Pondering Sitges
Just 30-minutes south of Barcelona on the train is a small beach town called Sitges. We ventured down there for the day, enjoying a walk on the beach and a wander around the almost deserted town. It is popular in summer, and popular at carnival time, which had just started that day. Wandering back to the train station we got caught up in the festivities, banging drums, and crazy costumes. Carnival is to celebrate the end of the winter. That, I will definitely celebrate.
We happened to wander into a museum – trying to find a toilet to be frank. Despite this, intrigue led us further and it happened to have a display about Martin Luther King. It got me thinking about a couple of things. How for one small thing can change the course of so many peoples lives. How he did. And how he had come to be what he became: an accumulation of small things. This is why every little thing counts. Be it, taking the bus one less day, or putting that thing in the recycle bin, instead of the rubbish – just as examples. Every little bit counts. It annoys me when people say but I’m only one person, I can’t make a difference. Tell that to Martin Luther King. Tell that to Rosa Parks, tell that to Albert Einstein, tell that to Adolf Hilter. Those are big examples, but we can also look at small ones, or the interconnectedness of everything.
If I ride to work instead of bus, that saves me £80 per month. That is instead spent on other things. It is £80 less to the bus company, and while it is small it affects their balance sheet, and this will affect their decision about how many buses to run, and how often. This in turn affects the amount of diesel fumes pumped into the air, and also how many jobs for those in the bus industry. While it affects employment in a negative sense, that extra £80 I have and am spending elsewhere helps other industries, increasing the need for employment there. Everything is connected, and has an influence, even if it’s one small decision. Because in reality it’s not small, it’s dominoes.
