A challenge suggested, sort of, by Alex Massie:
Admit it. Certain things make you desperately unhappy, and you don't know why--the Sbarro at the mall, the taste of Jolly Ranchers in winter, the woman in the Buick station wagon you saw at the Kwik Trip, the Food Network after ten p.m.In 100 words or less, please answer the question, "What makes you so unhappy?" in the comments field below. Selected answers will appear in Dean Bakopoulos's new novel, My American Unhappiness, forthcoming from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in late 2009 or early 2010.
The pitch comes from some guy (not Alex) who wants you to help him write a novel. But I think this would make a good reader thread. So, let's get to it. In 100 words or less, what makes you so unhappy? My answer after the jump:
The mall. It's not shopping itself -- I actually like to shop in some places -- but the climate-controlled sameness of shopping malls. I don't know why they make me so depressed, but they inspire in me a kind of sadness that slightly unnerves me because it's so hard to explain. The mall is a generic Everyplace. The chain stores are all the same. It's a totally artificial environment. I don't care that it's convenient; it's not real, and I guess the mall reminds me of the pervasive artificiality in the structures of our common life, and the commodification of conformity.
(I hate fluorescent lighting too. But you can only talk about one thing.)
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Scurvy: And I actually like, and find a kind of contentment, in a lot of things that make some people sad: the lonely people in Hopper's paintings, especially in urban settings; old sidewalks and concrete steps in the tired parts of US cities; and every poignant, autumnal melody in Brahms.
I find that certain melancholic things -- rainy days, for example -- make me nearly euphoric. As long as they're properly lit!
Mccxxiii, I'm sorry about your job.
Max,
I know and i is something that I am working on. I used to go off on people when they said it (I've had a tendency to be a little bit arrogant. But now I'm better. Another thing that I do - even though I've lived in the gulf coast my entire life, I can't bring myself to say "coke" when referring to beverages. I have to say "soda". My family has always thought I was strange.
Floating despair? Desperately unhappy?
I will admit that I just could not bear to read 120 whiney lists of things that were just mildly annoying, so I just scrolled fast by them after a while.
But Rod, gee whiz, if malls annoy you, don't go. I don't, and it hasn't limited my life noticeably. If I need something, I can figure out how to get it, and a lot of the time I manage to figure out how to make do without it anyway. Some people find suburbs pleasant and supportive places to live. If you don't, move.
In truth, we are probably among the luckiest, happiest people on earth. (One measure of our comfortable prosperity is the fact that we can to afford an computer and an internet connection).
People like Old Susan with the mentally ill so who threatens her and the person who just lost his job have a reason to be unhappy, but even so they have a positive attitude. Most of the rest are just listing mild annoyances, not unhappiness.
I’m late replying to this one (long time lurker, rare poster) and for the most part, I’m a glass half full, look on the bright side type of guy but some things make me unhappy/sad/angry about the world around me. Some of them have been listed above but here are a few of my own:
An ever-present feeling of selfishness in (UK) society. From double-parking on narrow roads and dropping litter upwards, many people seem to have forgotten that they live in a society.
Cruelty to animals. Apart from causing unnecessary suffering to animals what on earth must be going on in their minds that they feel it is acceptable to hurt an innocent animal for their own twisted reasons?
Revelling in anti-intellectualism – many people here in the UK have no desire to learn more about the world, to improve and widen their understanding of things around them. They are happy to wallow in Saturday night television, cheap tabloids, football, cheap beer and moronic radio DJs.
A lack of empathy – I feel that people have forgotten how to put themselves in the position of others. If it’s OK for them it’s OK fullstop, consequences for other people don’t matter. Probably linked to point 1.
On that positive note I shall return to my green tea and lurking!
Rgds
Peter
I loved reading this list. Except that I got a longing sadness out the sight of the words of some people who enjoy the experience of carrying such a cancerous chip on their shoulder, and who expend their very real ability with words to expatiate on it.
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