Misery loves company

So, as some of you may know, I live in Calhoun County, West Virginia, USA.

It’s quite the beautiful place.  Trees and shrubs, animals and little to no pollution.  It’s really pretty.  Of course there are no conveniences and if you want (God help you) a McDonald’s you have to drive 30 miles, but it’s a great drive with all types of scenery!!

The thing that is NOT beautiful around here is a large majority of the people.  I’m not talking about physical beauty, because believe me we have many that are physically attractive, I’m talking about the important type of beauty, the type you can’t see.

I've lived in a lot of places, North and South both.  I've been in cities and the countryside, I've lived in towns and villages, but I have NEVER, EVER, EVER been any place like this!!  EVER~

You see, around here people seem to enjoy making people miserable!  Yup, their happiness is tied up with the misery of others.  I don’t understand it, AT ALL.  As a matter of a fact, I think it’s sick in a profound way.  But it is what it is and there is nothing anyone can do to change it!

People want to gossip.  That is a worldwide fact.  Small towns seem to gossip more than large cities, less to do and all that.  But, and believe me it is a big, fat but, around here people ENJOY the misery of others.  They enjoy gossiping and adding their own little twist to whatever tid-bit they are passing along.  They twist things, they add things, they make each and every “story” their own.   Of course, the subject of said story is usually unaware of the things that are being said. 

Until……

Someone, usually someone that they are not that well acquainted with, asks them if such and such is true or if they actually did this or that.  The subject, caught unaware of the recent gossip, will be stunned or angry or just plain embarrassed that ANYONE would think/say such things about them.  They will be amazed that ANYONE would find ANYTHING they did as being “gossip worthy”.

But in small town “Merica” it IS gossip worthy.  But it’s gossip worthy ONLY because they (the ambiguous they) can add to it.

And the reason “they” want to add to it, because NOTHING anyone else does is enough to match the misery of the gossipers.  Yup, the gossip spreaders are among the most miserable human beings in existence!!
For some reason, “they” seem to think that if they make a story a little bit better or a little bit juicier then the person they are talking about will become miserable!!

And if the object of the gossip is already miserable?  Well then “they” have a field day.  Never are they happier than at the moment they are causing pain and misery to another human being!!

I don’t get it, but maybe you do.

I've actually heard someone say that it makes them feel “better” to know someone is miserable!!

WTF??  Am I wrong in thinking there is something inherently wrong with that??

We've all hear that Misery loves company, but DAMN, how fucking much company does one miserable person need???

There are so many ways that these people, these miserable people, these miserable gossips make life unbearable for others.  They don’t see the pain they cause, or else they don’t care.  Some of them even go so far as say it’s “getting back at” whomever their unfortunate target is.

There are so many things to do in the world, why would anyone waste their time gossiping about others or making an effort to make another human being miserable??  I mean hell, read a book, or color a picture.
I have even offered to buy several of them a coloring book and crayons in order to shut them the fuck up!!
But alas, these people are NOT interested in doing anything other than causing misery!

It’s a disease, in my opinion.  It’s a disease that people don’t seem to want to cure.

So what if so and so is sleeping with so and so??  Unless one or the other of the so and so people is in a relationship with me, I don’t give a royal shit!  So what if this one kicked the ass off of that one??  Unless I am this or that one I don’t care, and if I AM one or the other, I’d already know!

I guess it’s the inherent need they have to feel “better” than someone else.  Or else they are just plain old mean!

Whatever the cause, I still don’t understand it.  Being rude, being disrespectful, being a gossip, none of it makes any sense to me.  I guess I just don’t understand how a person can be so miserable, so empty inside that their happiness depends on making other people feel as badly as they do. 

There is something very, very wrong with the world when happiness is directly linked to the misery of others.
Hopefully we can figure it out and fix it soon.