'Monoply of Misery'

Galit na ako. 

I feel uncomfortable when I look at the news and much is said about other people's miseries. Like they have the monopoly of pain in life. I have always thought that all of us have miseries in our lives, except that perhaps the difference lies in perception. We all have the same basic needs, food and shelter. Many claim that there is hunger in a particular place in the world, and that this need to be addressed. But I see hunger everywhere, not in massive scales but still, hunger. I have personally experienced putting together coins to buy a decent meal, or walked from the office to home just to save the fare for food. When I tell this story about me, my friends laugh and tell me I exagerrate. I don't. In the province, there are children who tap on glass windows of fastfood places to ask for food, even the chicken bones the customers leave on their plates, that would be enough. Or even my 'hilot', she scrapes for food working on menial jobs here and there. Shelter is also a problem of so many. Some live in structures just enough to shield them from the heat or the rains or the cold at night. Others, they just find one comfy corner and use cardboards for their beds along the streets. We live in a low-cost housing unit we took out a loan for, it is quite small, but it is enough to get us by. 

I have a difficult time taking in the rants and complaints of some group, some tribe, some race, whatever, that they experience the worst of life. They have been discriminated upon, neglected for so long by their government, like they have bore the burden of the universe all their lives when in fact, something has been done, something was already given. I am witness to some of that, resources poured into projects to benefit those who claim that they are uncared for. Yet, nothing was done to sustain the projects by the beneficiaries, or perhaps the funds went somewhere else, I don't know. 

I find it so dramatic, these rants and complaints, that at times, I talk back to the post on social media and say, 'well, do something for yourselves, my goodness' or 'ooohhh pleeeeaaaseeee'. I know it is rude, to be cynical about the plight of those who claim pitiful circumstances. And those who write about the stuff, goodness, they are abroad, they hold well-paying jobs, yet they write like they are in the experience. I roll my eyes in irritation of their hypocrisy. If you want to better the plight of your brothers who you say are in dire need of help and attention, then do something, for God's sake. No matter how small your efforts, it will make a difference, you know. Rather than looking at all these misery from the outside looking in, why don't you get in the damn box and do something?