There is nothing so infuriating to my liberal mind than FWPs–First World Problems–and this week I have been beset with them.
Why do I find them so infuriating? Because with each FWP, with each annoyance, with each disruption to my life and my regular routine, as I climb the mountain of frustration, as I reach the pinnacle, the apex of exasperation, I am also acutely aware of how lucky I am.
I know that, should I step away from the desk in my home office, take my iPad and a fresh cup of coffee out onto the deck and wirelessly tippy-tap my woes out into the social medium, my friends (who are also online) will rally to my side, nod sagaciously (albeit virtually), and say “There, there” in their myriad, understanding ways. I also know that my rant, were it to come before the eyes of someone outside my tiny, privileged world, someone who had real problems, it would be met with gaping incredulity.
- I have a connection to the internet.
- I have a handful of devices with which I can connect to the internet.
- I can connect to the internet wirelessly.
- I can connect from my home.
- I have a deck on which I can take a break from my job.
- I have a job I can do from my home.
- I have a job.
- I have a home.
- I have fresh coffee.
- I have water. In my home.
- I have food. In my home.
- I have a loving spouse.
- I am healthy.
So, as the top of my brain is screaming because the latest upgrade to Widget-Master 19 has completely destroyed my DirectAccess Connectivity Assistance Service, thus forcing me to lose two whole days’ worth of work as I re-install and re-configure everything on my workstation, as my inner Time Management Center goes ballistic because the weeds in the back garden are growing faster than I can find time to pull them, and as my personal I-Want-It-All-Now nodes are confounded by rain (no drives in the convertible), the rest of me, my deep-brain reality receptors, they know that it’s all hogwash; it’s all just silliness and maundering.
In short, I’ve got it good, and I’m going to shut up, now.
k
Unraveling Time
Desert Wind
Ploughman's Son
Ploughman King
The Year the Cloud Fell
The Spirit of Thunder
Shadow of the Storm
The Cry of the Wind
Beneath a Wounded Sky
Cryptogenesis: A Memoir
Kurt R.A. Giambastiani 
I enjoyed that “I have fresh coffee.” made the list.
LikeLike
Often, I find that it really _is_ the little things.
LikeLike
Here’s the thing… not every problem we encounter necessarily must be tempered with the understanding of there being worse problems in the world.
There is a quote by Mark Twain I have always loved for it’s simple truth: “Nothing that grieves us can be called little: by the eternal laws of proportion a child’s loss of a doll and a king’s loss of a crown are events of the same size.”
Yes, when I get mud splashed on me by a passing car, at least I don’t have cancer, at least I’m not a human trafficking/forced prostitution victim, at least a meteor isn’t falling out of the sky to devastate the planet. But ya know what? I’m still covered with muddy water and I’m still having a bad day.
So yeah, “First world problems” may be nice to poke fun at, a nice high-horse to hold your nose in the air and tell other people how much worse they could have it… but we can only live our own lives, which means we really can only know our own problems. We can sympathize and help and support other people in their problems – their sometimes far worse, far more fundamental problems – but that doesn’t actually erase our experiences. It doesn’t remove them from being what we have to deal with.
I may not think it appropriate to *complain* about my “first world problems” to people who have life much, much worse than I do. But I don’t think it appropriate to dismiss anyone’s problems on that basis alone, either.
So yeah. Sometimes you just need to wallow a bit in order to get over things. Sometimes you just need to say t’hell with the day I’m having coffee icecream in my pajamas and watching movies in bed today. And sometimes maybe we really do need to look at ourselves and say “self, stop whining.”
(hug) I’m sorry you had a bad day.
LikeLike
It is the gratitude for what I do NOT have on my doorstep that helps pull me up out of the quagmire of little things.
And while a child’s doll and a king’s crown may affect the two the same, I like to think I’m a little more advanced than I was at the age of five.
As an adult, if I were to wail about my lost Dalek Plush-Toy, you’d think me balmy.
LikeLike
Well yes, how you react to it can be viewed as ‘childish’ but the feeling itself should not be condemned. Now if you want to apply FWPs just to the utterly overblown and immature reactions of some people to problems, I’ll heartily agree. 😉
LikeLike
I think we First Worlders tend to overstate our case, and each time we encourage ourselves in this, we remove ourselves a little bit more from the things that are truly important. Keeping things in perspective, being grateful for the good things I have, and having empathy for those less fortunate than myself are critical elements in my personal serenity.
LikeLike
I don’t mean to say they aren’t. As I said, being empathetic and supportive of those who truly are the worse off among us is very important, I just don’t like people condemning others for having maybe not the worst problems in the world. We all have our own issues to deal with, and being grateful that yours aren’t the worst there are doesn’t always address the ones you do have. Anyway… it isn’t really worth an argument. I wasn’t trying to say the way you dealt with it was wrong or anything, I just wanted to point out that feeling bad about having something disrupt your day isn’t always an exercise in self-pity.
LikeLike
I’ll double-check, but I don’t think I condemned others. I believe I mentioned only my reactions, and why it sometimes makes me crazy. If I did otherwise, it was not my intention.
LikeLike
How about I just say I clearly misinterpreted the tone of your post upon my original reading and duck out now with what I have left of my face…
LikeLike
There’s absolutely no requirement to agree with me, here. Civil disagreement is always acceptable on this blog. I appreciate your taking the time to state your views. I’m sure you’re not alone in your opinion.
LikeLike
Oh, and as a writer, I take reader’s misinterpretation as a fault on _my_ part.
LikeLike
I love this rant. That’s all. Just love it:).
LikeLike
:()
LikeLike