The Good Side of Things

It always feels good to leave Kandahar. For some reason I just don't like being here. I have said in the past that it just has an evil feeling about it, a business that is just consuming of those that are here. An ant hill of paople that never stops working.

I think that is why things like the transient tent happen, people just left alone in conditions that are not as good as the others. There is just too much other stuff going on for those that could do something. The peopel that should be able to do something can't or won't take the time to see what is really happenening in some places.

I spoke to a freind who came through Texas with me. She is actually a Jehovahs Wittness and often we speak about our faith. I was telling her about being in the transient tent for lunch and the conditions there and she had no clue herself. It is not that she could do anything about it but she had been here for three months, in Kandahar, and didn't know of the conditions in those tents.

Kandahar seems very much a place of "haves" and "have nots". There is a definate class structure and culture within each. You can meet people and they will ask where you are staying as that will tell alot about your position. Some have cars to use to get around others do not. Even the positions of power create in people attitudes that are sometimes very rough to deal with. It is in a large way, and I have said it before, a slice of the worst of the rest of the world.

Maybe it is as if when you make a reduction while cooking. All the things of the world were put in one pot and bboiled down here in Kandahar. What you were left with was the concentrated parts of evrywhere else. Some good and some bad.

It will be nice to leave here. Even in Shindand there is this trouble however not as bad it still exists. I guess the saying that war brings out the best in people and it can bring out the worst in people is true. I will continue to do my part and try to always be on the good side of things. It should be the same for everyone, for you also. Try to always find the good side of things. Don't become part of the problems.

Keep your eyes and ears open as you go though life today and see how many times you can be that something special in someone life. See if you can remain calm in the hecticness or lift someone who does not have what you have up a bit. Look for opportunities to show charity to someone, to remove a burdon, to make them smile and change their day.

God Bless.