Tsunami

I joined with the rest of the world in the collective gasp of horror at the news of the tsunami in the Indian Ocean a couple of weeks ago. Last month most of us didn't even know the word "tsunami" and now it seems to be the main focus of attention. Everyone from entertainers to schoolkids are raising money for the victims. This shows me that people are basically caring and giving when they percieve that others are in distress. What I don't understand is why these same people don't do more to help other distressed populations? There are plenty of them out there, and most of them are in their respective conditions because of the greed of other humans, not because the whims of nature. What about the Iraqis, Palestinians, and people in Sudan and Ethiopia? What about homeless people here in this country? There is so much human misery on the earth it's impossible to know where to begin to alleviate it. I suppose when an event comes up and slaps people in the face, they respond. It's too bad it takes that kind of tragedy to wake people up. If they'd stay awake, maybe we could avoid the some of the suffering.

And on a personal note, in the past few weeks, several people in my office have started sneezing and coughing, thought, "I probably just have allegies" and kept going. All of them became really sick, high fever, aches, etc. When I started sneezing and coughing a couple of days ago I thought I was coming down with the same stuff. But I guess it really was allergies with me, more specifically the wonderful "cedar fever". Seems the cedar counr is espcially high now. I did stay home from work for two days and took a much needed rest. Have been reading, sleeping, surfing the web and taking herbal medicine. Time to get back to it.