This post was in the pipeline for far too long

One of the first questions my friends at uni asked me when I joined was "So do you want to go abroad?". My answer usually is a no, unless I'm feeling particularly cynical. The reason is twofold: I hate the cold, and my skinny ass cannot take a cold shower on a warm April morning. The second is a sort of sense of duty, I guess.

The German adolescents after World War II blamed their parents for looking on silently while Hitler massacred 6 million innocents. Most segments of my own generation seem to feel the same towards our own parents, and how an unacceptable amount of bloodshed occurred under their watch. The parents have their typical Sri Lankan parent attitude about these kinds of questions, and avoid talking about these things as much as possible. They even have the nerve to talk about how good things were during our grandparents time! :/

But growing up, and slowly becoming aware of the real mechanics behind this illusion known as the Sri Lankan 'republic' and our supposedly 'democratic' society, we have to come to a conclusion that we always dreaded: We, and our parents before us, were pretty helpless. Nobody likes to accept that their parents were helpless. There's nothing in the world that Ammi and Thathi can't fix. But there is.

And I digress, as I always do. The ship has been wreaked under our 'rents watch. It is taking in water. But there's a lot of cargo in there to salvage, too numerous to be carried to safety. You face the great decision: Do you save what you can, abandon ship, and swim to certain safety? Or do you attempt what many would consider impossible, and try to repair the ship and save all the cargo? Do you escape with your memories of paradise, your photos, your mementoes? Or do you try to save paradise itself?

Edit: Of course there are a few wise/crazy fellows who jump into the stormy sea and swim to land, get resources from there, and leave the safety of said land and come back to repair the ship. Those are a truly brave/insane bunch, risking the lives they've built up and everything they have to save a sinking ship.

Please Note: I hope nobody takes this post the wrong way. This was not meant as an attack on people who may have chosen the first path. I have many good friends and people I love dearly who have chosen that path, and I still love them dearly and respect their choice. I am merely trying to justify insanity, the attempts of some many to swim against the hard current. I hope you, the reader, understands this...

:)