Turtle Channel!!!

A young lady, Anna, walked by a Chanel store. She peered into the window and recognized their classic bag. ‘It is gorgeous’, Anna thought, ‘and I must have it. I will look good in it. A bag like that will make me stand out in my group of friends’. She worked hard for a whole month. She ate nothing but bread and drank nothing but water to save for that bag. Within a month, she had enough savings to buy it. And so she did.

The bag was fantastic. Anna took it everywhere. And then a month later in the restroom of a popular restaurant, she overheard two friends talking.

“Anna has been carrying the same bag everyday for a month. She thinks she is so classy, but she uses a Chanel bag with a pair of cheap shoes!” Said Friend 1.

“Hahaha, oh yeah. And those awful clothes I know she got from the cheap shop downtown. I know where she shops. And can you believe she is using a Swatch watch with a Chanel bag!!! Who is she kidding???” Said Friend 2.

Both friends snickered while double checking their makeup. Assuring themselves that they looked flawless, they washed their hands and left the restroom. Anna had not moved from the toilet cubicle she was in. She was completely shocked. The bag did not make her look classy at all. Instead, it showed all her fashion flaws and people were laughing at her! She quickly wiped her tears left the restaurant without another word to anyone. She would later claim to had received an emergency phone call from home and had to rush off.

She spent the next two months looking for higher paying jobs, a wealthier boyfriend and better makeup. She borrowed money from her parents, sisters and friends to buy Gucci and Prada shoes, Fendi and Vuitton bags, and clothes from Emilio Pucci, Giorgio Armani and classic Chanel suits. She started reading Vogue diligently and followed the fashion advice.

Within a year, Anna was a different girl. She had a fabulous new wardrobe, was the best dressed girl in her group. Many other women looked up to her for fashion advice. She had beautiful handbags, shoes and clothes. But Anna was no longer satisfied for long. She used to be happy for months after a new purchase, yet now a new Chanel bag could only make her happy for a week. Then she was out shopping for a new Vuitton to add to her collection. She could not walk out with last season’s clothes. She had an image to maintain. She also needed to add jewels to her collection. Diamond rings, at least half a carat, necklaces and bracelets. Her watch must not be anything less than a gold Rolex. And she cannot be always wearing the same watch! She also needed earrings, a BMW, and a larger house. She needed to marry someone who could afford to buy a big apartment on a posh part of town with a prestigious address. She only ate in highly established restaurants and drank only Dom Pérignon champagne.

Anna. Oh, Anna.

The saddest irony of life is that when stranded in the middle of the ocean on a raft, you will probably die of thirst. If you drink from the waters, the salt content will make you so dehydrated, that you will need to drink more water. Drinking more sea water will dehydrate you even more, and so the process continues until you die. Of Dehydration. Of Thirst. While surrounded by an ocean of water.

Everyday, another one of us will start drinking the sea water, end up drinking more and more, never to quench our thirst and never realising that if only we stopped drinking that water, we would be less thirsty. What a pity to be surrounded by ample water, but remain constantly thirsty.

"Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst."