When will we find it...

Russia invaded Georgia today.

When I was reading the story this afternoon at my desk one of my co- workers, who is 44 years old, asked me what I was reading. I told her that it was the latest news article reporting on the Russian invasion of Georgia, and this was her response:

"No they didn't! Why would Russians come all the way over here to attack Georgia? Isn't the Pentagon somewhere in Virginia?"

... At this point my jaw was on the floor and I very graciously held back every remark that came to flooding into my head...

I then told her that she had misunderstood me, and that Russia had invaded the COUNTRY of Georgia, not the state. Also that the Pentagon is in Washington D.C., which is neither in Virginia nor Maryland, but is it's own kind of entity.

By this point our conversation had drawn the attention of two of our other co- workers ( one is a college student, who hopes to become a teacher, and the second is in her 50's and WAS a teacher for almost 20 years). They looked at each other in dismay, and then the college student decided to blurt out:

"What? There's no COUNTRY named Georgia! You're making that up!"

and the other ladies nodded in agreement.

I don't think I can accurately describe for you the amount of disbelief I was experiencing in that moment... Really?? Three women. Three educated women, who work in a corporate office for a very large company. Women who have immediate access to every form of media that exists...

So, I pulled up google maps for them, and assured them that I wasn't just creating a country, and showed them the tiny place under Russia, called Georgia. Then I read a part of the article out loud for them and they all went back to their desks completely silent.

Maybe I shouldn't be surprised, but I am...

It is terrible that I had to convince those three women that a legitimate country exists.
It's understandable to not know for certain where it is,
there are tons of tiny countries in eastern europe and the middle east, but not knowing that it exists entirely...
We live in a wonderful country that provides us with relatively inexpensive education, and the ability as well as the means to learn as much as we possibly can about anything in this world.

So many people fought so hard for education, and to this day people still do.
It's the one of the best tools that we have to save lives, change lives, improve the our quality of living, open doors to the rest of the world, dissolve indifference, empower minds and hearts, and truly change the world...
And these three women don't even know a little world geography.

These are the same women who, on a daily basis complain about the state of the economy, gas prices, politics, minimum wage, how stupid other people are...and how unfair things are.

And they have no idea what they're talking about...
They're just spouting what they've heard other people say.
They make rash decisions based on opinions, and incomplete facts.
They're proving stereo-types, and hurting themselves, and encouraging ignorance...

I really wish that people would start opening their eyes. There is a whole world out there, begging for you to love it, longing for us to care. I hope I never stop learning, and I hope that people always find a reason to keep asking questions, and to keep searching. We only have a little time here, and we have to do the very best we can with the time that we've been given.

Everyone has to stop wasting so much...
We have the potential to bring light into the dark
If we'd just open our eyes and our hearts.