Let's Help Get Rid Of Those Lines!

Back in the twenties was the Great Depression where soup kitchens abounded. Lines of people waiting for food snaked around blocks for hours if not sometimes days. Thousands of men lined up in desperation for some sort of employment ... anything that could put food on their family's table. Across the oceans, we see thousands of people in what sometimes appears to be God forgotten countries waiting in lines for fresh water and a handful of gruel. Throughout the world and throughout the ages desperate people have lined up for all sorts of things other than food such as shelter, medical treatment, safety … you name it. The one thing that connects all of these individuals of the masses in these lines is one word … Desperation. Each of them is desperate for survival.

This weekend, thousands of people in North American will be lining up for something other than food, shelter, medical treatment, safety … They will not be desperate in that their lives will be at risk nor that their survival would depend on it.

On this coming Friday, the Sony Playstation 3 will be hitting the store shelves. On this coming Sunday, the Nintendo Wii will be out for sale. It is being forecasted that thousands have already been waiting in line for days in order to scoop up one of the hottest presents of this Christmas season. Yes, these individuals in line may be desperate; they may think that their life is depending on the acquisition of their choice but they will not be fighting for their survival unless they get trampled once the doors open.

Times have most definitely changed. Our affluence and our taste for the acquisition of material wealth has definitely become our focus. Maybe this Christmas season, we should focus on the people in line for their survival … This should be our reason for the season.

Times around here sure have changed; our affluence has done that. Let’s hope that one day, times for people in places such as Africa, Haiti and parts of Europe and the streets of our major cities will change as well.

Let’s get rid of those lines.