Think you're having a bad day?

Do you think you're having a bad day? Do you feel like life is dealing you a poor hand? Think twice. It has been several weeks since the devastating earthquake in Haiti, and the people are still suffering. Many Americans are asking, "Why should we give aid to this country?" This has been a hot topic in many conversations. There have been comments such as, 'Where were other countries when we needed help with Katrina?", and "Our own country is a suffering!" This make people think twice about giving to those in need. Yes it is true, we did not have countries swarming to help the United States after 9/11 or Hurricane Katrina, but weren't we, as American children taught the golden rule? Treat others as you would like to be treated.

As Americans, we are having a rough time in our country right now. However, there are many Americans who are capable of giving, and are financially able to do so. Haiti is a poor country. Many people there worked for a dollar a day. When times are that rough here, we as Americans will have the opportunity to complain. Yes, our country is having economic hardships, but even those who are struggling are not anywhere near the conditions of Haiti prior to the earthquake. Those people are living in makeshift box shelters, and don't have food, water, or medicine that they need. Even here in Chicago, our homeless people on the street beg for food, but there are people in America that can donate to them. They have places for shelter, people donate to the homeless, we have soup kitcjens. Haiti has no means of donating to themselves. I can only imagine what it it is like to be there with the struggles that they are facing.

When the going gets tough, the tough get going. Much of America has. They donated there time, money, and services to help out. We think we have it so bad here in the states, but we as a country could have survived this earthquake without the support of other countries. Haiti cannot do that. For that reason, don't you think that we should be grateful that we can give our help? Americans need to think twice before complaining about our hard times in the United States, and start thinking about how lucky we really are.

Photo taken by Gary Moore - realworldimage.com