A third of a pencil...

We had a lot of stock in the office that was brand new and had been sitting around for 2-3 years before I arrived. I asked lots of charities did they want it? The answer was no – or no answer at all. Ever persistent, I came across a Cairns school teacher gathering goods for some island villages in Papua New Guinea. He was more than happy to take the 500 odd new shirts and assorted stationery that was of no use to us. He gave me a CD that chronicled the work they were doing in PNG. You know, I watched it and I thought to myself “how bloody lucky are we?” We bitch and moan because we can’t have the latest gadget or we have to budget for bills or we lust for more or waste our money on crap. But these island people? They have nothing but extremely basic living conditions that most of us would refuse to deal with and yet they do so without complaining. Imagine what it would be like to live in a very rudimentary hut? To have one pencil broken in three pieces so three school kids could use their bit for a year. A whole year. Could you imagine someone who wanted to be a writer carefully conserving that pencil?  And clothes? Basic. Very. 
 
You want to complain about what you don’t have? Think again about those who have nothing and decide whether you have the right to complain.