Malarky on a Monday

So one summer my boss posted a sign on our office door. It read: Losers and Sad Sacks Welcome! Okay, not really but it sure felt that way. All summer long I'd get losers and sad sacks wandering in for no reason except to tell me their stories.

I met the guy whose life was over because his girlfriend broke up with him because he was too close-minded and always had to be right. Nope, it wasn't him; it was her. And it was her the time before and the time before that and even the two times before that. He told me all about the last 6 girlfriends and how they all dumped him for the same thing, but it wasn't his fault.

I spoke with the chick whose life was ruined because of a check that was lost in the mail. No, it wasn't just this check that got lost and caused strife. It was pretty much every payment she'd ever written in the last 3 years. But it wasn't her fault that her credit rating was so trashed.

Over several days I got the story of poor Joe Schmoe who just got fired from his job because his boss had unreasonable demands. By fired from his job I mean the last 4 employers he was affiliated with were all the same way. They were so unreasonable that of course none of those were his fault.

There was dude who told me his tale between gulps of milkshake. It turns out he was lactose intolerant but couldn't figure out why he was so sick all the time. Certainly he couldn't do anything about that.

There was the girl who told lies to everyone she knew because "they don't have to know where I am or what I'm doing all the time" and suddenly had no friends through no fault of her own.

And I can't forget the guy whose teachers kept failing him in his classes because they didn't like him. You sure can't do anything about that.

Basically these people did the same thing over and over and over and were confused about how things weren't working out for them. Not one of them saw that the common denominator was them. It was always people with attitudes, unreasonable bosses, uncontrollable illness, and incompetence on the part of others. When I tried to gently point out that maybe the problem was with them, I was scoffed at.

So here is my free advice of the day, worth every penny you paid for it: If it seems like life takes a dump in your breakfast cereal at every turn, maybe you should look in a mirror and re-think things a little.

The Fine Print: So how's that for saying I got basically nothing for you today but some old cards? I think I attract these kinds of people. Among my friends I have her of the 7-year divorce, she of 9 or 11 husbands (lost count), and him of the great deal gone bad for the 45th time.  And no, I don't live in a glass house. I'm predictably screwed up too,, feel free to write a blog post about me.  Cards 'n stuff by Club Scrap.