Bailey+L’s+2015+OpEd+Article

WASTING. FIRST WORLD PROBLEMS.

The wasting time, the wasting water, the kids in third world countries wasting away. With this assignment came many nights of trying to figure out what I was going to write about. I wasn’t sure what bugged me or got me fired up. I was searching for the “perfect” topic. When Mr. Fitz said to write about ANYTHING, I got so overwhelmed. What the heck should I write about? Coffee? ASB? But then I realized that this “perfect” topic isn’t perfect at all. It’s going to be the complete opposite. When I was spending all that time thinking of what I wanted to write about, I was actually proving my point with the topic. I would later realize is wasting. Americans have running water, yet we complain about a  like “Smart Water” leaving a weird taste in your mouth or “Aquafina” tasting disgusting. “I prefer Fiji.” Some people might say. A lot of us go through our day complaining about all of this, not even realizing what we are doing. We are wasting. We are wasting time by complaining. We are wasting water by being careless and thinking “Oh well, we have all the water in the world.” I mentioned before that my topic is not perfect. That’s because what I am writing about is far from it. I can say that I’m not perfect. My writing is far from perfect. Kid’s life’s in third world countries? Far from perfect. Writing this, I’ve actually learned something new. There is actually a disease called wasting syndrome. This is when muscle and fat tissue “waste” away. This is also called malnutrition. Kids in these third world countries like Africa, Asia, and South-Central Asia suffer from this all the time. “According to the latest UN estimates, an estimated 52 million children under 5 years of age, or 8%, were diagnosed with wasting syndrome or malnutrition in 2011.” Since this study came out, the numbers have significantly grown. It’s not what Americans aren’t doing that I’m annoyed with. It’s what we are doing. We spend our day wasting things. It could be water, food, or time. Kids in third world countries are drinking every drop they can get their hands on, they are eating every crumb that falls from their hands, they are using every second to stay alive and support each other. I can say I sometimes do these things. I’m an A merican and sometimes I waste things. Especially with school, I will waste my time. But I’ve chosen a new path. I am now funding a child in Africa. His name is Sagesse. He’s a six year old boy who loves any sport. He’s the cutest boy and only wants to have a chance to have a bright future. Americans have an advantage of going to school, having clean water, and having more than we need. So why not make a change, instead of wasting the time? The video we watched in Kindred’s hit home with me. When he says “we are broke, but not broken.” That’s the kids that don’t have dinner most of the week or month. They smile. They laugh still. Americans need to stop wasting a ll this time! We are so overdrawn with everything that we have too much. So we start complaining. We should be so thankful that we want to give others in the world something that they can be thankful for. Stop and watch the video I put below. Still think the time you’re wasting by complaining is a larger problem?

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“Where you stand depends on where you sit." -Nelson Mandela