People I know who have traveled to third-world countries have told me that the poverty they saw in those places is unimaginable to all of us who grew up in developed countries.
And at least some of the things we view as problems here would be seen as luxuries in many parts of the world.
What first world problems are third world luxuries?
Here’s what AskReddit users had to say about this.
1. Wow.
“Expiration dates on food.
I remember an interview of a North Korean defector where she was asked why she chose to flee outside NK despite the propaganda.
She answered that once she saw expiration dates on food sent by an NGO, she knew there was an outside world where people had the luxury to let the food get spoiled.”
2. Seriously…
“A government have to entice people to get a free vaccine by having million dollar lotteries.
Or people that are picky about their vaccine like, “eww, it’s the J&J vaccine, that’s the cheapo one, I want the luxury Pfizer one.”
3. Mental health.
“Needing and having the resources to go to therapy.
Taking care of your mental health is something you can only really do when all your other material needs are met.”
4. Stop your complaining.
“Complaining endlessly about everything from the comfort of your safe house with working plumbing that delivers clean, drinkable water.”
5. Inconvenient.
“Having an electric bill too high becasuse you use a thermostat to keep the inside of your house at the perfect temperature 24/7.”
6. What a waste.
“Just watched a video about how much food and products get thrown into landfills in America because it’s not profitable for companies to keep it and makes more sense to them to destroy it.
We have so much food that we could use to feed so many people but it’s all about money for the greedy b**tards in charge.”
7. Make the air fresher!
“Fresh air not fresh or minty enough that people have to buy essential oil diffuser to make the air smell nicer.”
8. Can’t decide.
“”What take-out are we getting tonight”?
Spends an hour deciding and complaining that you don’t know what to get.”
9. A nice problem to have.
“My mom was complaining the other day about how the deep end of our pool is too cold before Memorial Day and after Labor Day.”
10. Yup.
“Driving to work in your 30k SUV and complaining about having to work 40 hours a week on your thousand dollar iphone.”
11. Home ownership.
“I live in a small house. Not a ‘tiny’ house, but only 1087 square feet.
I live alone, and I OWN this house. So….third world luxury.”
12. All this stuff.
“Not enough room in the refrigerator…. The grocery store doesn’t carry my brand….my microwave burned my popcorn…
The water pressure in the hotel sucks…. I lost all of my money gambling in the casino because the strippers were distracting me.”
13. Over the top.
“Obesity.
All of our food driving the obesity epidemic in most of North America and Europe.
In most countries having that much food at your disposal is a luxury.”
14. Put it into perspective.
“Wife and I went a week without hot water when our water heater broke last month.
Still had running water, just not steaming hot, so we could comfortably stand and do nothing in the shower for 15 minutes.
Really put things in perspectove when I realized how my biggest problem was unattainable to many people around the world.”
Do you think there are first world problems that are third world luxuries?
Tell us what you think in the comments.
Thanks a lot!
