At The Top Of The World

That day we ate fresh baked bread, feta cheese and olives in the open air with family and friends. And it seemed to me to be the best meal I ever ate. I was truly happy. On the way back we saw some small shacks built into the side of the mountain. We stopped by one of these houses. That's where I saw her. She was bent over working in the fields, collecting the harvest ever so slowly. She looked desperately tired. When she rose and looked at me I saw that the hunch in her back was not from leaning over. It was a permanent feature that characterized her existence. This old, worn out woman had been bent over the same patch of land for the last fifty years. As I approached, I felt a need to comfort her. I said, "Teyze [a respectful term for older women], you work in the most beautiful place in the entire world." She said, "I broke my back over these mountains. What good are the flowers and the scenery to me when I have to come out here every day and work till the sun sets and I can't stand up from the pain. Every day I do this for the last fifty years, just to eat. I am an old woman. I can't stand this anymore. I would trade in all this beauty if I could just rest. But you could never understand. What would you know about work?" Her bitterness stung. I used to think that I worked hard at school and at my job. It was not physical work like hers but there was a lot of stress involved. After all, if I slipped just one time in an important test, it could devastate my G.P.A. I could wind up not getting into law school or getting that Brand Management job at Procter & Gamble. My parents would be disappointed in me, and my friends would think I was stupid. All this if I screwed up one test, or did not get my resume just right, or did not hand in one paper on time. What a tough life. We all lead tough lives. Some of us might have even bigger problems, like not having enough friends, or the right kind of friends, or not being able to get a date. Some might not find all the love they need from their parents or feel that no one cares about them. This all seems tragic in our sheltered existence, but we have to face reality. We have a great opportunity to be happy. We do not have to work everyday, all day, until we can't move from the pain, just so that we can get enough food to live. We have a chance to make whatever we want out of our lives. And even if we do not succeed on our own terms, we still have more than what ninety percent of the world will ever have. A friend of mine could not find a job after he graduated and his parents did not want him in the house. He was forced to come back and live in his old fraternity while he painted houses just to get by. He was the picture of failure in our society. Yet he slept in a warm bed at night, ate three meals a day, partied on the weekends, and most importantly, had hope. He would not be stuck in a village for the rest of his life, condemned to a life of trudgery and minimal existence. Everything around us is a gift and can be a source of happiness. From the sweater you put on in a cold day to the potato chips you snack on while watching TV, all the things in our lives bring us comfort that most people in this world will never experience. So now when I worry about how much work I have to do, I think about the old woman in the mountains and what she said to me, "What would you know about work?" Then I think about the meal I had that day among the flowers, and the friends and family I shared it with. And I think about how my baby nephew slept cuddled on my chest that day with his small little heart beating right next to mine. Then I realize what my life is all about. Do you? Cenk Uygur is a senior Management major from East Brunswick, New Jersey. How You Like Me Now Baby? appears alternate Fridays.

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