After traveling all around the world and meeting locals everywhere he’s been, like this barista in Uzbekistan, Howard truly appreciates all that we have here in the U.S.
This story originally appeared in Howard's local newspaper, MetroWest Daily News.
By Howard Axelrod, 26-time traveler and 11-time Vacation Ambassador from Ashland, MA
This is an article about appreciation and gratitude. I have traveled to 85 countries and as such have a reasonably comprehensive and textured perspective about life around the globe. I have made it a focus during my travels to examine how people in other cultures manage to live in harmony, allocate available resources intelligently, struggle but not necessarily suffer, and be happy and enjoy life. What I have learned has been a priceless lesson personally and has never been timelier and more appropriate than at this uncertain moment in America.
For starters I can unequivocally assure you that there is absolutely no place on the planet like the United States. Repeat—ABSOLUTELY NO PLACE. We are the unchallenged land of plenty, and perhaps more accurately the land of plenty of too much. The lifestyle in most of the world is vastly different from ours. In many, if not most world countries, there are ALWAYS shortages. There are ALWAYS lines. Electricity and fresh water are NOT ALWAYS readily available. Hot water? Not often. There is NEVER enough of anything. Everyday items for us such as paper towels, diapers, aspirin, and even soap and toothpaste are considered "luxuries" for many, and often unexpectedly appear, and then disappear for months. Even when available, these are frequently unaffordable. When one finds toilet paper there are no brand choices. There is only "toilet paper". Quality varies as you may imagine. Charmin? Cottonelle? Angel Soft? Are you serious? You buy, but do not hoard, out of respect for others. You are thankful and in fact grateful for what you were able to procure. Thankful and grateful.
Full disclosure: My wife and I live comfortably, but our 1,620 square foot home is hardly a palace. You will not find any BMW’s or Mercedes in our driveway. Designer clothing? Do Wranglers count? I have never owned a $3,000 Rolex, only a $30 Timex. Expensive restaurants? We like Chipotle and for a splurge, Olive Garden. Perhaps we are the exception, but we are comfortable, and feel no need to over-indulge or keep up with the Jones’s. We are genuinely happy and content and feel blessed to be together and living in America. We are thankful and grateful. Perhaps the shortages of goods that we are now experiencing is in fact not a totally bad situation. It appears that going forward, choices will be diminished, but it is unlikely that you will starve. You will always be able to find enough food in the market to eat well. This is still America—the land of plenty. We have gotten accustomed to having exactly what we when we want it. We are drunk with excess on a seismic level. We expect every supermarket item to be readily available in every size and configuration and literally falling off the jam-packed shelves. I once counted more than 40 different types, sizes, and brands of bread in the isle. Is this really necessary? In many countries there is only "bread". You take what is available that day. On a good day there might be two choices. Once again, you are thankful and grateful for the fact that you could even get bread. Repeat—thankful and grateful.
The current situation in America presents an opportunity to reflect on how good we really do have it. There is a unique chance here to connect with others, to spend more time with family, and get closer to those whom you care about, and care about you. The method is the phone and computer. Clearly this is not an ideal approach, but these are the only tools in the drawer. Be thankful and grateful that you have a phone and computer! Less than 50% of the people on earth do.
I will end with a recent personal experience that galvanized my thoughts. A few weeks ago, my brother-in-law in Florida asked me to accompany him to the tile and floor outlet as he is putting in new kitchen and bathroom floors. When I entered this 25,000 square foot sparkling and beautifully lit facility I could not believe my eyes. There were literally thousands of choices of tile, wood, ceramic, and stone flooring, ranging in size from a quarter of an inch to forty-eight inches in squares, circles, triangles, hexagons, and more. The color selection alone was mind-boggling. I had just returned from Cuba where my friend’s home has three different materials on the family room floor. They used what was available at the time, three different times, until the dirt floor became a real floor. Looking out over this massive display of choices in front of me made me dizzy. Do we really need this to be happy? Is only too much enough? Ernest Hemingway preached that we need to beware of giving love to anything that cannot give love back. Perhaps now is the time to truly examine this.
It is important to realize that in many nations people struggle, but do not suffer. They have been living with shortages, lines, and uncertainty for decades, not weeks like us. Can we take a lesson from this and incorporate it into our lives going forward? We need to keep our situation in perspective. This is most certainly a time to be thankful and grateful friend. Please, no complaining about lines or shortages or having to spend a great deal of time in front of the television. Do you think everyone on earth has a television? Cable? Netflix? Hulu? Get real!
At the moment we have bigger fish to fry. We are fighting a silent, invisible, and deadly enemy. Considering the magnitude of this, less variety in food, services, or material goods are at this juncture is really small stuff. Be THANKFUL and GRATEFUL reader and do give Mr. Hemingway’s warning some serious thought.
