Imagine you’re at a big party. There’s food everywhere. People are in a good mood. The music is blaring. You’re relaxed and having a good time.
Then a friend mentions that there’s a bunch of people living in the basement. They eat from garbage bins and drink from a small leak in a water pipe. The doors are locked and can only be opened from the outside. Many are sick but don’t have medicine. Apparently one of them died today.
It all sounds pretty harsh but your attention is quickly diverted by another round of drinks and those little party sausages you like so much. The music heats up and you join in The Time Warp.
Later on you sit with some friends and the basement dwellers come up again. But it’s a downer for the conversation so people don’t say much. You hear someone say that there’s enough food for everyone in the house but a fresh plate of chicken wings brings on a new wave of conversation and you try to focus on enjoying the party.
Later in the evening a bucket is passed around by someone who’s raising money for the basement people. You drop in a few bucks and one of your half-eaten chicken wings. It feels good to know that someone is doing something to help but you wonder if enough is being done. You consider going downstairs to see what’s really happening but on your way you get hooked into a game of Dance Dance Revolution so you never make it downstairs.
It ends up being a pretty good party and there’s another one next weekend, but you can’t stop thinking about those basement people.
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