LOL Cami..Sounds like me. Or "I'm just feeling like cheese would taste good" so I go and munch on a little bit of cheese or I'll think mmm olives sound really good and I'll go get some of those. I really need to stick to some sort of routine and eat every 4 hours or something. It'd be tough. I'm not use to giving myself restraint in that department...:gonk:

Food. I should eat food. Thank you guys for reminding me.

I'm finally home. I would have been home much earlier but I had a crisis to take care of. It's been an interesting day. If I didn't feel suddenly useful to the world I'd be depressed.

Odd how that works out. :)

Well you finally feel like your life has a sense of purpose when you do. It gets tiring when you work at a job where all you do is give people bad news, and get shouted at because it isn't what they want to hear. Been there, done that. :|

You gotta tell us what you did that made you feel so good inside? I'm curious. =3

You should cut who tattled on him D:<

@Bartuc
I wish I had the strength to get into that story with you, but it took... um... *counts on fingers*

It was ongoing for about 6 years, I think. It was a land dispute that escalated way more than it should have been. They had put bullets into the roof of my grandparents campsite and everything. 9_9

@Izumi
I didn't leave the internship feeling accomplished, unfortunately. It made me happy that my supervisor had a personal problem (devastating) that he opened up a little bit about, but it was awkward too.

I felt happy and like I had a place when one of my friends had a complete breakdown after our meeting last night. She just offloaded so much crap for about an hour and said she hadn't known what she'd do if she couldn't just get it all out, since she had no one else she could tell. We're talking everything from alcoholic parents siphoning money (she loves them; they're her mom and dad) to a good boyfriend turned abusive, plus other things I shouldn't get into. Worse things.

Everyone is having problems of epic proportions lately. ;_; It just made me sort of stop and think for a bit.

I think there's something wrong with our society. Everyone's depressed.

Nah, I wouldn't say that..

It depends on the person and the depression. Is it constant? It is due to an outside influence? What's the time length?

Being in the dumps for a week or two and then going back to your old self isn't depression. I don't think everyone's depressed. I just think everyone has hardship.

It's only worrisome when someone can't see the good in anything, ever, which does happen and is concerning. If someone has gotten so low that nothing helps no matter what they or other people try to do, yeah, that's a trouble.

I'm not saying everyone is clinically depressed, but don't you think that the fact that the majority of people are stressed and unhappy more often than they're happy is a problem? Half the people I know are seeing a psychologist for something.

I think it's dependent on context. People can be stressed and still say they're happy more than not (and mean it).

I also wonder about interpretation of the listener. I say this because I myself am guilty of speaking less of the good (when I'm happy, I'm cheerful and in a state of "^_^" but I don't usually gush about it). When I'm upset, I tend to go on and on and on and on, making my life sound much worse than I actually feel.

So every time someone says, "I feel..." or "Something terrible has happened.." or even "I don't know what to do anymore, and this is why..." I try to keep in mind what goes on throughout the day that they don't say.

My friend last night has a lot of crap going on--crap I can't say I'd be dealing with easily, but I know without a doubt that she's not depressed (clinical or otherwise). She has too much going for her, too much that she's worked for. She's very accomplished, but just in need of a space to vent.

I worry I'm not making sense. >>

I understand what you're saying, but if you compare America to many European countries, we're more overworked and stressed. Last year, some thirty-five percent of Americans chose to lose their paid vacation days forever rather than take them because they couldn't miss that much work.

(Ooh, here's a more detailed survey from 2001/2002: http://www.hrmguide.net/usa/worklife...d_vacation.htm)

Or there was some documentary about african refugees being moved to America and their subsequent Americanization, of going from being rich if they had 20 dollars in their hand to the entirety of their money going to bills, taxes, etc, etc. You'd have to see the actual documentary, because I can't explain it well.

I'm not saying we're all miserable and never happy and should just kill ourselves. But I think that the things we've been taught will make us happy (big company job, big house, three cars, etc), really don't, but if we don't have those things we're also not happy because we're failing society's expectations.

