I Wouldn’t Say It’s Sad…

A few nights ago, I had the opprotunity to catch up with one of my cousins via phone. Connie is a businesswoman who does consulting which often takes her to Mexico. While on a recent trip to Mexico City, she had an opprotunity to leave the hotel late at night, escorted by her business partners. The hotel caters to westerners and has a chain link fence surrounding the entire complex. On her previous trip, Connie said she didn’t remember the fence, but instead remembered the seedy area the hotel was in. While the hotel was the typical western business hotel, the riff raff of Mexico City collected on the street around it; drug dealers, prostitutes, etc.

As they loaded into a van, Connie spotted a young Mexican woman standing on the street corner. Short skirt, tight top, hair teased out to here. Didn’t take much imagination to know her living wasn’t made in a cubicle. Connie saw this girl and remarked to her Mexican counterparts, “That’s so sad…”

One of them looked questioningly at her, paused and said, “I wouldn’t say it’s sad…I’d say it’s her choice.”

In America, we have opprotunities far, FAR greater thann those of our fellow earthlings. True, some people have more opprotunities than others-no one disputes that point.. In America, people probably have more chances to live their chosen life than Mexico. Doubtful anyone would dispute that. I think it’s sad someone would choose to sell their own body, but the partner of Connie’s was right-it IS a choice.

It may be easier than working in a factory. It may be cleaner than begging on the streets. It may be more dangerous than working in a risky job-but it IS still a choice. Especially in America.

George Carlin is credited with a saying that goes a little something like this:

“Being born gets you a ticket to the big show. Being born in America gets you a front row seat.”

And with that incredible benefit of being born in the land of opprotunity, is anything really sad? Or are the choices people make sad?