The Wire
I just Netflixed season 1 of HBO’s The Wire. AMAZING.
It depicts the life of street-level heroin delers in the ghettos of Baltimore, and the challenge they pose to the corrupt, yet persistent police.
I’m a firm believer that most of the PROBLEMS we think we have, are nothing special. Most of us have NO PROBLEMS. Watching this series you learn about people who have REAL PROBLEMS.
No positive family or social structure. No money (for everyone but the top-level dealers). Major physical and psychological addictions. Graphic violence. Little concept of what opportunities could exist outside the ghetto.
Constant FEAR. Constant TERROR.
REAL PROBLEMS.
Absolutely NO MONEY. People trying to KILL YOU.
REAL PROBLEMS.
Makes my own “problems” seem petty. Stress about my next presentation. Stress about how my next performance review will go down. Stress about how customers will react to my next “pitch.”
NOT REAL PROBLEMS.
These are not problems. These are choices I made. These are chances to learn and grow. My life doesn’t hang in the balance. Boy am I blessed.
Didn’t someone famous once say, “I’ve got 99 problems and a $&*#* ain’t one of them…”
Special K
March 5, 2007 at 3:23 am