To complain or not to complain

I saw a television show last Saturday night that really sparked my interest and that got me to think really deeply about my current situation.  It's a documentary show called I-Witness wherein each episode would features stories about people in interesting situations.  That night, they documented a story of a family whose main bread and butter is gold digging. Although instead of going inside a mine in a mountain or shovel dirt in river beds, each family member, from the father down to the youngest capable child, would take turns diving deep into a muddy well to dig dirt by hand for hours hopefully the mud they took has tiny nuggets of gold in it. At the end of that laborious and not to mention dangerous due to the constricted space underneath the well, they could earn roughly a net of 249.00 pesos, that is if they're lucky enough to collect gold pigments up to a size of a one peso coin to sell.

Watching that segment got me thinking how lucky I am to have a job.  I have no right to complain that I am earning less than what I was used to.  Compared to their kind of work, at least I am comfortable and safe sitting on my desk, working my fingers on the laptop, with food to munch on every now and then.  It's just as easy as one, two, three than wearing a diving mask, with a motorized oxygen, wearing nothing but your clothes on, diving onto a pitch black mud well for hours digging up dirt with the hope that you'll get out alive.

Instead of wishing for things I don't have, I should be grateful that I have a home-based job that allows me to earn, even if it's just a meager income, but enough to sustain me and husband and as well as to contribute financially to my family. I have to say that I'm blessed to have a family who supported me in my educational pursuits so that I don't to do hard labor all the rest of my life.  Watching the episode was a humbling experience for me.  It altered the way I think about people who have unthinkable jobs like that. I mean I'm not a mean person but I do think that people who work odd jobs like janitors, garbage collectors, or gold diggers should be given the respect they deserve. Not just how they are treated socially but even financially. They should be given a higher pay. Otherwise, who would clean our toilets? Who would collect our garbage daily? Who would dig gold for us so that we can have those fine ornaments or accessories?

This is not a blog about labor code reformation but this is a blog about what I have gotten out of watching that show.  It will be my constant reminder to be grateful of the things that I have.