Comfy place to sit

My family just got back from a cool opportunity to go to Family Camp through Trout Lake Camps.  The kids had a blast and we enjoyed ourselves too, although we are exhausted. The camp is set-up for kids & youth, not for families.  In fact, they just recently started trying these family camps where the adults stay with the kids for the week rather than just droppin’ ’em off.  One of the things we noticed by the second day is that there was no where comfortable to sit and read, chat, etc.  The cabins had bunk beds with no chairs or couches; there was no lounge or lodge or place to just hang out comfortably to read.  If you were in your cabin and not sleeping, you sat on the floor or tried to sit on the bunk beds.  For kids, this is fine, but for us old farts it was a bit tough on the knees & back.  At one point, my wife and I considered going to hang out on the docked pontoon boat because it had the nicest seats we could find in the entire camp.

This is not an indictment of what is a great camp, but it is another indictment of how entitled we as American’s are (or at least me).  The fact that we would complain about not having a place to read that was “nice” according to our standards only continues to raise awareness of the chasm between the haves (us) and the have nots (them).  We spent the week eating great food, playing games, engaging in great activities, going to classes, and fishing only to mention a few.  But one of the things that stood out was that there was not a great place to sit and read (because the bunk beds, carpeted floor, soda fountain, and outside benches) just didn’t cut it.

Now, mind you, we weren’t mired in our entitlement, but the simple fact that we could complain about it only furthered our realization of how accustomed we have grown to our comfort. For a society barely over 200 years old, we sure are well off. Our challenge is to appreciate & enjoy our situation, but not allow it to create entitlement and lack of compassion for others who can’t even conceive of a week-long camp; they simply dream of clean water, food every day, protection from disease, and an education. Perhaps we can take a portion of our abundance and help meet their lack.