First World Problems

[Here's a little essay I wrote for my own amusement on 2024-05-27 and decided to share here too... You're welcome.]

I’m going through a personal crisis right now…

Something’s stopping me from getting what I want.

Everyone has their own issues. Their own problems. Some people worry about what their next meal will be. Will it be a nutritious, home-cooked meal or a $7 Quarter-Pound Burger from McDonalds? Other people worry about commuting to work. Without enough money to buy a car, they rely on public transportation and worry about whether or not they’ll make it to the stop on time.

Some people worry about their next paycheck. Even though they worked 40+ hours last week, they can’t stop thinking about how their life would crumble if their paycheck doesn’t come through on Friday.

Then there’s my problem…

Poor internet speed.

Since starting my data analyst job nine months ago, I’ve worked from home three days a week, spending each of those magnificent days in my home office (aka an extra room near the garage).

I’ve never complained about my home office because I’m living the life in it: fast internet, no distractions, and the perk of wearing my PJs while working. 

But one thing has always annoyed me: my office has no windows. 

My house’s side door is in the room, with two 6-inch long by 6-inch tall windows. From 10 feet away, however, those windows look more like peepholes. And it’s not like the view is great, either.

I see tiny tree branches dangling in front of the windows and the side of my next-door neighbor’s house. Every once in a while, however, when those tiny branches feel friendly, they allow me to catch a glimpse of sunlight. It doesn’t happen often. Honestly, rarely. But every once in a while, the phenomenon occurs. It’s not enough to keep me content for the entire day but enough to put me in a temporary good mood.

The last few weeks have not treated me well. I feel sun-deprived with warmer weather hitting New York and sunnier days becoming more common. I feel like a kid being put in an eight-hour timeout in the house’s darkest room while all the other kids around the neighborhood are playing in the sun. And I can’t even watch them through the window because there are no windows!

I spend all my working days indoors, so I think I don’t get enough natural light.

I don’t even know how much sunlight is enough sunlight. Perhaps 15 minutes a day is all I need, so working in a windowless room shouldn’t be too bad. But surely it isn’t as terrible as worrying about what I will eat for my next meal or whether my next paycheck will be deposited into my account.

I’m feeling greedy right now and want the luxury of working in a room with one or (ideally) two windows. Real windows. Big windows. Not little peepholes that you hardly notice are there on a cloudy day.

And guess what…

My bedroom upstairs has two windows and plenty of room for my desk. How wonderful!

So this weekend, I said goodbye to my office and moved everything to my room upstairs. Right now, I’m writing this essay at my new desk spot, complaining about how shitty the WiFi is here.

This is 100% a first-world problem.

I’ve always known that the WiFi in my room isn’t the best. The router is one floor below me and on the other side of the house. Ironically, it was four feet from my desk in the old office.

I haven’t even had my desk in this new spot for three hours, and I’m already complaining. Rather than trying to problem-solve and think of creative ways to work around this problem, I’m writing this essay.

Writing isn’t going to improve my WiFi speed. Not a chance. There are more productive things I could do right now, like moving my desk back downstairs. But that’s too much for me. I’d rather do this.

And it’s paying off…

Writing about my tragic, first-world struggle with poor WiFi makes me think about an idea we could all benefit from thinking about more: privilege.

We all have different privileges in life. When I say privilege, I refer to the opportunities we have that others don’t have.

It varies based on multiple factors (such as wealth, connections, and location, to name a few).

While I’m sitting here, clicking away at my keyboard, feeling frustrated over the slow internet speed, someone 5,000 miles away from me doesn’t even have a computer. They probably don’t have WiFi either. And while I’m here, feeling special since I can work in my pajamas, someone on the other side of town (maybe even around the block from me) wakes up at 4 a.m. to commute 2+ hours and make $2 more than minimum wage.

My problems aren’t the same as yours. Which aren’t the same as those faced by someone 10 miles away from me. Which aren’t the same as those faced by someone 10,000 miles away from me.

Most of us think our lives are so tough because our WiFi connection sucks or because work makes us commute into the office once a week or because gas prices went from $3.59 to $3.69 (I don’t know how gas prices are near you, but on Long Island, I’ve been seeing numbers in the high threes recently).

But remember that we’re all privileged in our own ways.

Maybe you worry about a bad WiFi connection in your home like me. Maybe you worry about having no WiFi since you don’t have the money to afford it. Or maybe you worry about having too many WiFi networks because your mansion is so damn big and now you don’t know which network to connect your iPhone, Macbook, iPad, and coffee maker to.

I started writing this essay to vent about my WiFi problem and how I may have to return to the dark home office downstairs. But now I realize my problem really isn’t a critical one.

Who cares if I have to work downstairs instead of upstairs? I could always take a five-minute break from my desk and walk 10 feet to the adjacent room, where two big windows would greet me with more sunlight than I need. And who am I to complain about not having the perfect work-from-home office setup? I have a home office separate from my bedroom. Most people must work in a cramped space five feet from their bed or in a small corner of their living room.

I’m privileged enough to have these luxuries, so I now realize that instead of complaining about the things I still don’t have, I should embrace the things I do have. Because somewhere across the world or across town, someone probably wishes they had what I have.

They’d laugh if they saw me greedy and wanting more when I already have enough.

[NOTE: Over one week has passed since realizing my WiFi upstairs sucks. And… I STILL HAVEN’T SOLVED THE PROBLEM. Instead, I moved my monitor, keyboard, work laptop, and what seems like miles of random cords/wires to my dining room table. I’m sure my family loves me taking up space and telling them to quiet down while I'm in meetings.]