the rix mix

Occasionally, I meet people who have a TV Sitcom existence, which is when characters are correctly convinced in the privacy of their thoughts that their lives suck, but everyone is conspiring to pretend it isn't so, or is completely deluded. Some classic sitcoms are so tragic it's difficult for me to watch them. Cheers & Everybody Loves Raymond come to mind. They're as hellish as No Exit. With Seinfeld, the central ironic question was that if Jerry was doing so well, how come he had only three friends & they were venal, amoral losers, of whom only Kramer was the slightest bit endearing - because his character was a yiddish comedy type. In the underrrated Becker every character was miserable & admitted it. The show was set in a dreary Bronx neighborhood where most of the energy was drained away in keeping desolation & claustrophobia from closing in. Ted Danson's character (unlike his Cheers third rate alcoholic baseball player), a better than competent doctor with a Harvard education, was a complete curmugeon. It was a funny show.

I'm not in a sitcom. My life just sucks. If my routine consisted of always saying my life sucks I'd turn it into a stand up act. Instead, the more my life sucks, the more reclusive I become. No comedy in that. It's possible to figure out from this blog that my life sucks. Or I might be perceived as grumpy. Most bloggers are grumpy. Of all the personal blogs on the right, there's only one I would say is always upbeat; a stay-at-home mom in a lovely house with wonderful kids whose hubby apparently earns a tidy pile of money (Ozzie & Harriet?). Maybe she's jiving, but I doubt it. I leave it on the list for that reason. Most of the others, like me, are complainers at least 50% of the time. They complain about Republicans & other assorted right wingers. A few complain about their jobs, families, sports, or TV programs. I'm about the only one who regularly notes when the weather is nice. I do that because my life sucks more than their's.