousins live, power always goes out at least 1-3 times a day for hours at a time; meanwhile, my computer is on the Internet in one room downloading a song and I?m in the living room watching the Letterman Show. Even a basic thing like education we take for granted. Here we are in a general school system that offers us free schooling to help better our future, and yet we still choose to cut classes and take off periods instead of taking that one extra honors class that might

enlighten some of our future decisions. Hearing this, one can only think of the youth in the Middle East, who, with all of the hate and fighting going on, have no choice ? no school or college, only military. Even in ancient Greek times, only the richest families could afford to have their children educated, and even that didn?t come cheap ? they had to hire private tutors. An even more proud feeling for our society is that almost 36% of scholarships go untaken because no one applies for them ? FREE MONEY THAT NOBODY TAKES!!! By far, the biggest concept that we take for granted is our health and well-being. Picture being lactose-intolerant, not being able to digest dairy products, as I am right now, and driving through Hershey, PA smelling the sweet, melted aroma of chocolate

emanating from the nearby Hershey?s Chocolate factories. Wait ? I think I can hear the Oompa Loompas singing their ?Oompa Loompa? song about Wonka bars and Scrumdiddlyumptious bars. Now imagine sitting at a table while the person in front of you gobbles up a chicken McNugget, an ultimate cheeseburger, or a Pizza Hut triple topping supreme while all you can do is sit there drooling with your mouth open. That?s a position I?m always in ? being diagnosed with Crohn?s disease, a disease that stems from the inflammation of my large intestine. Before I got sick, I always was a picky eater, eating only my favorite foods at meal time. I?d be surprised if anyone I met never cleaned out the middle of an Oreo or took out the greens from a burger. With a diet that now consists of only rice

and yogurt, and Boost ? supplemental drinks, I can now remotely relate to those in Africa who consider brown water a delicacy and those famished, poverty-stricken people of Somalia. Hearing of routine outbreaks of malaria, and just recently, ebola again, I come to appreciate our rather advanced methods of healthcare as compared to others? still primitive methods. We all watch Keanu Reeves as Neo in the movie The Matrix with his gravity-defying moves and Trinity, his sidekick, with her high-flying acrobatics, but do we think of those confined to wheelchairs who haven?t walked on their own feet in years, if ever? Do we pause to think of the average 10-year-old diabetic who?s had over 2000 finger pricks? In retrospect, appreciation of life (or its lack, thereof) doesn?t cease to

surprise me. Only in America can one stand out on the street and vent his anger in loud torrential speeches; only in America does one actually have a choice about what to believe in without having Big Brother watching over them. As a victim of disease, I can voice whatever limited wisdom I have accumulated in my 17 years. We should appreciate what we do have and what we can do, and what we can eat, because as soon as we have that one thing taken away from us, we are in a world of hurt, anger, and frustration. Watching someone else eat up steak and potatoes when you can barely digest milk is one of the worst feelings for a once-healthy person. So, the next time your little sister takes your gum or your chess set from your room, and you confront her, and she scratches you, and you