First-World Problems, Third-World Blessings

I have a confession to make. Don’t judge me. I … have a Pinterest account. 

It’s true. Phil Williams, Army Ranger, lawyer and talk show guy has a Pinterest page.

I scoffed for quite some time about Pinterest, believing that it was where women went online for the modern equivalent of window shopping. My wife’s Pinterest was filled with the latest fashions, flowers, and craft projects for grandkids. I poked fun at it until the day I learned that my son had a Pinterest page. 

“What is this heresy?! My boy, my son, on Pinterest?! Let it not be!” 

Then he showed me his page, and it was filled with guns, cars, backpacks, and field gear, and the light went on. There’s Pinterest for dudes? Suddenly, I was window shopping for guns, gear, and go-fast cars. Everything from holsters, hardware, to men’s haberdashery. All the stuff I can’t afford but would love to buy. All the food I shouldn’t eat, but would love to try. Every Pinterest moment was like strolling through a classic car show in the parking lot of Bass Pro Shops while eating deep-fried Wagyu steakburgers and swilling craft beer. It was every first-world dream in living color. First-world toys, for first-world boys. 

Pinterest is filled with things you don’t really need, but would love to have, which is essentially what being in the first world is all about. In the first world, we have “wants” galore, because most “needs” have been met. 

In the midst of all the political division, polarization and pomposity, we actually have it pretty darn good. I submit to you that by living in the United States of America, we essentially live a real-life Pinterest existence. 

Whole swaths of the world face daily concerns revolving around where to find the next meal or whether the warring factions will burn the village. Here in the first world, folks get upset because the foam wasn’t right on their grande pumpkin spice latte. 

In the third world, the question is not whether to walk, but rather how far to walk. Here in the first world, people get range anxiety, wondering if their $90,000 Rivian SUV is going to make it the full distance to the beach house on a single charge. 

In the first world, we set up silly rules, such as not wearing white after Labor Day. Meanwhile, in the third world, every day is Labor Day because every day requires labor, and you wear what you have because that’s all that you have. 

In the first world, armies can’t train, farmers can’t farm, and hunters can’t hunt if, God forbid, evidence of a Red-cockaded woodpecker is found anywhere within a five-mile radius. It is quite possible in the first world to walk into a closet full of clothes and announce that you have nothing to wear. We get mad if DoorDash takes too long or if the toilet paper is too rough. Life’s tough in the first world, man! 

Most of us live in what I call a first-world-Pinterest mentality. All the shiny things right before us. It’s about perspective. There’s no shame in living in the first world unless we lose a sense of gratitude. Take a long look at our blessings and tell God, “I do not take this for granted.” 

“The Book of Eli” is a post-apocalyptic movie starring Denzel Washington set in a future version of a destroyed first-world America. Washington’s character Eli is carrying the last Bible across the wasteland for decades. It’s a dark time filled with depravity, despair and deterioration. In one poignant scene, Eli is asked what it was like back “before.” 

“People had more than they needed,” he replies. “We had no idea what was precious and what wasn't. We threw away things people kill each other for now.” 

In a later scene from “The Book of Eli,” the same young lady tells Eli, “I want to come with you.”

“No, you don’t,” he replies.

“I hate it here,” she says.

“Then change it,” he tells her. 

In the first world, you always have options. It’s really about your perspective — a perspective built on gratitude. Realizing that what we have may get ugly at times with fights, feuds and foibles along the way, but we still live in the greatest country on earth. A first-world country with every available option and opportunity. 

The darkest alley in America is often better than the so-called roads in some parts of the world. When the average American turns the tap on, clean drinking water comes out. When we flip a switch, we expect that the lights will come on. If you missed the turn to the gas station, there will be another within minutes. Not having work is technically a choice. If you need something, you can order it online and have it delivered straight to your doorstep without leaving your couch. We can pause live TV, remote start our cars, adjust our thermostats, and have trash picked up at the curb. If you don’t like something, you often have options that allow you to make changes. 

Lee Greenwood said it well in the opening lines to his classic song, “Proud to Be an American”: 

If tomorrow all the things were goneI’d worked for all my lifeAnd I had to start againWith just my children and my wifeI’d thank my lucky starsTo be living here today‘Cause the flag still stands for freedomAnd they can’t take that away.

Every single day in America is like a Pinterest page to someone in the third world.  First-world problems are really just third-world blessings. 

We’ve got it good, and I wouldn’t live anywhere else.