First world vs Third World - inspired to do good

There have been things going on in my world that are so totally first world problems.

Things like the frustrating wait in the supermarket on Saturday or Sunday afternoons trying to get the fastest check out operator and still getting stuck for 30 minutes while your ice cream starts to get soggy and then leaves a melted trail from the trolley when you put it on the conveyor belt to get scanned.

Or how about the time when someone hit the mini electricity box in our street with a car? The electricity company sent people to repair it and they just cut the power to the box and therefore probably 100 or so houses without giving any warning. This caused absolute outrage in some people. They were angry that they had no prior notification and that they couldn't save the document that they had been working on. They swore at the electricity people because "I work at home and you have no right to turn off the power without giving us notice." Of course when the person was told it would take about two hours to repair the problem, it seemed the world was going to end. I wonder how that person coped when the power was actually off for about 3 hours?

I can understand, as I work at home and had a sick child with me that day, but would they have preferred the electricity box to have blown up at some point? As that was a very likely scenario.

Don't get me wrong, I wasn't happy with the situation either. After all I couldn't have a cuppa. However, we are lucky enough to have a gas stove so I boiled water in a saucepan. But the reactions were so extreme I got to thinking about our first world priorities and problems.

Are we so enamored with and dependent on our comforts of life that a little hitch causes a major issue in our lives? I'm guessing for many of us the answer is a resounding Yes! The thing is, those little upsets, those things are really so meaningless in the grand scheme of life. Take for example what some of the bloggers I read have been doing to raise awareness and funds for others.

Image from http://www.business2community.com/social-media/14-trends-of-social-media-culture-0136261

Those of you have have been out of the blogosphere or not on Twitter for about a week may not know that Eden Riley from Edenland went to Niger with World Vision to see the conditions and the people affected by the West African Food Crisis. You can check out her posts about it. You can either start with this post and go on to the newer posts or click on this link to take a look at all the posts tagged I have a world vision.

Lori from Random Ramblings of a Stay At Home Mum also blogged about Eden's trip but also about the Vicks Breath for Life campaign which aims to help increase awareness of and prevent pneumonia in children under 5 in Bangladesh. Check out her post Inhale.

Lee from Mummy Issues: Part 2 is a girl after my own heart. However Lee is giving up chocolate and barista made coffee for the month of May. She will be planning on donating the amount she saves to the Australian Red Cross. Her link is here. You can sponsor her too, if you like.

Nathalie from Easy Peasy Kids is inviting bloggers to get together and each donate an amount of money which will be combined to make a difference. Check out her post here.

I'm in awe of the amount of bloggers who have been inspired to do something to help improve the world. I hope you are too.