And the Winter Olympics begin.
This year in Sochi, Russia...and yes...admittedly, I had to look it up on the map.
And so far...some of the most newsworthy items have been vaguely to not-at-all about the sports.
First there was the news trickling out weeks before about the poisoning of the stray dog population in the city. Apparently, the dogs live much like the cat population in Rome. Prior to the games everybody fed them and they were just part of the charm (?) of Sochi. Then officials decided that they had to "brighten up" the place.
Mayor Ballard tried to do pretty much the same with our homeless in Indy during the hosting of Superbowl XLVI (without the poison pellets)...so I guess we shouldn't be too shocked. And I don't know how it played out in Sochi...but in Indy...PETA was decidedly quiet. And some of those homeless folks were pretty furry.
Then the caterwaul as the Olympic Village was clean but austere. This must have been a real shock to the senses. People were suddenly tweeting things like the following
(I am not making this up)
"The water is yellow!!!"
"I have three lightbulbs...will trade them for a door handle...no seriously."
"No shower curtains to be found :("
You can't flush paper down the toilet!"
"There is nothing in the rooms. No pictures on the wall. No TV. Nothing."
Now according to the Great Gazoogle...the lovely urine tinted water is more than likely from dissolved minerals or bad pipes.
Either way...avoiding it would be my choice. But then, after all the pre-games terrorism chatter...I feel much the same about the Games themselves.
Then there is the whole Russian Anti-Gay thing...which is definitely a Strike Two as far as I'm concerned. Oh...and you might want to look up the origin of the Olympic Games given to us by the Greeks (which had no problem with...well...GREEK)
And if you haven't checked out Canada's response to the Russians on the whole gay thing...you simply have to!
http://youtu.be/n4CEaoNADiY
Lighten up, Vladimir.
All of the "OMG they don't have..." has been pretty entertaining, though.
As Americans we tend to take a LOT for granted. Even our crummy little no-tell motels have pictures on the wall and a shower curtain....lol...
So imagine their surprise to find this
And I am betting the Gideons didn't hit the room before they came either.
Not Hilton or Hyatt or The Trump Tower...but as rooms go...I have had to stay in worse. A little motel in Muskogee, Oklahoma immediately comes to mind. (It is just across 69 from Dunkin Doughnuts in case you happen to be headed that way...and want to avoid it) It was late and we were about to drop and thankful we had brought our own quilts...and the shower...???
To quote my (then) 16 year old son....
"Not Happening"
We showered later in a truck stop...and it was much nicer. LOL!
No mints on the pillow...but it was a place to drop for a few hours sleep.
But I digress...
We have become so pampered. So spoiled. We don't stop to realize that there are many people in the world who would consider our way of life...the things we take for granted...luxury. Wall to wall carpeting...lighting...A/C or Heat...endless supply of clean water at our fingertips...availability of food-over abundance of food...of almost any kind...so much we have to actively "diet"...and if that doesn't scream FIRST WORLD PROBLEM I don't know what does.
Sochi...where the average income monthly is less than 800 dollars US. And the very poor...much much less.
So excuse me when I have to stifle a small chuckle at your outrage. Perhaps when you get back to The States for a brief while you will appreciate...really appreciate...the light-bulbs...the toilets that flush and do accept toilet paper...the door handles...the shower curtains...the filtered hot and cold water that is not yellow.
One can hope.
And an aside, as I recently received correspondence from Amnesty International about a young man now being held in Sochi
(A.I is a group that Bill and I supported and were involved with throughout our marriage)
The young man's crime.
"Profanity"
And even now...sitting in a jail in Sochi...he argues that he has
"Freedom of Speech"
"Rights"
And even though I am sure that he will be released and sent back home...somebody need to take him aside long enough to explain that what we enjoy in The States doesn't transfer with him to Russia.
In fact...we might all take a good long look at what life would be like in a country in which Freedom of Speech was actually prohibited.
Because if a bit of cursing can get you jailed...think about what speaking out against your government...like so many have grown so fond of...would get you.
And instead of the endless bitching and bickering... be grateful to live in American for a moment.
