tirsdag 17. mars 2009

Sympathy exploited? (may be offensive)

Is it just me, or is everyone starting to feel more and more sorry for themselves? You are now probably thinking: "What do you mean asshole?". To be honest, I'm not really sure. It's just that I get really frustrated when I see and hear a lot of the stories that are being told. About people who suffer because of the situation that they're in, or because of something that happened to them once. I know this sound cold hearted, but stay with me. In my opinion, some people are taking advantage of the word "sympathy". And in many ways taking it too far.

I understand stories about guys/girls who lost a familymember, lost everything they owned or populations who are starving because of dictators and corruption (the list goes on). I genuinly feel sorry for those people that have proper problems. Stuff that doesn't happen to everyone, and hopefully never will. For example, in American Idol. Everybody loves to see a guy who lost his wife, or a girl that was raised in poverty succeed and fulfill their dream. But then you have the remaining lot, complaining about irrellevant shit. "I lost my dog. He was my best friend and I know he would want me to win this competition. This could change my life." Now hang on. I love dogs too, but in the end it's just a bloody dog. Of course it means a lot to them personally, but don't make a big deal out of it on national tv. Compared to the guy who lost his wife because of an illness or an accident, the dog story doesn't mean anything, does it?! And tv has to take a lot of the blame for this "trend" in our society. People are trying to make others feel sorry for them, no matter how lame their story is.

And the worst part is, the genuine and special stories has to suffer for it. Because since it's turning into a society that we're supposed to feel sorry for everyone, I end up feeling sorry for no one. And that makes me feel like a selfish bastard, but I can't help it. I don't even know how to separate the stories from each other. And I have no idea which ones are genuine or not anymore. Sometimes you just know, but the remaining time we don't have a clue, do we?

Have I ever felt sorry for myself? Of course I have. But lately I've been thinking a lot about it. I was raised in a good family. Not rich, but definatly not poor. I live in one of the worlds richest countries, Norway. Let's just say that I have no reason at all to feel sorry for myself. But still i catch myself doing it. Why? I believe there's three apparent reasons: 1. Media, 2. Media. Can you guess the third one?

I hate the fact that people are starting to use sympathy for their own benefit in certain situations. At the times where I have felt sorry for myself: Where did it get me? Nowhere. Just digging a hole beneath myself, making myself miserable. And for no acceptable reason. Just bullshit that would make starving, oppressed africans laugh. And here I am, pitying myself. Made me realise that it was time to dust of my shoulders and get on with my life. A life that a lot of people don't get to live. A life in safe and secure enviroments.

The beginning

Well, I am not really sure why I started this blog. There is no reason, other than curiosity I guess. Everybody seems to be blogging these days, so why shouldn't I? Also a good friend of mine started blogging recently, which probably made me interested as well. Check out his blog at http://grumpynorwegian.blogspot.com. Yes, he is a jolly guy too.

PS: I am not an expert when it comes to grammar, so my blog will probably be full of mistakes.