Sunday, November 14, 2010

The bad cruise vacation: Time for a little perspective

By now, most people have heard about the Carnival cruise ship that experienced a fire and power loss, and how the passengers had to survive for a few days on Spam and Pop-Tarts.  There have been a slew of stories in the MSM about the hardships that the passengers faced - a limited menu, few working showers, no air conditioning, etc.

To be sure, the experience that they found on the trip wasn't the experience that they signed up for, and I am glad that they did make it back to shore safely.

A little perspective is called for -

A little seasickness beats dying of cholera...

Camping out on the deck of a luxury liner while the U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard scramble at top speed to alleviate the discomfort of passengers beats dying in squalor while awaiting a "rescue" effort that was hesitant and half-hearted at best...

Living on Spam and Pop Tarts (with an open bar!) beats dying on nothing...

And after a few days of discomfort, getting to return to a bright and shiny homes with flat screen TVs, microwaves, and IPods, beats surviving a few days in hell, and getting to return to...

Hell.

Just sayin'...

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