Perspective does make a difference! A rant

[jollyreaper2112]

Got this happy dappy email in my inbox from a former coworker today. It inspired a counter-rant.

“Perspective does make a difference”

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One day, the father of a very wealthy family took his son on a trip to the country with the

express purpose of showing him how poor people live.

They spent a couple of days and nights on the farm of what would be considered a very poor family.

On their return from their trip, the father asked his son, "How was the trip?"

"It was great, Dad."

"Did you see how poor people live?" the father asked.

"Oh yeah," said the son.

"So, tell me, what did you learn from the trip?" asked the father.

The son answered:

"I saw that we have one dog and they had four.

We have a pool that reaches to the middle of our garden and they have a creek that has no end.

We have imported lanterns in our garden and they have the stars at night.

Our patio reaches to the front yard and they have the whole horizon.

We have a small piece of land to live on and they have fields that go beyond our sight.

We have servants who serve us, but they serve others.

We buy our food, but they grow theirs.

We have walls around our property to protect us, they have friends to protect them."

The boy's father was speechless.

Then his son added, "Thanks Dad for showing me how poor we are."

Isn't perspective a wonderful thing? Makes you wonder what would happen if we all gave thanks for everything we have, instead of worrying about what we don't have.

Appreciate every single thing you have, especially your friends!

Pass this on to friends and acquaintances and help them refresh their perspective and appreciation.

"Life is too short and friends are too few."


The boy, now a young man, revisited the poor people some years later. He could not believe how vastly the land had changed, tract homes pushed up against shopping malls with yet more tract homes beyond that.

He stopped a hollow-eyed man on the side of the road and asked him if he knew of the family who used to live on the land.

"Aye," said the man. "Their property was condemned by the city, eminent domain. It was sold off to developers."

But what of the creek?

"All its water is drawn off for use by a factory."

And the starry sky?

"Nobody much sees the sky these days, smoke from the factory and the glare of the streetlamps at night."

But what of the wide horizons that used to be seen here?

"Oh, I'm sure its still there. You just have to climb up on top of the apartment blocks to see it."

And what of the broad fields that go beyond sight? Wasn't that theirs?

"That's what was built on to create this town. Those fields belonged to the bank, just nobody had developed them yet."

But the people here can no longer grow their own food. How do they eat? How do they earn a living?

"They can work in the factory for wages. Its not enough, mind you."

Could they not ask the factory owners for more?

"There have already been three rounds of layoffs. Management is threatening more if labor doesn't mind its P's and Q's."

And what of all this broken glass and litter and misery around here?

"Crime is a fact of life in factory towns. You think your neighbors will protect you? Your neighbors are the ones who will be doing the harming!"

But surely there is some value to life here.

"Nights are spent before the flickering glow of the television. The food is what we can afford, processed factory-farmed sugary salted things that slowly pickle our insides with their preservatives."

And what of that man over there, what is that growing on his face?

"Some lesion, I'd wager. We've been getting those since the factory came to town. The wellwater is full of all sorts of chemicals you'd need a degree just to say properly."

Isn't there an alternative to working for the factory?

"Yeah. It can leave and we'll go on the dole. There's no farming anymore, all the farmland is paved over. There's too many people here to properly live off the land. We're stuck using the factory farming methods just to stay alive. We're like a family stuck in a home deep in middle winter, burning the furniture just to stay warm. Soon we'll have to start on the house itself and we'll be exposed to the cold and die. But if we don't burn bits of the house we'll freeze to death sooner rather than later. We're like a starving body dissolving its own muscles for just a little more life."

And who owns this factory?

"What did you say your name was? I do believe I've heard that name before. Check the sign by the factory."

The young man was speechless. The name on the factory was his own.

[jollyreaper2112]

1. not a single reply?

Tough crowd.