Does it seem like people would rather be unhappy than happy nowadays?

[bicker]

As for all of the posts talking about what's "tacky".... 99% of the time, my thought is that life is too short to worry about such inane crap.

Good point, and really, what one person considers tacky another person doesn't, and vice versa - labeling anything as "tacky" and trying to use that as a foundation for any subsequent points is never valid.

 

[Klismania]

Maybe it's just the people I'm friends with, but does it seem like, nowadays, that people actually prefer being unhappy?

Based on the way my friends act, sometimes it seems like they want drama in their lives- they love drama. They want to complain. They want the attention I give them when I sit and listen to their vast problems (which are most always about men or declared "frenemies"), but they don't really call or want to hang out unless they have a problem that needs listening to.

Even on the DIS, it seems people are so easily offended, upset, etc, when it's really not something to even be upset about (ex: registries- okay, it's tacky but is it really affecting your life that much that you're grumpy about it all day?).

As a relatively happy person who really doesn't like drama, I just don't get why some people don't want to cut the bad stuff out of their life (that guy that keeps cheating on you that you "hate"? Just dump him!).

Maybe I just need new friends.

I blame the 80's and it's me me me expectancy, but I also blame the reality shows. 10 years ago what used to be considered "over the top" behavior displayed by seemingly normal everyday people was aired on TV as entertainment. Now that behavior is considered normal everyday behavior and people have to top what used to be "over the top".

Think about the show "Bridezilla" and how people were shocked with how those first few over the top women acted about every little detail. Now that behavior is considered normal and excused (she's that way because she's stressed) and we're seeing even more worse behavior displayed because anything less would be considered not as entertaining.

 

[GoldieSaysMeep]

I used to have a coworker who complained to me constantly about her problems because I was new and a quiet listener. She was pretty bad and it seemed like she wanted me to relate to everything she would whine about (mostly about men and women she was no longer friends with also).

When I was engaged, she was always going on about "how are you going to keep your man out of the strip clubs?????????" and telling me how her boyfriend goes to the strip club every weekend and it's so horrible and his ex girlfriend was a stripper there and she thinks he's cheating etc. etc. etc. She'd just go off on a tirade about her assorted dramas with her baby daddy (that would she called him) and the stripper and baby daddy's other friends who were all apparently drug dealing gangstas (these are all middle aged adults by the way).

The response I GAVE her:
*nods quietly* & wow that's rough. I'm sorry to hear that.


The response I SHOULD have given her:
First off, I wouldn't be marrying a guy who enjoyed strip clubs and regardless, my DH friends are all happily married nerds who are into video games and the rest of them are gay and so not really into strippers. So, they took him to an arcade to play laser tag on go karts or something of that nature. DH brought my neices back prizes from the prize counter. So, you see, DH is apparently better to his neices through marriage than your baby daddy is to his own family, so you should probably think about leaving since you complain about him every single day. If his deviant lifestyle is really as bad as all this, it's probably not safe for you and your kids anyway. Drug dealing gangstas huh? Wow. Maybe join the witness protection program. Guess you'll have to quit work though and find a new group of people to complain to.


What I thought in my head:
If I had to listen to her complain all day, I'd probably take up smoking crack and hanging out at strip clubs too… lol