Thankgiving, a day late
Oct. 10th, 2006 11:34 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
eveglassThe trivia of my day is not particularly interesting. I spent some time at Massey catching up with old friends, walked with Andrew R. up to Andrew C.'s place, but promptly walked back because Andrew C. was feeling under the weather, spent some time at Indigo and discovered a new Neil Gaiman book (Fragile Things, an anthology, which I unfortunately can't afford at the moment -- d'oh!), and had dinner with my dad.
Right. So, trivia out of the way, I wanted to talk about thanksgiving and things I'm thankful for.
I am, of course, thankful for many things. I have a loving family, caring and interesting friends, a versatile and intelligent mind, and many other things too numerous to list. Everything I said last year is still relevant. But today I would like to focus on one thing in particular: my material situation.
Now, I don't mean by "material situation" that I'm thankful for my teddy bears, my book collection, or my laptop (though I am thankful for all those things). I'm thinking more generally.
One thing that I have come to appreciate over the course of my history degree and my participation in the SCA is that I am living in one of the most prosperous countries, in one of the most prosperous times, in all of recorded history. Almost everyone in Canada has access to running water, indoor plumbing, electric power, cheap food, paved roads, health care, and other aspects of infrastructure we take for granted on a daily basis. Yet until very recently in history (and even currently, in many parts of the world), these things did not exist. I am extremely fortunate to be able to take them for granted.
Furthermore, the longer I am out of high school, the more I realize how priviledged I am, in particular. My family's means are such that I will never worry about where my next meal is coming from or how to pay the rent. I have finished eighteen years of excellent education without debt. I can afford to take my time in my job-hunt to find something right, instead of taking the first thing that comes my way in order to make ends meet. While there are undoubtedly people richer than my family, we are still in a small minority of the population in terms of material wealth.
Occasionally, I feel guilty for this. I did nothing to deserve this good fortune, other than being born at the right time, in the right place, to the right people. There are many people equally deserving who do not have as happy a lot in life. All I can hope is that I am worthy of the gifts fate or fortune has chosen to bestow upon me.
So... to whatever deity is in charge of matching souls to bodies, thank you.
Right. So, trivia out of the way, I wanted to talk about thanksgiving and things I'm thankful for.
I am, of course, thankful for many things. I have a loving family, caring and interesting friends, a versatile and intelligent mind, and many other things too numerous to list. Everything I said last year is still relevant. But today I would like to focus on one thing in particular: my material situation.
Now, I don't mean by "material situation" that I'm thankful for my teddy bears, my book collection, or my laptop (though I am thankful for all those things). I'm thinking more generally.
One thing that I have come to appreciate over the course of my history degree and my participation in the SCA is that I am living in one of the most prosperous countries, in one of the most prosperous times, in all of recorded history. Almost everyone in Canada has access to running water, indoor plumbing, electric power, cheap food, paved roads, health care, and other aspects of infrastructure we take for granted on a daily basis. Yet until very recently in history (and even currently, in many parts of the world), these things did not exist. I am extremely fortunate to be able to take them for granted.
Furthermore, the longer I am out of high school, the more I realize how priviledged I am, in particular. My family's means are such that I will never worry about where my next meal is coming from or how to pay the rent. I have finished eighteen years of excellent education without debt. I can afford to take my time in my job-hunt to find something right, instead of taking the first thing that comes my way in order to make ends meet. While there are undoubtedly people richer than my family, we are still in a small minority of the population in terms of material wealth.
Occasionally, I feel guilty for this. I did nothing to deserve this good fortune, other than being born at the right time, in the right place, to the right people. There are many people equally deserving who do not have as happy a lot in life. All I can hope is that I am worthy of the gifts fate or fortune has chosen to bestow upon me.
So... to whatever deity is in charge of matching souls to bodies, thank you.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2006-10-11 04:21 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-11 04:26 am (UTC)Hugs!
Fragile Things
Date: 2006-10-12 03:37 am (UTC)I think I was #1 on the reseve list. I got, read, and returned last week. Yummy, although I had read/heard much of it already.
Re: Fragile Things
Date: 2006-10-12 03:40 am (UTC)Re: Fragile Things
Date: 2006-10-12 04:00 am (UTC)Re: Fragile Things
Date: 2006-10-12 04:05 am (UTC)Re: Fragile Things
Date: 2006-10-12 02:18 pm (UTC)Hee. I am an international library promoter! F34r my library mojo, yo!
Re: Fragile Things
Date: 2006-10-13 12:43 am (UTC)It's odd that, while I have used ILL many times with academic libraries, I have never considered using them at public libraries.