Mmm... I wonder how many people were actually studied in that report? Was it really under 1000 (per gender) for that one section? Which populations were studied? What about socio-economic statuses? How many participants have families? There are a lot of unanswered questions for me.

I would also like to see comparative studies between countries. I am not sold that the US is worse off than other countries as far as "gotta work!" mentality goes.

I think it depends on the culture (like your documentary reference, which is a great point) as well. But not even that. Background is huge too. I'm not sure the bulk of the population of the US thinks they have to be the best they can be in the workplace or else they're useless.

I want to know real numbers of how many people worldwide have ever been told "money won't make you happy; it will just pay your bills". Money is one of the worst stress-inducing devices in existence (my opinion, not fact :XD).

I'm wondering whatever happened to people just being happy with what they have, or grateful for the good they can keep despite the bad they can't escape.

That sucks your boss has so much on her plate, and might explain her current mood if she's been a bit too much lately. I guess it's good to form some sort of friendship with the people you work as it kinda gives you that trust factor and feels more like gosh how do I explain it. It's nice to get to know the people you work with, and it's amazing how many people put on a 'work face' though...hubby is notorious for that. Of course it's more of he puts his work effort on and he doesn't drag ass...when he's still in work mode, it's usually me putzing about, dragging my feet and he's gotta nag me to hurry up. He does let some of his closer work friends know personal info when they get the chance to talk...apparently he brags about me a lot...:sweat:

My boss/supervisor is a he. :3 But yeah, he has a load on his plate right now. I'm glad he's going to Gettysburg for a vacation this week. He either just lost or is losing someone very important to him, so I hope he can collect his thoughts while he's away. It just sucks that the office is so overworked.

Where I work, there... really aren't "work faces". You never know what will happen here. Sometimes it's good, sometimes it's bad. But we're a family, so... yeah. It gets odd.

I've yet to really open up to anyone at the internship. I may or may not in the end, but there are just 3 of us there, so... >>;

AH!!! SECOND PAGE!! AHH!!

Mmm, I think Kin needs to update his post. He only has his Atlantis Mask, I think.

*tackles*
Hey-o~!
xD
Well... now it's not on the second page at all!!

I am sooo tired. /flops onto Chi/ You're kind of cool looking, by the way, but I wish your hair was red.

I'm too tired to think much about our earlier conversation, but I agree that I would be wary to say anything like, "We're so much worse off than the rest of the world!" I think I read somewhere that over ninety percent of japanese workers don't take all of their vacation days.

Of course, one thing to consider there is how many days they're offered.

I don't know where the perfect country would be...Yah we work harder, but we're also known to play harder too.

Personally, I don't think I'm too bad off myself. We don't have a lot of money and usually end up just scraping by but hubby has a job he enjoys and well I'm working on it I guess you could say.

Change of subject, I had a lovely day out and I'm feeling refreshed. How is everyone doing?

Boys call you sexy, and you don't care what they say.
However, I do.

D<

What up Chillufflelumps?

Not much, Sexypants. xD

I just got home from Bangor. We had an awesome time out. The sushi was just... :drool: *shiver*

How was your day?

... This is the second time people around have said they are/ have went out to sushi today. I'm still having an awful craving for the stuff.
:drool:
Delicious stuff.

My day was sushiless. :(

But considering I don't like sushi, I guess that's a plus! Hey! 8D

My parents are sick, and I hate that. They get so whiny and needy. >.> And bitchy.

Edit: Here is a good article I think you should read Chi. 8DDD
http://brainstormtech.blogs.fortune....h-tech-coffee/

Hiya me chiness

... I saw a commercial for that coffee. Try it and get a free tall coffee.
xD

Sushi=luff. Even without the raw fish.
xD

... Parents are always like that... where've you been?

@Rando
What did you think of VIA? Which blend did you like more? :3 I think I sent you... 2 Colombian and 1 Italian? I can't remember.
And I hope your parents get better soon.

@Hatake
It was freakity delicious. :drool: I'd have shared it if I could.

@Cami
*waves* ;3