Padded Seats

Have you ever sat in a classroom or in a lecture and felt the urge? You know the one; the one my grandmother still refers to as "breaking wind." We all have had that moment at one time or another, some of us more than others. Maybe it depends on the day, maybe it's a usual thing for you. What do you do? I once had a family friend tell me that if you are sitting in a padded chair, "just let it out." Theoretically, the padding of the chair should absorb the sound and hopefully the smell. I'm not going to lie, it's worked for me. It can be a lifesaver if you have the urge, can't hold it in and/or might be in a situation where it is more than inappropriate. I don't ever take the padding of my chair seriously or appreciate it until it's not there.

This is exactly what we do in everyday life, we take things for granted until they are not there. Taking things for granted is one of the most basic human errors, I think. We don't appreciate people until they're gone or until something spurs us on to miss them, and many times, it's too late. We take our own lives for granted. It's just so easy!

I take my fortunes for granted every day. I try not to, but again, it's natural human error. Whether we're programmed that way or not, we do it. Recently our housing costs were raised more than 11% by our school. Needless to say, the students (I being one of them), were outraged. But this was all put into perspective by three other students that live in my building; Wonduk, Nayoung, and Ji-Tae. They found themselves in my apartment explaining their fears to me about this rent increase. As American students, we can take out additional loans to help us pay for our school, but these students cannot do such a thing. Being from Korea, they cannot take out loans from our government. They and their families that are over here working on their degrees, learning in a new language, are supported by other families in their churches back in Korea. They depend on these other people to help them in their education and in their ministries.

A rent increase of 11% is huge for these students. First, they have to ask for these funds from families back home who do not have much to begin with. Second, their money is worth far less than ours, less than half of what our American dollar is worth. So, for them, this isn't just about $100 extra a month, it's several hundred for them.

All this being said, I can't take what I have for granted. I'm not happy to pay more money in such a tough economy, but who is? In the end, it's only money. Only cotton and paper and fibers, dyed green to represent what someone has. I don't have more than $15 in my bank account at the moment, but I have so much more than many who have thousands of dollars in their accounts.