I admit sometimes I get caught up in all the petty "challenges" in life. I start thinking that any slight offense visited on me from anyone (Arizona drivers, the idiot in customer service, my crappy daily horoscope) is proof yet again of how tough life can be. Not only do I stop seeing the forest for the trees I'm pretty much only seeing shrubs or blades of grass.

Then I usually get slapped upside the head and remember how grateful I am to have been born in this county and what a privileged little twit I am for thinking I've got problems. So I got slapped this week - twice.

Slap one presented itself when I heard that Saudi Arabia had decided to build a city for women workers http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/aug/12/saudi-arabia-city-women-workers. At first blush I thought this sounded like a fabulous idea! I had a vision of a city with clean streets, beautiful landscaping, lots of wine bars, hair salons, and a Target on every corner. I was snapped out of my reverie when I got further into the story and realized that women in Saudi Arabia actually need this city because law prevents mixing of the sexes. So basically very few of those girls have jobs - and the financial independence that accompanies being able to support yourself. Here's another fun fact - women in Saudi Arabia can't even drive! Now there are certainly times I'm sure my husband wishes he could keep me off the streets as I am a horrible driver, but even he sees the value in me driving. Could you imagine having to ask your husband to drive you, you know, anywhere?

But the Middle East in general isn't a shining example of equality for women so I chalked it up to "it is what it is" and mentally went along my merry way.

Then a few days later I get slapped again. A Russian court just sentenced four female members of a punk rock band called - you guessed it - Pussy Riot, to two years in jail (in addition to the 6 months they've already served while awaiting trial). All this because they staged a demonstration at a Russian Orthodox Church as a way to draw attention to the close relationship between the church and the Kremlin. For a peek at what gets a gal two years in Russia click on this link: http://www.youtube.com/embed/VtYw-d1CSxQ. To me it looks like an LMFAO video, I'm just saying.

By the way, these girls look like they are all of thirteen years old. The thought of them in a Russian prison makes my skin crawl.

So thank you, Universe, for reminding me this week about how awesome it is to be an American woman. We get to do just about any job that a man can do and as an added bonus we get to bitch and moan about whatever we want whenever we want. So the next time you find yourself having a pity party for yourself while driving home from work just remember, at least your husband isn't driving!

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