20 All We Take for Granted
I was really feeling good about how things were falling into place. And as another of those pieces of good fortune fell into its divine slot, I heard that I would be transported between hospitals in an actual ambulance.
Now an ambulance is something most of us would take for granted. But did you know that a lot of hospitals throughout South America, and dozens of other countries worldwide, don’t even have one ambulance? People routinely arrive at hospitals, hemorrhaging, in taxis or private vehicles.
Why do I highlight this fact? Well, to illustrate something that we North Americans often find revelatory when we travel abroad—the lack of basic necessities available in other countries--things that we tend to just take for granted.
My vocation has offered me the opportunity to travel to over 50 countries, and I have lived in over a dozen outside North America for extended periods, so what I mention above is something I’ve known for years now from first-hand experience. Nevertheless each new experience reinforces to me: How very well taken care of we are in North America. And by contrast, how much the dear citizens of the majority of countries in the world have to cope with in their day-to-day existence.
In fact, that’s one of the very reasons that I do what I do, and the reason I have chosen my line of work, with Family Care Foundation. But that’s another story.
Now an ambulance is something most of us would take for granted. But did you know that a lot of hospitals throughout South America, and dozens of other countries worldwide, don’t even have one ambulance? People routinely arrive at hospitals, hemorrhaging, in taxis or private vehicles.
Why do I highlight this fact? Well, to illustrate something that we North Americans often find revelatory when we travel abroad—the lack of basic necessities available in other countries--things that we tend to just take for granted.
My vocation has offered me the opportunity to travel to over 50 countries, and I have lived in over a dozen outside North America for extended periods, so what I mention above is something I’ve known for years now from first-hand experience. Nevertheless each new experience reinforces to me: How very well taken care of we are in North America. And by contrast, how much the dear citizens of the majority of countries in the world have to cope with in their day-to-day existence.
In fact, that’s one of the very reasons that I do what I do, and the reason I have chosen my line of work, with Family Care Foundation. But that’s another story.
Labels: broken leg; ambulance; take for granted; family care foundation
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