Libyan revolution. Syrian death squads. Sudanese war crimes. Somalian famine. American debt crisis.
Yes, those are just a few of the topics you'll find if you cruise around Google news headlines this week.
So what are we all talking about here in Burnaby?
Why, the weather, of course.
I mean, have you heard? It's raining. Again. It's grey and it's cloudy and it's hardly warmed up at all. The temperature has barely broken 20 C, gardens and fruit trees have suffered from a cold, rainy spring - and never mind that, we've hardly had any time to sit on our patios sipping on pretty pink drinks with umbrellas in them.
So here's the thing. We live in the Lower Mainland. It's hardly renowned for being a sunworshippers' destination. It's a bit of a puzzle why we're all up in arms about the rain when we live in a rainforest.
More to the point, well, don't we have any real problems to worry about?
Has hunger been solved? Homelessness fixed? Poverty eliminated? War and revolution made a thing of the past?
Yes, we know. Sarcasm is uncalled for. We sound unbearably pompous and hypocritical, because we complain about the weather just as loudly as anybody.
But every now and then, we need a kick in the pants to remind ourselves that we have pretty darn good lives - and we should start paying a little more attention to those who don't.
So consider this our kick to ourselves and to the rest of you weatherbashers out there.
Yeah, rain isn't fun.
But on the scale of revolution, war crimes, famine and international economic crises, it's not really all that big a deal.
Buy an umbrella and get over it already.
