Do We Take Everything For Granted In Society These Days?

[LoneKiller]

Hi All.


My grandmother made a remark earlier that really stuck in my craw. She was saying how our local hospital has carpeted floors in different areas which apparently isn't a good idea. She also commented on how they need to work more to keep it clean.

In all fairness, hospital should be clean for obvious reasons, but she spoke about it like it was a pig pen, when in actuality it's nowhere near like a pig pen. I'm sorry, but if some poor soul comes rolling into the ER on a stretcher with a severed arm, I believe that overfilled waste bins and a few empty coffee cups on the desks are the last thing on his or her mind.

My thoughts are this. I'm also curious to know how you all feel on the subject. I find that in North America and many other countries that we tend to take for granted and not appreciate what we DO have while complaining about the stuff we don't. There are countries in the world who are lucky if they have a modest clinic.

Is it just me?

God Bless.
LK

 

[EveWasFramed]

Living in a country that doesn't have free healthcare and charges are outrageous, I think the least they can do is keep the place fairly clean and germ-free.
I say this as I sit in a hospital waiting room at this very moment in fact. The lobby here is clean and there are two TV's - one for adults and one for children. Thank goodness it's on the Disney channel.

 

[9006]

The problem is the 'compensation culture', if you walked into a hospital and somehow contracted some disease, it's easy to go round the hospital where you got it from and start taking snaps of empty coffee/tea cups and sheets lying about or whatever and using it as evidence in court that the hospital was to blame for not keeping it clean; people are always looking for someone or something to blame. Sounds daft but there's lots of people who do this (especially in the UK), they look for potential exploits like this, and to tackle this, there's strict cleaning rules.

While I do agree with your grandmother about the carpets, I wouldn't compare hospitals to a pig pen. I think 80% of the population do take things for granted, especially when it comes to technology. Here in the UK, it's very much a materialistic and throw away society, where things can be fixed or used in another way, people would rather upgrade, throw it out or vice versa.

A good example is that big supermarkets throw away fruit and vegetables before they go on shelves because they're not 'presentable' enough, I.E slightly bruised, bent or too small. And apparently it's something like hundreds of thousands of tons a year, yes it does sound a lot; probably because it is. Just imagine how many starving people this "bad" food could feed.

 

[perfanoff]

I'm sure at least 50 million people just in USA don't take the state of the art hospitals and best educated doctors in the world for granted.

 

[bodafuko]

Yes. Most people don't appreciate anything in life or life itself. Having died once, I truly feel as though every day or even moment could be my last. I am most unhappy when I do not align my behaviors with this understanding.

 

[LoneKiller]

Yes. Most people don't appreciate anything in life or life itself. Having died once, I truly feel as though every day or even moment could be my last. I am most unhappy when I do not align my behaviors with this understanding.

"Having died once"
Sounds like someone cut you a break.....

 

[flaneur]

Having died once, I truly feel as though every day or even moment could be my last. I am most unhappy when I do not align my behaviors with this understanding.

Really? Just once?

 

[bodafuko]

Yes. I overdosed. Died for a little bit. Was revived. Everyone should try it at least once.

 

[flaneur]

Actually, that doesn't sound too fun. I think I'll pass

 

[bodafuko]

It certainly stays with you. I routinely find myself thinking thoughts like "Tell her you love her" because you may never see her again, or "Do the right thing" because this might be your last chance, or - more commonly - "Do not take any honeysuckle from these bastards" because we've all got the same appointment, and I really don't want to be (where-the-hell-over) thinking back about all the time I bent over and spread 'em for a gardenia boss or some assclown loudmouth bully. Or some dumbass transparent woman.

 

[dreamsurfer]

Having died once, I truly feel as though every day or even moment could be my last. I am most unhappy when I do not align my behaviors with this understanding.

Really? Just once?

Sometimes people do flatline and are lucky to get up again.

 

[mountainvista]

I really don't want to be (where-the-hell-over) thinking back about all the time I bent over and spread 'em for a gardenia boss or some assclown loudmouth bully. Or some dumbass transparent woman.

You really need to let it go. You'll be happier.

 

[ladyforsaken]

I don't know to what degree the cleanliness and upkeep of hospitals there are like but judging by your descriptions, LK, I think I agree with you there. I wouldn't exactly be thinking too much about the carpets and stuff if I'm worried about something more life-threatening. And I think there are countries much much more disadvantaged where they may not have the proper facilities or upkeep to ensure cleanliness. Having said that - Eve's right too, hospitals should maintain at least a standard level of cleanliness since healthcare isn't free there.

Yes. I overdosed. Died for a little bit. Was revived. Everyone should try it at least once.

