Thursday, April 24, 2008
poor guy - Thursday Apr. 24, 2008
today’s Musing written and published from south Calgary, near Fish Creek Park
walk report: -7C/19F; images of tall grass growing out of clear water float in my mind like an early start on a golf course, where night’s dewy remains coat everything, song birds show up for work early to wake everyone . . but it seems we need just a little more winter to bring moisture to this land; overcast, temperature rising as light snow falling cannot decide to melt or accumulate; not enough to shovel, just enough to slip on which meant nothing to Gusta but the melting dimples (like the holes that appear in pancake batter just before you flip them over) in the snow kept her amused while I navigated, I kept wondering what those bubble holes in pancakes might be called
pennies a day pays that poor guy, the grunt laborer in the 3rd world who sews sneakers, harvests shrimp or solders cell phone parts – we don’t much mind, because we are more focused on high gas pump prices, taxes and making ends meet when everything decision seems to end in ‘,000.00’
I’ve struggled with week over week fluctuations in work and reward; my focus in helping others achieve their aims usually helps me achieve a fair living along the way; some people reap excess as reward for taking enormous risk but most of us make a fair living in a fair country from a fair day’s work – we come home to a full fridge, a full cupboard or we stop by a full store or full restaurant – our days focused on playoff hockey schedules, family dynamics, clubs and communities doing their things - but no one in my world worries about starving; I’ve had my share of scrapes, financial ups and downs over the years, but I’ve never missed a meal
headlines bring to our face the plight of the guy who works all day to buy a bowl of rice only to find the price tripled – he can’t start working 3 times the 10 hours a day he already works; he can’t reach into a rice savings account he doesn’t have; he hits our headlines because he riots or marches or starves - not because he is bad or weak or dumb but because no matter how hard he works he cannot catch up to that which is racing away from him
he does not chase luxury or excess, but merely a full bowl of rice at the end of the day; we have it very wrong in this world where countless examples of waste are everywhere; I don’t profess to understand the minutia of the global economy but I understand the helplessness of feeling there is nothing that can be done to solve a problem, the frustration of slipping further from a solution every day
I had a good day yesterday; I closed a deal, got another one under contract, moved a couple more along the continuum - today I’ll move a few more pieces on the board game called work just a little closer to the finish line; I won’t laugh all the way to the bank, but I’ll smile and have a full belly; it is hard to be euphoric when some poor guy can’t feed himself and his family with a day’s labor while a commodity trader half-way round the world reaps plenty; I know these ebbs and flows are part of an efficient marketplace and a working economy, but I feel for the poor guy
there is so much dignity in work, but there is no dignity in not knowing where your next meal is coming from of if you can afford it – which is not just a 3rd world country problem, we have it in every city and town in this country too; I can't help but wonder, of all that money spent by corporations and governments promoting Earth Day, how many bags of rice that might have bought?
I suggested to PB that we go out for dinner this weekend to celebrate my good week – she suggested that she’d rather have me cook her fish, which I will, but I don’t think I’ll serve rice
Mark Kolke
338,512
199.3
... with your voice, teach in order to learn
What do you think? Join the discussion - comments are welcomed - please write.
To subscribe to Mark's Musings daily email distribution, write to mark@markmusing.com
©2008 MaxComm Communications
walk report: -7C/19F; images of tall grass growing out of clear water float in my mind like an early start on a golf course, where night’s dewy remains coat everything, song birds show up for work early to wake everyone . . but it seems we need just a little more winter to bring moisture to this land; overcast, temperature rising as light snow falling cannot decide to melt or accumulate; not enough to shovel, just enough to slip on which meant nothing to Gusta but the melting dimples (like the holes that appear in pancake batter just before you flip them over) in the snow kept her amused while I navigated, I kept wondering what those bubble holes in pancakes might be called
pennies a day pays that poor guy, the grunt laborer in the 3rd world who sews sneakers, harvests shrimp or solders cell phone parts – we don’t much mind, because we are more focused on high gas pump prices, taxes and making ends meet when everything decision seems to end in ‘,000.00’
I’ve struggled with week over week fluctuations in work and reward; my focus in helping others achieve their aims usually helps me achieve a fair living along the way; some people reap excess as reward for taking enormous risk but most of us make a fair living in a fair country from a fair day’s work – we come home to a full fridge, a full cupboard or we stop by a full store or full restaurant – our days focused on playoff hockey schedules, family dynamics, clubs and communities doing their things - but no one in my world worries about starving; I’ve had my share of scrapes, financial ups and downs over the years, but I’ve never missed a meal
headlines bring to our face the plight of the guy who works all day to buy a bowl of rice only to find the price tripled – he can’t start working 3 times the 10 hours a day he already works; he can’t reach into a rice savings account he doesn’t have; he hits our headlines because he riots or marches or starves - not because he is bad or weak or dumb but because no matter how hard he works he cannot catch up to that which is racing away from him
he does not chase luxury or excess, but merely a full bowl of rice at the end of the day; we have it very wrong in this world where countless examples of waste are everywhere; I don’t profess to understand the minutia of the global economy but I understand the helplessness of feeling there is nothing that can be done to solve a problem, the frustration of slipping further from a solution every day
I had a good day yesterday; I closed a deal, got another one under contract, moved a couple more along the continuum - today I’ll move a few more pieces on the board game called work just a little closer to the finish line; I won’t laugh all the way to the bank, but I’ll smile and have a full belly; it is hard to be euphoric when some poor guy can’t feed himself and his family with a day’s labor while a commodity trader half-way round the world reaps plenty; I know these ebbs and flows are part of an efficient marketplace and a working economy, but I feel for the poor guy
there is so much dignity in work, but there is no dignity in not knowing where your next meal is coming from of if you can afford it – which is not just a 3rd world country problem, we have it in every city and town in this country too; I can't help but wonder, of all that money spent by corporations and governments promoting Earth Day, how many bags of rice that might have bought?
I suggested to PB that we go out for dinner this weekend to celebrate my good week – she suggested that she’d rather have me cook her fish, which I will, but I don’t think I’ll serve rice
Mark Kolke
338,512
199.3
... with your voice, teach in order to learn
What do you think? Join the discussion - comments are welcomed - please write.
To subscribe to Mark's Musings daily email distribution, write to mark@markmusing.com
©2008 MaxComm Communications
