Why me?

The flight was less than half full and about an hour long. Thai Airways made it seem like the good old days with lunch served on a flight that began at 10:00am and included complimentary wine. Thus I returned to Bkk.
And, what a way of cruising the Mekong yesterday, sipping an Anchor Beer while sitting on the upper deck watching the scenery while eating Cambodian delicacies? That pretty well sums the day. And, it was a day, embarking at 10:30am and docking at 6pm. Twenty of Ravy's friends/family made up the group. The weather cooperated with a light cloud cover keeping temperatures moderate, upper 80s, and a light breeze besides. We went upriver several miles to a private island that the family had reserved for our barbecue picnic. True, there was no red jello, but those Cambodian women have the same understanding of the importance of food as the Scandinavian Americans with whom I grew up. Every two minutes someone was handing me another plate of food.
After a very leisurely picnic lunch we boated to another island and beached the boat at sandy stop for swimming. The claim was made that the water was clean enough for drinking, a claim the seemed belied by all the farmers I saw washing their cattle in the river. (Here a little sidebar. I also went boating on my first trip to PP in 94/95 when I witnessed a novel approach to off loading cattle. A cow was led to the edge of the deck, several people would give the cow a quick shove overboard and it would swim to shore. [Here a little sidebar on a sidebar. The next time somone tries to tell you they've been cow tipping ask them the last time they saw a cow sleep standing up.])
The boat hugged the shore as it traveled giving us a good view of the farmers and fishermen at work. Many of the fisherman are of the Cham ethnic group who are mostly Muslim. I saw fishermen on their tiny boat doing their 5pm prayers. One woman was in a sparkling white robe and I wondered how she could keep it so white living on a boat about 25 feet long.
Late afternoon must be bathing/washing time as the shoreline was filled with people either bathing or washing clothes or both.
The only shadow in the experience was the persistent question, Why me? Why was I on the boat and not one those struggling to eke out a living along the river? The answer doesn't provide a lot of comfort..."an accident of birth."