Rambling Anna: A thank you letter to the universe, kind of

This week, I went to Walmart and bought plastic to shrink-wrap our windows  to keep the heating bill down as temperatures continue to get lower and lower. I also completed other mundane tasks like buying gas, scheduling an oil change and figuring out where and how to order my gown for graduation —which, by the way, costs a ridiculous $50.

And I hated it.

When I was little, I remember thinking  everyone around me was just so old. Now, after becoming one of those old people, I’m coming to the realization that it isn’t nearly as glamorous and awesome as I used to think it would be. I spend way too much time cleaning the bathroom and doing laundry rather than attending glamorous cocktail parties, like I naively assumed I would when I was young.

And to top it off, everything is ridiculously expensive.

As a result, I have to constantly remind myself to be thankful. These tasks are only mundane, because I live in a civilized world where I don’t have to worry about things like hunting and killing my own food, so I should be extremely grateful, right? I don’t have to worry about a corrupt police force arresting me in the middle of the night and I don’t have to defend my own home from intruders, so I should suck it up and accept things like the high cost of movie tickets and my sometimes slow Internet connection.

I’m lucky, and so are you.

We’re in college and for the most part, we’re pretty poor.

We scrounge for free food at university events and live off Ramen noodles, but we tend to forget about the car insurance and iPhone that our parents bought and continue to pay for. We get to care about USD Confessions and which guy/girl to take to formal/semiformal instead of worrying about having a roof over our heads, so no matter how horrible or boring you may think your life is, the truth is, it’s really not bad at all.

So, the next time you see me in an aisle in Walmart looking despondently at an array of deodorant or salad dressings, don’t be afraid to tell me to suck it up and smile.