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Thursday, October 09, 2008
perspective
You may have heard about the problems Iceland is facing right now. What I haven't seen any mainstream coverage about is the effect this situation is having on ordinary people. I have a friend in Iceland. We met nearly a decade ago when I started an egroup for expectant mothers and she was the first to join. Her daughter is eight days younger than mine. This morning my friend told us that their last bank had collapsed, taking their currency down with it, and that stores, no longer able to import food due to the impossible exchange rate, are emptying. She is understandably frightened. (Our group is doing what we can to help. We can send food and love, but we can't do much about long-term hope, unfortunately.)
I don't even know where I was going with this, other than a nebulous be-grateful-for-what-you-have kind of idea that seems ludicrously inadequate and trite at this point. It's just been a very sobering situation for me. I am full of heartache for my friend, and I wanted to share the human side of the story that (in my reading anyway) has mainly had its focus on the more political aspects of one little nation's economic collapse.
Comments
Eeesh. I happen to be in the middle of this article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/oct/05/iceland.creditcrunch
Some interesting background.
Posted by: Kat with a K at October 9, 2008 10:31 AM
Wow, I *hadn't* heard. Thanks for mentioning it - I will be praying for your friend... :(
Posted by: Susan Wilcox at October 10, 2008 09:53 AM
Wow, I *hadn't* heard. Thanks for mentioning it - I will be praying for your friend... :(
Posted by: Susan Wilcox at October 10, 2008 09:53 AM
I had not heard that. This is terrible.
Posted by: jennifer at October 10, 2008 10:53 AM
I also did not know that they once had one of the wealthiest economies on Earth.
Posted by: jennifer at October 10, 2008 10:56 AM
I'm glad you posted. To my mind the hope and promise of the internet is when it widens the circle of whom we see as "us, our friends, our people" instead of only "who cares, it's only some little country over there. Don't know how much your packages can help - but if you're ever read 84, Charing Cross it's plain that those food packages Helene Hanff sent to England during their food rationing were remembered by a lot of people, for decades.
I also believe that every action of this sort you take is multiplied by at least 2x for the future, and maybe a geometric progression - because your kids see you do it.
Posted by: dichroic at October 13, 2008 01:22 AM
Good on you for posting this. I am still waiting for the news to post the human side.
Posted by: Carol at October 13, 2008 09:05 AM
