Rant with Randi: Perspective

By Randi Crawford

Standing in line at one of my favorite new hang outs, waiting for my turn at the counter. I was alone, so I couldn’t help overhearing conversations going on around me. Some went like this, “I’m so overwhelmed, I can’t believe my nanny just up and quit. I don’t know what I’m going to do without help this summer.” “I’m bummed because I finally snuck out and got a manicure and the minute I got home, my 3 year old grabbed my phone and it ruined my nails, ugh I had to go back in and get them all re painted.”

Another woman was complimented on her Lululemon pants by the sales clerk, and the customer offered to bring her a pair the next day. Seriously? That one almost made me sick. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for being generous, but picking up a $98 dollar pair of workout pants because someone compliments you is just a little obnoxious, especially when there are people who could really use that $98! Perspective.

My sister-in-law just visited from Boston. She has three children, ranging from an infant to a 12 year old. Plus, she has a full-time job, and a husband that all need her attention. It’s safe to say she has a full plate. We were talking by the pool one afternoon, and I was explaining how disgusted I was with the way girls dress and behave today. I even showed her a picture that I took at the Fair (since when is it OK to send our daughters out in public looking like they could be working the streets?). My sister-in-law works as a high school counselor at a public school in Boston. She told one of her students, who wears his pants down to his ankles everyday, that she did

not

want to see his underwear one more time because it was just wrong and inappropriate. The next day the kid came without any underwear, still wearing the jeans down to his ankles. Perspective.

My son went to baseball camp, the first Monday of his summer break, and got hit in the eye with a line drive, taking him out of sports and putting him on bed rest for weeks. It could have been so much worse – he could have fractured bones, had reconstructive surgery, incurred bleeding in his brain, and been in a really bad place. So I sat him down one day and explained the difference between absolute and relative. On an absolute basis, this situation stinks. I get it, what kid wants to be on bed rest the first few weeks of summer? But on a relative basis, he should be thanking his lucky stars and thanking God every day that he is going to be fine and didn’t loose his vision or have anything tragic happen. Perspective.

When my sister-in-law returned to Boston, she got off an all-night flight and went directly to work. When she arrived, the first thing she learned was that one of her students, who visits her three to four times a day, committed suicide while she was gone. Perspective.

Hugging your daddy goodbye for the last time as he bravely goes off to his job, fighting fires and saving lives. The “perfect storm” of dry thunder and erratic wind that caused wildfires in Yarnell, Arizona, recently to take the lives of 19 young men, some dads, sons, brothers, friends, and husbands. Perspective.

This week in particular, has been a little rough on the absolute side. I’ll admit that initially, my selfish reaction to the baseball accident was, “Holy cow, we can’t be out of sports for weeks, that will never work for us. We have to stay in shape for sports.” But that was a fleeting thought. It took all of about two minutes to realize that everything happens for a reason, and there is a much bigger picture. Sports will always be there, our health won’t. We live in paradise (San Diego), my sister in law was amazed by the perfect weather and lack of bugs. We don’t live in Egypt (in the middle of a military coup, where plenty of people will be experiencing widespread disruption and possibly danger for a long period of time). Perspective.

Your thoughts? www.randiccrawford@gmail.com