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Published On: Apr 26, 2006 10:02 PM
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Published On: Apr 26, 2006 10:02 PM
Complaints Department, Greenland Office
Ahh... complaints. I'm sure there are things
about all of our lives that fail to make us happy or outright frustrate us.
It's nice, sometimes, to wallow in self-pity, or even to whine about things that
we don't like, can't abide, or that make us
miserable.
I'm a perfect example of this, recently. As just about who knows me is now aware, my current assignment is in Korea. I also made no secret whatsoever of the fact that I loathed my last assignment in Korea, and expected nothing better out of this one. People who were in contact with me when I was stationed in Taegu can confirm this unhappiness. Hel, look back at the entries from July 04 through November 04, and you can see a trend of general crankiness -- a lot more rants than usual, among other things.
But I dye grass.
There I was, on an airplane, flying toward the object of my loathing. Most of my books were packed away, and I'd chosen to carry on Gwyn Jones's A History of the Vikings. Since I'd just recently completed my visit to the Heavener Rune Stone, I decided to skip to the chapter about the Viking settlements in the New World.
Hoo, boy.
Have you ever looked at the history of the Greenlandic colonies? Those people lived (well, some of them did) through some amazingly rough conditions. They rarely or never had enough food, they were in an on again-off again war with native American populations, and it was getting colder and colder. The colony was first started in the 900's, and lasted (on and off) until 1500 AD, although what exactly happened to the last of the settlers is unknown, because by this point they were almost completely cut off from the entire world, apart from the occasional accidental visitor.
Hail to the Greenlanders!
So there I am, on a climate-controlled airplane, eating an in-flight meal and alternating between the book and my choice of in-flight movies on my in-seat entertainment system, and I have the cojones to be angry about going to a place with enough food to eat, a warm bed, and the ability to make contact with people around the world? Whoa. It really did hit me like that, too.
So by the time I landed in Korea (after landing in Japan to change flights; I really wish I could have stayed in Japan, but them's the breaks), while my attitude hadn't completely turned around, it was a lot better about the whole thing. Now that I'm in my quarters and see that they are not like the shithole I lived in in Taegu, I'm cool about that as well.
It's like the starving children in Asia that are supposed to get you to eat your vegetables as a child, except in this case it worked. Don't get me wrong; there are countless places I'd rather be than Korea, but it's not as bad as I had anticipated, this time around, and of course it's nowhere near as bad as the Greenland colonists had it.
So that's the sum of my wisdom for today: Got problems? Step back and compare them to Greenland. Do the research so that you really understand the comparison. Then see if your own issues don't seem slightly smaller afterward.
Later, ya'll.
I'm a perfect example of this, recently. As just about who knows me is now aware, my current assignment is in Korea. I also made no secret whatsoever of the fact that I loathed my last assignment in Korea, and expected nothing better out of this one. People who were in contact with me when I was stationed in Taegu can confirm this unhappiness. Hel, look back at the entries from July 04 through November 04, and you can see a trend of general crankiness -- a lot more rants than usual, among other things.
But I dye grass.
There I was, on an airplane, flying toward the object of my loathing. Most of my books were packed away, and I'd chosen to carry on Gwyn Jones's A History of the Vikings. Since I'd just recently completed my visit to the Heavener Rune Stone, I decided to skip to the chapter about the Viking settlements in the New World.
Hoo, boy.
Have you ever looked at the history of the Greenlandic colonies? Those people lived (well, some of them did) through some amazingly rough conditions. They rarely or never had enough food, they were in an on again-off again war with native American populations, and it was getting colder and colder. The colony was first started in the 900's, and lasted (on and off) until 1500 AD, although what exactly happened to the last of the settlers is unknown, because by this point they were almost completely cut off from the entire world, apart from the occasional accidental visitor.
Hail to the Greenlanders!
So there I am, on a climate-controlled airplane, eating an in-flight meal and alternating between the book and my choice of in-flight movies on my in-seat entertainment system, and I have the cojones to be angry about going to a place with enough food to eat, a warm bed, and the ability to make contact with people around the world? Whoa. It really did hit me like that, too.
So by the time I landed in Korea (after landing in Japan to change flights; I really wish I could have stayed in Japan, but them's the breaks), while my attitude hadn't completely turned around, it was a lot better about the whole thing. Now that I'm in my quarters and see that they are not like the shithole I lived in in Taegu, I'm cool about that as well.
It's like the starving children in Asia that are supposed to get you to eat your vegetables as a child, except in this case it worked. Don't get me wrong; there are countless places I'd rather be than Korea, but it's not as bad as I had anticipated, this time around, and of course it's nowhere near as bad as the Greenland colonists had it.
So that's the sum of my wisdom for today: Got problems? Step back and compare them to Greenland. Do the research so that you really understand the comparison. Then see if your own issues don't seem slightly smaller afterward.
Later, ya'll.
Posted: Sat - August 20, 2005 at 09:28 PM