Is This the Best God Could Do?

My Mood and Daily Life

I was in a bad mood, pre-menstrual and bitchy. I had turned my cold back on my husband the night before. I had yelled at my kids. I felt disgruntled, and negative thoughts plagued me. I couldn't be bothered to change the dogs' water bowl, and I couldn't be bothered to shower. I remained on the couch and looked to escape.

Watching TV and the World’s Problems

I turned on the TV and watched the desperate or maladjusted reveal themselves to Jerry Springer. I watched the news: an assortment of third-world scarcity, including a load of sub-Saharan children who really didn't care whether they lived or died, first-world surplus, deadly epidemics, warfare, terrorist attacks, suicide bombings, opiate addiction, youth rebellion, earthquakes, overcrowded schools, homelessness, identity theft, global warming, stock market uncertainty, out-of-control brush fires, unemployment, illegal immigration, and political corruption. It was all depressing.

I then changed the channel and watched a surgeon prepare to separate Siamese-twins while their mother agonized over the fact that she'd had to choose. I changed it again and saw live coverage of a prison riot, and then I watched a documentary about the binge-drinking culture that is cursing my motherland.

"Entertainment Television" was my last stop; here I learned about Hollywood's most acrimonious divorces................

"What a crap planet this is," I said to God out loud. "Is this the best you could do?"