Saturday, May 12, 2007

Saturday Blues....


...I have always regarded retirement as some faraway land I will, hopefully, reach some day, but today I awoke with a tremendous urge to think more about the decisions I have made which are slowly pushing me into middle age. The source of my discontent is an article I read this morning in of the magazines I enjoy reading in my free time. The article was entitled "The great brain robbery". It triggered so many unanswerable questions, that I found myself in an early morning dilemma. Based on the fact that there are more highly skilled Greeks abroad than there are in Greece provoked my interest, and as I read the article, I began to feel an ache in my stomach, as doctors, scientists, professors described their reasons for not returning to the land of their father's. Now believe me, I am no scientist, nor do I claim to be highly skilled in any subject, but the one big question kept worrying me..."if they are so against coming to live here, then what am I doing here?" The fact seems to be that there are more negative than positive aspects to returning to your roots, especially when you are thirty-something, trying to bring up children in a place where little is offered, unless you have a full wallet. And something even more disturbing is the fact that as you are raising your children, the only certainty is that one day they will leave, and you will be the one showing them the way, because, well, there are simply no prospects. If asked why I want my children to be good students...the answer is simple, so that they can at least have a choice or more so, have the sense to know they have choices, when the time comes. I'm sorry Greece...but, once more, what you have to offer seems to be less than acceptable. I know something needs to be done, I know I have a voice, I know that things must change...but god knows I have no idea where to start, so I start with me and my family, hoping that whatever change there is, it will be for the better. As I looked out from my window this morning all I could see was a country becoming one great retirement home for those who had made their mark elsewhere... let's hope I read something a little more optimistic tomorrow!!!