Why are we the way we are?

After picking up my daughter...

While driving in my car to my house I see the vagabond asking for money , a young guy, as young as the one who just graduated from high school, with his bare feet, the clothes pretty dirty he looks at me and waves his paper cup, I say No. Then I look forward and I see this car crossing the red traffic light, and then I think: "this people just don't love themselves!" I keep on going, I stop at the next red light and at my right I see this kid jumping in the front seat of the car.

Getting almost home, a group of teenagers leaning in their cars stare at me as if they've never seen a woman in their short life. Finally I get home and the windows vibrate at the astounding rhythm of the neighbor's music.

I turn on the TV and all I see is violence, sex, unfaithfulness.

After dinner I wash the dishes, bathe my daughter and send her to sleep, my day ends.

It's already dawn, on my way to work I see the newspaper salesman, standing up the whole day under the sun, sometimes under the rain, to earn just a "few bucks". Nobody wants to let me pass, cars driving in opposite direction to avoid traffic jam, not one police man at the sight. Finally I get to work: "good morning", "hi", "how are you?". I get to my desk, in the newspaper: "A total of 6 car accidents taking the lives of 11 people in just one day", "A man commits suicide after killing his wife and her lover", "A boy was found dead with multiple bruises on his body", concert of famous artist, "Fraud in well-known company", "$10,000 on drugs confiscated by police"...etc, etc.

In the office, that woman at the phone smiles, is she in love? The other one is reading the newspaper and speaking out loud, who is he talking to? Other employee is working as if he had to finish the work of two days in two hours. The day goes on, people are talking in a low voice so nobody can hear, I see sad and serious faces and others seem to be always happy. People drinking coffee to release the stress, the other is complaining because the paper got jammed in the photocopier. At the end of the day a huge mass of employees are waiting at the exit ready to go, outside at the parking lot everybody start their cars and go as if somebody was going to pay the first one to get home.

And again, at the road the vagabond asking for money, the one that crosses on a red light.

In what world are we living!?

You hear that person telling his child he loves him and hugs him, and when he gets into the car accelerates without thinking he has a child at the back seat. Some people tell you not to smoke because it's harmful, and at the end of the week they go and poison their bodies with alcohol. Others tell you to organize your life and their houses are a mess, how many women say that don't have money to pay their phone bill but visit every month the beauty salon to get their hair and nails done. People say that they can barely support a living but technically live at the mall. Many people tell you to live your life day by day; others tell you to keep present your future.

A kid can barely walk because he's overweight, exhausted hurries to go sit down, hm! And then his mother says that her kid is just big, and then you hear her talking in shock about child abuse.

We are so into our every-day routine that we take for granted what happens in our surroundings, criminality, abuse, prejudice, evil. Why do we insist on keeping this kind of lifestyle? Why not to wake up every morning and think: "Today I'm going to try to do things the right way, to be a good human being, better than yesterday". How many people live their lives focusing only in their material ambitions and forget to live the present time, when they realize how much time they've lost is too late.

Why not driving with courtesy without hurries, after all, it could cost us our life. Get to work and mind our own business not every body else's, without envy, hard feelings, live our own lives. And then dedicate quality time at home, with our family. Teach our children real values, to not to be afraid to be weak, not to be proud for being strong, to laugh if he wants to, to cry if he feels like it, not to be embarrassed of expressing his feelings, to earn the things before receiving them, to fight for it, don't give him everything. Why not better stay quiet when bad critics come to your mind.

How many times we complain about the life we have? In such a hurry, because the phone won't stop ringing at the office, because it starts to rain when you're about to go out, because you got to rush to pick up the kids, because "look at the time I haven't eaten yet".

How many times we thank God? Because we have a car to go places, because we have a roof to protect us from sun and bad weather, because we can eat every day even when we're not hungry. Because we have good health and are able to go to work. Because we've got a variety of fun stuff to do to not get bored.

How many times we thank God for life itself?

And yet I still ask myself...

Why are we the way we are?

By Sandra Falcon