“What are you going to do once you get back to the real world?” It’s a question that as time has gone on has started to bother me more and more. It’s not the question itself on what do I plan on doing after The Race but it’s the implication behind the words the real world. I left to go on the race not even 2 months after graduating college and to some it probably looked like I was escaping from having to get a job, or figure out if I wanted to go on and do more schooling or whatever other responsibilities I’m supposed to have. It probably looked like I was just trying to escape the “real world.” However, I am far from escaping the real world.
From Europe to Africa to Asia to South America I have seen many different parts of the world and many different cultures. I have seen all over the world how people treat those who society has deemed as lowest of the lows. I have watched as people have turned a blind eye to all the prostitution going on around them. I have seen children go up to cars asking for food because they are so hungry. I have seen the homeless be spit on and I have seen homeless be run over by cars. I have seen a person lying dead in the middle of the street after a car accident. I have heard widows say they wish they could just die instead of living without their husbands. I have watched as hundreds of people bow down to false idols. I have lived with those who are stricken by poverty. I know what it is to go without electricity or running water for days at a time. I know what it is to not have a toilet or an actual shower. I have lived and experienced all of these things. There are so many people that this is their life every single day. I’m not saying that America is not the real world. However, I think as Americans we like to turn away and ignore the issues that are going on around us, myself included.
There are so many people in our own neighborhoods that are wondering where their next meal is going to come from. There are children that are being forced to give up childhoods to help feed their families. Those teenagers you see as high school dropouts what if they didn’t drop out because they were to lazy to go to school or because they didn’t want to apply themselves. What if they dropped out to help keep their brothers and sisters in a house. There are homeless right in our own hometowns. What if I told you this, that a majority of those who are homeless aren’t homeless because they decided to spend all their money on drugs and alcohol like the stereotype says. What if I told you they are homeless because they were just laid off from work, or they are homeless because they or a family member had been sick and now they have no way to pay the bills. What if I told you that a lot of the women/men who are in prostitution aren’t there because they want to be. What if I said that a lot of these women/men are either just trying to find a way to make money for themselves because they have no other option. What if I told you that a lot of these women/men are slaves. I’m not just saying these stereotypes are wrong because I’m guessing but because I have actually spent time with men, women and children in these situations and I have asked them how they got to be in the situations they are in. There have been some people who do live up to the stereotype that society gives up but in reality most people actually do not live up to the different stereotypes.
I have not just seen the negative side of things since I have been gone. I have seen those who struggle to find their next meal have some of the biggest smiles. I have watched as people give their lives to Christ! I have seen the amazement come over people’s faces when they are healed. I have seen people live in a way where they don’t care what others think about them. I have watched a couple boys turn a cardboard box, a stapler, yarn, and 2 plastic cups into a video camera and a mic. I have seen the excitement on kids faces as they receive new school supplies. I have seen kids get excited because they just saw a type of fish they have never seen before. I could go on and on about everything that I have seen from these months being in different countries.
So all this to say don’t ask a racer what they will be doing once they get back to the “real world” because after talking to a few racers that question really bothers them. I would encourage to you to ask them what they plan on doing once they get back home. However, be prepared that some people may have no idea and then others will have a plan. I can say for myself that I have no idea once I get back home in a few months and I am okay with that. I know that for no now I need to stay focused on what God has me doing.
