Friday, September 23, 2005

Weird

Random events I have witnessed after Katrina.

“It feels like living in a third world country.”
- A New Orleans resident on CNN

“The stock of all the financial institutions is going to crash because of all the un-recovered debt.”
- A colleague at work

A: “Did you hear. Gas prices just went up 50 cents because an oilfield in Louisiana blew because of the floods.”
B: “Did you say 50 cents! Noooooooooooooooooo!!”
- Conversation I overheard in the corridors

I guess, honesty isn’t always the best policy. :-/

Friday, September 16, 2005

I can’t get no satisfaction

Look around you. Chances are you will see successful people. Making good money. Studying in a good university. Chances also are that most of them whine. Something don't fit, right?

I was discussing a web article with a friend recently. It said that for most people, happiness was a function of how you were doing with respect to the people around you. Most people make endless comparisons with their peers – he is making more than me, she is cuter than me. Given that one tends to hang out with people in a similar social stratum, one inevitably manages to find at least one thing to whine about. And that, more often that not, is more than enough.

In a weird way, I like it like this. All of us definitely feel this unique sensation of guilt – what if my parents had not had the money to educate me. What if I was born someone else – less smart, fatter? How much of what I have is just plain luck.

It is strangely gratifying to imagine that at the end of the day – we are all more or less equally depressed. : )

Afterthought: I guess I am generalising. There definitely are a chosen few who are literally at peace with themselves. I think in my 22 years of existence, I have met 4 of them.

For the rest of us, a surefire way to stay happy would be to make loser friends. : )

This is not meant to be a serious post. Please to not be flaming.