Taking Advantage

February 23, 2010  
Filed under Feature

“You never know what you have until it is gone.” That is a very well known saying that is said quite a bit. Taking advantage of people or even things is a daily thing for the majority of people. It is just human nature to not realize what is right in front of your face. Usually when a person says “You never know what you have until it is gone,” It means that they themselves have gone through it, and have experienced taking advantage of someone or something and having them or it disappear out of their life.

 “My best friend and I were extremely close and one day we just were not friends anymore. I never even noticed how much I relied on her. She was always there for me and when I lost her I would always want to dial her number into my phone…but I could not because we were not friends anymore.” junior Hauna Payne said.

It is true that we rely on people so much we tend to take advantage of their existence. Then, when they are taken from underneath our feet, we do not know what to do with ourselves. You always expected them to be right there when you wanted or needed them. Then, when they are gone, you realize how much you depended on that person.

For example, my mom had fully been in my life up until the fifth grade. Then things started to go a little rocky. She is still in my life today, but I do not live with her. In years that I have not lived with her, I have noticed a lot of things about her that I did not appreciate or realize I liked. I miss the way she always made sure the house was clean, and it always smelled like candles. I also just simply miss the feeling of being with her. It is a lot different when you do not live with your parents. I know now that the little things are what mattered most to me.

This saying can be applied to more than the general fact of losing someone though. It can be applied to objects such as a cell phone, a house, or even having a lot of money and it being taken away from you. It can apply to anything really. Especially with this economy failing people are starting to realize how much they relied on their money. They appreciate it more now than they did when they had it. I remember watching Oprah and these people gave a homeless man one million dollars! He was of course so happy to have it.  He obviously did not appreciate it very much though because he did not save any of it. The man bought his friends cars, houses and many other things. Then, his friends started to expect him to buy them stuff all the time. He was soon in debt after recently getting all of that money because of his friends making him buy stuff for them. He was so overwhelmed with the amount of money that he had, that he thought he had an endless amount of it. He soon realized that what not the case. He was soon back on the streets begging for food and shelter. He then was asked to be interviewed by Oprah Winfrey. She wanted to know why he was not thankful and grateful for the gift that he had received.

“I just wanted to make my friends happy. I just had so much money that I did not think I was going to run out of it. I did and now I realize how much I relied on that money. Now it is gone and nothing like that is ever going to happen to me again.” he said.

Americans, to me, are especially greedy with all kinds of things: Food, freedom, homes, etc. We have a lot of things that we do not realize are very special to us. Countries look at us with envy and sometimes even disgust. Kids and even adults in other countries need and want education. America’s education is outstanding, especially compared to other countries. We wine and complain about going to school. When, in fact, we should be happy and joyful about the fact that we even get a chance to go to school and be educated. We are also very greedy with food. We have SO much of it. We can just go to the store and pick up whatever we need. In countries like Africa they have to walk miles just to get water.

“One day I was thinking about how lucky I am to live in the United States. We can have water whenever we want. Just walking to the sink and turning on the faucet is all we need to do to get the water that we want. I feel bad for the people who have to walk miles and miles for something we take advantage of everyday.” senior Holly Guge said.

It is never easy when you lose someone or something. Many people go through losses every day. The very fact of loosing someone is incredibly heartbreaking by itself. Then, when you later realize you did not cherish the moments you had with them it make the loss ten times worse. People need to always be thankful for what they have, and know what they have might be gone in a blink of an eye.

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Tayler Guge

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