Seeing how the Other Half Lives

I recently took a vacation on a cruise ship, transiting the Panama Canal for the first time in my life. My family had some direct connection to the Canal: my wife's grandfather had worked on the Canal in his youth, and one of the French engineers, Philippe Jean Bunau-Varilla, had worked on the original French attempt to build it, as well as having worked on the Suez Canal. Bunau-Varilla was a patient of my grandfather's in Paris, during his sojourn there. The contrasts that I witnessed on the cruise were immense. In some countries, people could barely put a roof over their heads, and worried about where to find the next meal for their families. Some countries were emerging into middle class existence, even a modicum of prosperity. Then there were many of the passengers on the ship who outweighed me by 100 pounds or more. It was instructive, and stunning. It looked like they were trying to eat the world.