That is seriously scary. I wouldn't want to go through that. I've experienced a period of breathlessness where I felt like I was dying - that was bad enough. :\

Having died once, I truly feel as though every day or even moment could be my last. I am most unhappy when I do not align my behaviors with this understanding.

Really? Just once?

Sometimes people do flatline and are lucky to get up again.

Lucky people. If they are lucky. Phew.. wouldn't wanna risk it.

 

[Vermillion Sky]

I take nothing for granted, but then I don't have much.

People who have all the things I wish I had, they take those for granted..

 

[WishingWell]

Taking things for granted is something I don't do. I am not happy with my life, I am disabled and lonely, but I do appreciate the fact that I have a roof over my head, food to eat, hot and cold running water, heat/air conditioning through the seasons, halfway decent health, a bed to sleep in, Cable TV, a Computer...basically my NEEDS are met and I consider Cable TV and a Computer as a "luxuries" because I am fortunate enough that I can afford them.

The only thing I wish is that I could get out and go places, which circumstances prevent, and it would be great to have friends that live near me.

I think a lot of people take the things I have for granted--they seem to think it is normal to have all these things--cars and houses don't even phase them as being something that many people don't have.

I think of people that are homeless, not due to alcoholism or drug addiction even, but because of unemployment. I think people in the United States and in nations where there are people that don't have any of the things I have. When I was able to work and could afford it, I sponsored Children in the U.S. and Uganda that had nothing. In addition to the sponsorship, I sent monetary gifts for example, mosquito nets to prevent malaria in Uganda, or simple games or a basketball and other things to all of them. When I lived in a busy City, It was rare that I walked past a homeless person without giving them a dollar and sometimes more, or buying a sandwich and coffee/soda in Burger King or somewhere else for them.

 

[perfanoff]

Taking things for granted is something I don't do. I am not happy with my life, I am disabled and lonely, but I do appreciate the fact that I have a roof over my head, food to eat, hot and cold running water, heat/air conditioning through the seasons, halfway decent health, a bed to sleep in, Cable TV, a Computer...basically my NEEDS are met and I consider Cable TV and a Computer as a "luxuries" because I am fortunate enough that I can afford them.

The only thing I wish is that I could get out and go places, which circumstances prevent, and it would be great to have friends that live near me.

I think a lot of people take the things I have for granted--they seem to think it is normal to have all these things--cars and houses don't even phase them as being something that many people don't have.

I think of people that are homeless, not due to alcoholism or drug addiction even, but because of unemployment. I think people in the United States and in nations where there are people that don't have any of the things I have. When I was able to work and could afford it, I sponsored Children in the U.S. and Uganda that had nothing. In addition to the sponsorship, I sent monetary gifts for example, mosquito nets to prevent malaria in Uganda, or simple games or a basketball and other things to all of them. When I lived in a busy City, It was rare that I walked past a homeless person without giving them a dollar and sometimes more, or buying a sandwich and coffee/soda in Burger King or somewhere else for them.

That's very kind of you

 

[ThisSideOfTheRainbow]

So called first world countries, not all of them, but alot of them, have extremely high rates of depression, anger, people being miserable, and people complaining about the most mundane things.

The happiest people on the planet, however, tend to come from countries that are rather poor.

You wanna watch a great black comedy? Watch "God Bless America," and laugh your ass off all night. It says what is needed to be said about a spoiled, soft culture who has gone the down road of reality TV, shock TV, materialism and trends.

I'm not saying all Americans or first worlders are like that, and I'm not saying all poor are happy. I'm only relaying demographics. People who have little have a tendency to be grateful for what they have, and take value in those things. It doesn't matter if 4 generations are living under the same roof. It doesn't matter if you don't own a car, and it doesn't matter if half the neighborhood has their laundry drying on the balcony of the blocs.

Finding peace can be a hard enough struggle as it is, especially for lonely or depressed people. But to consume oneself with such trivial complaining (for example, my brother told me he was offended by some guy's Jesus shirt. I about died laughing considering I could never imagine myself ever getting offended by someone's t-shirt) is not only a waste of time and energy, it goes to show how soft people really are.

I see hard times in the country I live in. Homeless people everywhere, starving old ladies, starving kids, massively high unemployment, real in-your-face poverty, but people do what they can for one another. And chances are, its going to get A LOT worse around the world, economically. I mean economic collapse bad. They can't sustain this fiat currency forever.

So, if these soft materialists can't take the pressure when their pasta machines break down, or they crack an nail, or their botox injection appointment was rescheduled, or their fat ass docker pants ripped in back, these poor souls will never handle real trauma, like losing their houses and being left out on the street.

 

[bodafuko]

The farther away from the raw truth of life and death, what it means to be hungry, what it means to be cold, what it means to live in danger, what it means to depend on your kin and vice versa - the more likely humans are to become something impure. So yes, people in the first world are mostly crap.