There's Always Someone Who is Not as Lucky as You!

I think sometimes we have a tendency to complain too much. At least, I know I do. Whether it's slow sales, grumpy customers, or grumpy spouses, we sometimes get caught up in our own problems and forget about the folks around us who have it worse than we do.

A good example of this happened to me over the last 2 weeks. As you probably know, the East Coast was visited by a category 1 hurricane a couple of weeks back. We're not really use to this type of weather in the Northeast, and so its arrival was heralded with some trepidation. We made preparations as best we could; tied down everything that needed tied down, brought in anything from outside that could turn into a wind powered missile, and made sure we had plenty of wine on hand to "weather" the storm.

As it turned out, the storm packed quite a wallop when it came to rain. We were very lucky that the winds were not as strong as predicted. The damage, however, was done by the heavy rains. Areas flooded that had never done so before. I don't know what we find so fascinating about floods, but there's just something in us that tends to make us sit back with jaw dropping amazement at what nature can do.

After it was all over, we ended up with no more than a bit of water under the garage door, and a small leak in the chimney. I wasn't too happy about this, because we had just paid to have that small leak fixed last year. Apparently it was back to torment us once again.

Before I had a chance to call my roofer and give him what for, I found out that our dear friends who live next to a creek down by the Delaware River, lost absolutely everything in the ensuing flood. They own an old, 3 story stone house dating back from when their property had a mill on the premises. They've been flooded before, but never more than the first floor of their home. Apparently one wall of the nearby canal gave way, creating a wave of water from the Delaware backward up the creek. It came so fast and furious; they barely had a chance to escape with their lives. The water reached the ceiling of their second floor, wiping out everything. They lost not only their possessions in the house, but also all their automobiles, their barns, and their small cottage. He described the first floor as looking as if it was "covered with 3 feet of chocolate pudding, only it smelled like sewage and dead fish."

The next time I feel like complaining about slow sales, or a bit of water leaking in the chimney, I'll think twice...and count my blessings.