09-14-07

Hi friends, this is Harry Blalock; General Manager for radio stations KZMI & KCNM. It's that time once again to take a look at the issues of the week, and to offer some Food For Thought.

Sometimes there is nothing like taking a look at things from someone else's eyes to give you a whole new perspective. When you live somewhere there is always the tendency of concentrating on the negatives and focusing on all the problems and challenges that seem bigger than life. And this is not to say that the problems and challenges don't exist, they certainly do. But do they negate all the positive things that we still have going for us?

I was reading one of Saipan's newest blogs the other day, Tami's - Seawood, Sand & Sunsets. She was telling a story about a friend of hers from Guam who was on Saipan visiting her. He was driving the car down one of the back roads when he slammed on the brakes and started backing up. She was understandably a little freaked out at his driving and asked what he was doing. He told her to look at the beautiful bird sitting up on the telephone wire. It was a Kingfisher. I'm imagining she was thinking, yeah, big deal it's a Kingfisher. But he was from Guam, had been born there and lived his entire life there. He explained that they don't have birds like that on Guam because the brown tree snakes have wiped them all out. He was just soaking in watching the brightly colored bird, it was the first time he had been able to enjoy such a sight.

Seeing Kingfishers is something that people on Saipan experience every single day, it is so commonplace that we don't even notice it anymore. But having these beautiful birds living among us is one of those daily blessings that most of us never even notice. I know there are some here who take the time to look at things like Kingfisher birds on a regular basis, but I'm afraid they are in the minority. Most of us just drive by them never giving them a second thought. Sometimes it takes someone from Guam who has never seen a Kingfisher before to wake us up and make us realize what we have.

I had a similar experience a couple years ago when a few friends from Guam came over to go diving. I asked them if there was anything else they wanted to see or do while they were here. One of them said he would really like to see a Kingfisher bird if that was possible. I kind of laughed thinking it would be hard to drive around Saipan and not see a Kingfisher. When I spotted the first one, you'd have thought he was a kid seeing Disney World for the very first time. He quickly grabbed his camera and got out of the truck to get some pictures. It was his very first sighting of this beautiful blue bird as well, and he just couldn't get enough of it. A little later in our drive I spotted two of them sitting next to each other on a telephone wire. Yup, we had to stop so he could get out and take more pictures of this amazing scene. I have always enjoyed seeing the Kingfishers around the island, but I have to admit that when I see them through the eyes of someone from Guam it reminds me that we do indeed have a special blessing each and every day because we have Kingfishers in our midst.

I recently had another experience that drove home the point to me that things could be a whole lot worse here. I guess it's all a matter of perspective; we need to realize that things could always be better, but by the same token they could also be a lot worse. I wound up taking someone out diving this past week that was visiting from another island to the south of us. She is from Europe, but had accepted a job out here and has been in the islands since February of this year. She was going on and on about how wonderful and modern Saipan was. She was saying we had great restaurants and such a large selection of foods to choose from. She was impressed that we didn't have rats running through the restaurants here. She was impressed with the Internet connections and how so many restaurants offered free wireless Internet connections. And she was impressed that we had such incredible shore diving available to us and that there are actually dive shops where we can get our tanks filled.

Now I'll readily admit I've been somewhat frustrated by our dive shops in recent months that they will have their doors locked in the middle of the day on the weekends or not have anyone there that can fill your scuba tanks. I find it frustrating that they wouldn't bother having enough help to provide basic services such as having someone there to fill tanks in the middle of a Saturday or Sunday afternoon. But now I was talking to someone who has all her dive gear, and lives on a tropical island surrounded by some amazing diving, but she can't experience any of it because there are no dive shops left on the island she lives on. Their tourism has almost completely dried up and therefore the dive shops have all closed their doors and gone somewhere else. I can't even imagine how frustrated I'd be if I were in her shoes, having all your own dive gear, living on a tropical island but not being able to dive because there are no compressors to fill your dive tanks. So yes, I might be frustrated from time to time because I have to sit and wait for an hour or two to get my tanks filled, but at least I can get them filled and I can continue to dive on Saipan. Again, it's amazing how looking at things from a different point of view can totally change your perspective. Sure our tourist numbers are down and it's impacted every single business on island, but we do still have tourists, and we are getting additional flights from Asiana to bring more Korean tourists.

I don't have to worry about getting sick every time I go to a restaurant because they don't practice hygiene or sanitary conditions, and I still have a pretty good selection of restaurants to choose from. I can go to the grocery store and buy products that haven't been outdated for a minimum of 6 months. Sure, I do have to be careful when shopping here because we do have outdated food still on the shelves, but at least it's not all outdated! Again, it's all a matter of perspective.

Now I'm not suggesting that we just ignore all of our problems and challenges and let the corrupt and incompetent politicians out there continue with their ways. And I'm not saying they all are, but we all know that some of them are. We do need to keep fighting to improve things, to make sure that the politicians don't waste our money and squander what we've entrusted to them. We need to keep pointing out when we see problems and offer solutions. We need to talk about the fact that we pass laws to protect all of us by requiring drivers training, and yet we have never implemented or enforced the law. We should question why this has been allowed to continue as long as it has. We should demand answers from the Commissioner of Public Safety and the Governor. But we just need to be careful that we don't become so overwhelmed by all the problems, that we lose sight of the blessings we do have here. It's always easier to just concentrate on the negatives and to ignore the positive things around us.

When you let yourself be consumed by all the negatives and the problems it tends to give you a very sour outlook on life and it clouds everything you do. I am just saying that if we take time to look at the Kingfishers and appreciate them, our day will be richer for it. If we realize that we do have choice and selection and the availability of goods, hopefully it will make us give thanks for it a few times a day. If the next time I go to get my scuba tank filled and can't find a single dive shop open, I smile and remember that at least I can dive here because sooner or later I will find them there and be able to get my tanks filled I will feel much better about life in general.

I'm not trying to fool anybody here, the outlook here is challenging at best. I'm predicting that we will lose many more businesses in the next year or so, because I still think we are at least a year away from the bottom. Life is going to be challenging on many levels, but it could always be worse. Sometimes a reminder that life is worse other places is just what we need to make us appreciate what we've got. So go find a Kingfisher today and spend a few minutes just watching it and appreciating it. That's something that no one on Guam can do today!

I'm Harry Blalock, thanking you once again for giving me a generous slice of your valuable time, and allowing me to share my Food For Thought.

For more thoughts, pictures and observations, feel free to visit my personal blog at www.saipandiver.blogspot.com>