According to the AI Overview when you ask Google this question, there is a California law requiring restaurants to provide drinking water for free to customers. Schools and companies are also required to provide clean drinking water for students and employees. If you grow up in California like I did, asking for a cup of water at Burger King when you were thirsty is normal. When I was in Indiana and I asked for a cup of water at Subway, I was charged 2 dollars. I was shocked since I like to freeload and never paid for water back home. It is a small detail that allows me to explain how I grew up never knowing how fortunate I was to be born in the United States and in California specifically.
My mom put me in the best elementary school, middle school, and ultimately high school we could afford because she had that opportunity in California. If she didn’t like the reputation of the school closest to where we lived, she went the extra mile to put us in a school that was a bit farther but where she felt a little more comfortable. This provided more opportunities. This was especially true of my high school where I was able to be put in a class with two professional engineering teachers which ultimately paved the path to the start of my college career. Having 4 years of excellent engineering courses taught by engineers with over thirty years of experience is not something I would have gotten by going to the high school next to where I lived. This is one example of countless opportunities I had and that my older siblings had because my mother decided to immigrate and raise us here by herself. If I were born exactly the same anywhere else in the world with my social status, I would have never had the luxury to afford excellent education and so many more necessities. For example, I did not need to work as a kid; I did not need to worry about food insecurity; I grew up in a rich state where everything I needed was less than an hour away from where I lived. Versus other states and countries, challenges exist like: food deserts, the closets cities are hours away, and in school only the top five percent of students are allowed to study abroad in America (if you have the money or get scholarships).
California is a great state with many opportunities that minority children grow up accustomed too. Parent’s who immigrate here did not grow up with that and only know labor and hard work, which is why they immigrate in the first place. They can see reality; what to stay away from and to value good grades, internships, and a coveted career (i.e., lawyer, doctor, engineer). However, their children are raised in abundance and to top it off, they grow up in an environment with rich kids whose parent’s are guiding them. Minority students have to blaze their own paths because their parents can’t help them as much as they want too. This is why when I look at terrifying videos of out countries whose families live in true poverty (i.e., dangerous jobs, little pay, food insecurity), I look at my siblings and myself who are ungrateful and ask why? Why are we so unsatisfied when we are living in the 21st century where we can take a warm shower, have something to eat everyday, and can work at a fast food restaurant and get paid fairly? Why does this ring true for everybody and why do we fall victim to this fallacy so many times? It is also our relentless desire to have more by never feeling fulfilled by seemingly meaningless (yet marvelous) possessions. I already mentioned never worrying about food. Warm showers were never a reality most of humanity had. Also, all the color surrounding me in my house. There is so much color when back then that was unusual. Sugar and salt. They were expensive once upon a time and only kings could have that. We are kings. To be alive today, especially in first world countries is to be a modern day king. So, the question is: Why are we still so unsatisfied?
There are many ways to explain the idea resolving this human fallacy. Essentially, most of us don’t know and consequently don’t teach others to be grateful for the little things we have everyday. We are not grateful and have no clue as to the amount of lives it took to create something. We are surrounded by creativity and technology that makes everything around us magical. We forgot and remembering is good, but it is not necessary to solve the problem. We don’t have to intentionally and forcefully remember everything around us was designed by people who spent their whole lives making something. That is not the way to go. It could be helpful, but the solution is not so unreliable and does not depend on remembering the hard work of other people. That being said, a good example of things that are built are the roads we used to travel. Someone intricately designed them and someone else worked their lives building them. We live in worlds where convenience is normal and we forget. That is normal and expected from environments meant to make life easier. The Human Condition Problem revolves around how to see the world and feel the world without feeling burdened by the steps it needs to solve it. Our responsibility is to overcome that, which starts by taking the first step and asking the big question: Why?