by Cassidy Jourdan

 As our generation continues to age, our perceptions of our surroundings change as well. One of the most obvious changes I’ve seen as we’ve grown together, is how often one might consider themselves having a bad day. I’d estimate about two or more friends of mine state that they’re having a bad day within the first hour of school. By the end of school, I would guess that around five of my friends say they had a bad day at one point or another throughout their duration at school. But when one states they’re having a bad day, what does that mean?

            Commonly,  teens would consider a bad day as a day when their phone got taken away, a day where they didn’t finish all their homework, a day where they couldn’t assemble the perfect outfit together, or just a day when they’re tired because they didn’t get enough sleep the night before. This wouldn’t be a bad day. We have the privilege to own a phone and even more have our own personal cell phone. We have the privilege to get a good education. We have the privilege to own clothes and furthermore have drawers and closets overflowing with a variety of clothers of different lengths, styles, textures, and thicknesses. Best of all, we have the privilege to sleep in a warm, clean bed wrapped up comfortably in sheets all night. These are the simple luxuries that our generation tends to overlook and have always expected to be there and hasn’t been as thankful as we should be to receive them.

            So to someone who isn’t fortunate enough to have all the luxuries that we have in the U.S., what is a bad day to them? Some are even too young to realize the extent of the bad days they have had.

            For example, in 2001, a 9 month old baby was raped by 6 men aged between 24 and 66 after their teenage mother abandoned the infant. That same year, in South Africa, a 4 year-old girl died after being raped by her father. In February 2002, an 8 month old infant was gang raped by four men and only one got charged for it. Due to this, the infant required extensive reconstructive surgery. In South Africa alone in 2006, there were around 55,000 reported rape cases; an estimated 450,000 cases went unreported.

            I’m not implying that the only way to have a bad day is if you get raped. However, with the way our lifestyle is in America, and all the luxuries we have the ability to enjoy, an actual bad day should be a rarity.

            While we may complain that our Starbucks or Jamba juice doesn’t taste quite right, others in the world are grateful to get a disease-free beverage. While we may complain that the food we’re eating is bland or gross, others are begging for scarce rations of food.

            A bad day isn’t something that could have been avoided or fixed or even end. A bad day is when you life is still being affected the next day or the next week. A bad day doesn’t happen when a hair gets thrown off track, but when one’s life gets thrown off track.

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