For Release November 21, 2000

AGRI-VIEWS
by Chuck Otte, Geary County Extension Agent

I’ve been on the road quite a bit the past couple of weeks. While spending a lot of time traveling has its downside, I also find it a good way to get in a little quiet thinking time. I also have found that the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving should be spent thinking. Contrary to what you may have seen on certain billboards, and elsewhere, Thanksgiving is not a time that we honor a turkey. It is a time to give thanks. Or have we gotten so busy that we’ve forgotten that.

I was visiting with someone last week who took great pleasure in rattling off a long list of things that were annoying him right now. Anyway, I assume it was pleasure based on the amount of time he was spending on it. As I listened to that laundry list of gripes, it occurred to me that virtually everything on there shouldn’t be an irritant. It should be something to give thanks for. Let me give you some examples.

First of all was the current presidential election situation. You’ve all heard the complaints and gripes. Now stop and think about it. Democracy, or at least the version we practice here in the United States, is working. It may not be working as fast as we’d like it and the outcome may not be exactly what we desire, but the process is working. There hasn’t been a military coup with some general taking over control of the country. So we should be thankful that we can live in a country where the process can work!

Next came the complaint about the price of gasoline. I took a look at what they were driving and saw why they were concerned. I resisted the urge to ask him when he last had to walk somewhere because he had neither a vehicle or fuel to put into it. When was the last time you could not fill up your tank with gas? For me it was the mid 1970s when we had the first energy crisis. Sure, fuel may be expensive by our standards and what we’ve been accustomed to. But you can still fill up your vehicle, if you want to, at any one of many stores that sell gasoline. We have such affluence that we can afford to complain about the cost of gasoline to put in a vehicle.

Then we got to the price of food. I don’t remember exactly what product he was complaining about, my attention was starting to wander, but it was too "darn" high. I shook my head and asked him when he last went without a meal because he had no food and no money. This person hadn’t missed any more meals than I have, trust me. We walk into the grocery store and can choose from 50 brands or styles of potato chips. In other countries they’d be happy to just have some potatoes. If we don’t like the prices or selection in one store, we have other stores we can go to. Yet with all this, we still complain.

A very wise older friend of mine, who has been fortunate to travel globally once made a very good statement. He said, paraphrasing slightly, that some of the biggest problems this country faced was that most of them had never gone hungry and most of them have never gone through a life altering or life threatening experience. We have become a country that has gone beyond adequacy and into excess. We have what we went, when we want it. In some cases, instant gratification isn’t soon enough. When you’ve always had what you’ve always wanted as soon as you’ve wanted it, is it any wonder that everything is taken for granted?

In the short span of time that’s left between now and Thanksgiving, take a little time to step back away from it all. Read about those war torn or hungry countries and think, what if that was us? Look at all that you have, and instead of thinking about what you don’t have, think about how fortunate you are to have as much as you do. We live in a great country at a wonderful time. Just take a look around be thankful you’re here!

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