People

People have got me thinking lately. There are so many people living so many lives. Good people. Bad people. Rich people. Poor people. People from all over the world.  So many different belief systems. So alike and yet so different in so many ways. What’s really got me thinking about them is this controversy over trophy hunting and the death of Cecil the Lion. It’s a tragedy on so many levels. I don’t agree with hunting at all. Unless you are hunting for survival because you would die without having to hunt, then I am sorry but I don’t agree with it. I don’t think it’s a sport. Tracking and killing an animal to mount it’s head on your wall? Sure, you may eat the meat, but parts of the animal go to waste. Unless you live in remote wilderness and use every part of the animal. But that is different.

This post isn’t about hunting though. It’s about people. People and what they believe that they are entitled to. People who make hundreds of thousands of dollars tend to live a good life. It’s debatable as to whether those lives are happy or not, but they tend to be able to live comfortably. Many don’t think of the waste they produce. Or, if they have children, the people they’re creating. Now I know that not all children who have parents with money are spoiled brats. But there are those out there that are. Sometimes it’s not even the children who are brats, but the parents. Then again, there are people who are less fortunate who don’t dwell on their situations and make the best of all they have. On the same token, there are those less fortunate who sit around blaming society, their parents, or whomever for what they lack. What is it about the world today that has created such beings?

Why does humanity seem to lack the actual human part of the word? There are people out their who exemplify the very essence of being humane. Those selfless beings that give what they can and do no harm, never asking for anything in advance. I am aware that these people exist and that there are many of them. But lately I seem to notice the ones who aren’t so…pleasant. The ones who lack a certain patience. Manners. Kindness. Decorum. Basic human interactions. Has this happened because in this world of computers and smartphones, iPads and tablets that we have lost the art of being connected? I feel like it is. The more I find myself on my phone, the more I forget about what’s going on around me. That’s a scary thing. Being so “connected” with technology draws me away from what is important. It makes me numb. It makes me crazy. I start to lose more of myself the more I engage in those glowing screens.

Thankfully, I still know how to carry on a conversation with someone when they are face to face with me. I can still write a sentence with actual words and not shortened letters that would make no sense if I wrote them in a letter or birthday card. Thankfully. I can also live with being attached to my phone. Secretly (or not so secretly) I sometimes am relieved when I forget my phone at home. I don’t always text message people back right away and I know it makes them crazy. But you what makes me crazy? The fifteen messages people send you if you don’t answer right away. Chill already! If it’s that important, maybe you should call me. Otherwise. I am not an on-call emergency doctor. I don’t need to answer the second I get  your message. Yes, I will get back to you. Eventually.

But this entitlement to having everything we want and having it NOW is ridiculous. No one is entitled to anything. People need to relearn patience, hard work, and how to NOT always get what they want. Because sometimes, when you don’t get what you want, something better comes your way. Other times it doesn’t, and that should be okay too.

People of all walks of life would benefit from being less entitled and more aware. Aware of what? Simple. Aware of everything.