Venting

I have no idea about other places, but I get the impression that people here are very happy to live in a tightly wound balance of clean luxury and decrepit filth. It's not as bad as some places I've visited in India (thank the lord) but unpleasant enough. Walking to work or to get a meal is unappetising when the view is a combination of trash on the ground, unkempt lawns and scurrying rats. For all our modernity and progress, we certainly have a long way to go.