As a regular magazine reader (I blame the Boomer in me), I recall an anecdote from a long time ago about a couple on vacation who were having their photo taken aboard a romantic boat ride. The couple took a look at the sunset in the distance and asked the boat operator if it could be moved closer for a more dramatic effect.
Now that social media cranks out massive quantities of stories, the number of short-sighted and downright ridiculous vacation stories has multiplied. What amazes me is that people are so uneducated about the world around them.
For example, the “great outdoors” is the planet’s largest open-access place for mammals, birds, fish and insects. Some people, however, think that anyplace outside their homestead is curated like a zoo. A woman sitting on an outdoor patio to dine al fresco asked a server to “put the birds away” as their presence disturbed her meal.
A recent story about entitled vacationers mentioned a place where monkeys roamed the area at will. A complaint left on a review site admonished the staff at an attraction for failing to notify the primates of proper behavior around the tourists.
I can’t tell you how many stories I’ve read containing complaints about the weather, especially when a destination meant to be a sunny place occasionally experiences rain. How can any human being, with enough brain cells to perform basic functions, not have a grasp of how the natural forces on Earth work? With today’s radar technology, it’s easy to see that precipitation forms and travels naturally, and nobody can curtail or control it.
Going back to the concept of permanent daylight saving time, this enactment would mean that one entire hour would not exist in America, all for the convenience of pleasure-seekers who want to extend summer golf tee times and hold back sunset.
Again, the sun seems to be at the center of quite a few of these crazy ideas.
Unfortunately, the big sphere which provides our light and keeps us warm rises and sets on a schedule, as should we. It can’t be moved, and its orbit can’t be changed. We cannot and should not try to change it either. And we shouldn’t complain about it, but be grateful that it is, for without it, we wouldn’t exist.
Some people just can’t find pleasure in the basics of life. Imagine complaining about a galaxy of visible stars at night being too boring? Or the surf near a resort being too loud all night (as if it could be turned off)?
And to wrap things up before this becomes a strain on the nerves, it seems that travelers don’t understand that in foreign countries, they may not hear their native language. Americans can be particularly sensitive to not hearing English spoken in other destinations. If you’re in Spain, everybody will likely speak Spanish.
Vacations make us all outsiders in some way. The best way to have a good time is to simply enjoy the change in environment. If you take the time to look and listen, you will discover some new things, or you may find that ordinary life, like exchanges in local shops or in restaurants, is not so different from what one finds at home.
And the sun operates just the same everywhere.
Susan's Scribblings the Blog 