Wheaties

Okay, so if you haven't figured it out yet, I read a lot of random facts. So here's today's.

On average, a box of Wheaties with Tiger Wood's picture on it cost $2.79. For every box sold, Tiger got 10 cents. Not bad, but here's the kicker. The farmer who grew the wheat for the cereal, only gets 5 cents. That's right, the store who sells it and the company that makes it, the big corporations, get $2.64, but even in some twisted way I can accept that. But a celebrity face getting twice as much as the guy who actually supplies the product? Now come on, there's something wrong with that.

I've never understood how our society came to be so dependent on entertainment. We pay hundreds of dollars for football tickets (thousands sometimes) with no questions asked, but when we have to pay our child's teachers more, there's an uproar. That's not fair. They're just greedy. They don't deserve it. Here's your $250 mil. A-Rod. Seem a little out of place?

So here's an idea. As it's Christmas, instead of complaining about how much that gift costs, be thankful you have the money to give it. And if you don't have the money for it, take a look at what you spend on other things, eating out, cable, movies, sports, video games, whatever other things there are that you could really live without, but you have convinced yourself you need.

I'll stop with this story. When I lived in the mountains, one of the main industries was a coal mine. When it shut down, I had to go into the school and help with counseling because families were telling their kids they had no money for food. These people were raiding the food bank, grabbing everything they could because they were so poor. How poor were they? One family I knew (and they were the rule, not the exception), made twice as much as me on their unemployment alone, had two trucks, a snow machine/snowmobile, a quad, a 61" TV and a monthly satellite bill. But yes, they didn't have money for food...

"No matter what happens, always be thankful." I Thess. 5:18a