Sober Musings

Just when everything appears to be going well in the world, there's seems to be a resurgance in unrest. As if the war in Iraq wasn't bad enough, lets throw in the nuclear ambitions of Iran, the even more delicate balance between Palestine and Israel, and don't forget the giant uproar concerning a Danish cartoon, just for kicks. For every democratic election in Haiti, there's a unknown country in the middle of Africa who overthrows the government and kills a couple thousand citizens. It's a sad world that should cause us all to ask some questions and seek answers.

The one question that continually rises to the top of my mind is a simple yet complex question, one that we may be prepared to answer, but we do not wish to know the truth. I ask you, no, I ask the world: Where's Waldo?

Do you remember 1994? The first Gulf War was over. We were still happy about the end of the cold war. Yasser Arafat, Shimon Peres and Yitzhak Rabin won the Nobel Peace Prize. Haiti was still being oppressed by a vicious dictator, but hey, what's new? We knew Waldo and we knew where he was. His red and white shirt set him apart from the thousands of other barbarians, beach goers and carnivalers. We weren't fooled by the girl in a similar red and white shirt or by the evil looking Waldo twin with the yellow shirt. Waldo was right there, walking next to the policeman and the out of work actor.

We knew Waldo and we knew ourselves. But where is Waldo now? When is the last time someone went looking for Waldo? Perhaps Waldo and peace are connected. Some might say that relative peace in the world allowed us to have more time to look for Waldo. I think that when we spend more time looking for Waldo, we have less time to disagree with others. When we focus on just one lost soul, we are reminded that the only way to find peace and happiness is when we know where Waldo is, and that he's safe.

Wars will continue and lives will be lost as long as we sit back and do nothing. As for me, I will never stop my quest to find Waldo.