I was recently on a short biz trip to and from Italy, too short to be honest. Too short because it was "Italy" and too short because it's borderline self-abuse undergoing the pain of a long international turnaround.
But somewhere over the Atlantic on my return flight, struggling to get my headphones comfortably positioned so I could binge my way through past episodes of Yellowstone, it dawned on me that MAYBE, just maybe, the rigors of international travel could be seen through a slightly different lens. For example, MAYBE, just maybe ol'e John Dutton's ancestors, trying to survive among an unforgiving hostile American west in 1860, just might not find my poor grievous circumstance quite so horrific.
It just might be that old man Dutton would quite relish the idea of having his favorite whiskey brought to him in a proper glass, comfortably seated in a climate controlled environment traveling eight miles above the earth at 600 mph. It might be that ol'e man Dutton would somehow be ok having a hot prepared meal brought to him on crisp linens, accompanied by clean polished flatware and his favored wine varietal to go with the steak.
And, who knows MAYBE he would somehow find novelty in pushing a button and having his chair recline as a movie plays across a private screen directly in front of him. Or maybe his curiosity would be piqued having a look out the window as the southern tip of Greenland passed silently beneath him.
Yep, we all live among our own circumstance and generally form our perspectives accordingly. But it was very humbling for me to roll back the clock even a short 180 years. In an instant my whining was replaced by the the very hard, very real reality of those that came before us . For many of our ancestors, merely eeking out enough sustenance to survive another day was their daily grievance - and there was little time to share it with others or sob over their lot in life.
Dealing with airports and commercial air flight is for most, anything but fun. But the next time you find it necessary to whine over a 9 hour Atlantic crossing while watching your favorite movie and stirring the chocolate into your ice cream ....maybe think about ol'e man Dutton. With all the problems that plague us, every one of us are living far above those that came before us.
Rick Roseman / Publisher / Aug 6, 2024
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