shorty, I can take you there...

I'm sure basically everyone has heard the popular Sean Kingston song I Can Take You There.  Its a fun loving melody the whole family can enjoy, but the lyrics pose a contradiction.  At one point he is offering a beautiful girl a trip of a life time to the tropics to enjoy fruity drinks and have a great time, not having a care in the world.  The next lines go on to say that if the tropical paradise doesn't suffice, then he would gladly take the girl to the worst parts of town where you are likely to get mugged or harmed, you can see 'killers get hung' and if not to those extremes, you are more than likely to see crime stricken neighborhoods and people who are struggling, suffering through hardships and poverty to make it.

Wow, that is a TOUGH choice... I don't even know what I would choose in that situation.  Good thing Sean Kingston hasn't asked me out or my brain might explode from the effort of the decision making process.

Surely I jest.

I would possibly vacation in a place like that, but not to the extent that he is describing.  It would sicken me to be in said 'slums' and flaunting my money and comforts of a cushy life (not that I have a wealthy or cushy life by any means).

Which brings me to my point (yes, a long, roundabout way of getting to the point, but the preface was good), I read an article today stating that a Royal Caribbean Cruise Line Ship made the decision to have a quick stop over in Haiti.  The stop, had it happened a couple of weeks ago, would have been far from news-worthy, but after the disastrous earthquake, this was shocking.  Reports say the ship also delivered relief supplies, which is admirable, but they went beyond that by trying to keep the cruise stop like any other, advertising that passengers can spend their time "shopping for trinkets at a craft market" while armed guards stand at the entry to the complex to guarantee their safety.*

In what world is it okay to go to an area that is still reeling from the destruction of a natural disaster?  How is it that anyone could comfortably venture out sight seeing, enjoying exotic cocktails and sampling the local delicacies, while only miles away, tens of thousands of bodies are being piled in the streets, and actual survivors of the disaster are on a constant hunt for food and water to try and remain a 'survivor' and not become a number among the body piles.

Hopefully in the future the Cruise Lines will thoroughly think out their routes and stops.  If it is in the cards that they aid a suffering country, perhaps they will do just that and move on immediately after, not selfishly making it seem like they are encouraging people to flaunt comfort in the faces of those riddled in despair.  I am more than positive many passengers would be okay with the quick, charitable stop.

*Thanks for the information provided by Yahoo! News