If you ever want a reminder that things really aren’t so bad here in the wonderful U.S. of A., take a look at this article about the devaluation of currency in North Korea.
In case you’re like me and had no idea such a thing could happen, apparently North Korea’s wacky looney toon government decided to devalue its currency. This means to those few that actually had any kind of money in North Korea, for example, the construction worker in the article, found out that his life savings of $1560.00, was worth only the equivalent of $30.
Imagine that. Waking up one day and finding out that your entire life savings is worth $30.00. So not only is North Korea starving its people, but its ripping them off. They hustle every day to barely get enough food to eat and by some miracle manage to save some money (shame on me and my savings account, by the way) only to find out it is worth practically nothing, just because. No real reason. It just is.
The construction worker’s biggest regret? That he didn’t allow his daughter to buy the track suit she wanted when they had the money. To me this was the most heartbreaking. Although a different country, different language, different people and a struggle I could never begin to imagine, there is a universal wish. We all want great lives for our children. If he could go back, he would’ve definitely bought that track suit for his daughter.
Things are never as bad as they could be. Guess I can thank North Korea for reminding me of that.