This Is Your Life…and It Sucks

An entertainer named Bert Williams once said, ”The man with the real sense of humor is the man who can put himself in the spectator’s place and laugh at his own misfortune.”  Laughing at yourself is a tough thing to do for most of us in these situations, because few people like dealing with misfortune.  Whether it’s minor – like falling down in public – or something major – like being evicted from an apartment – no one enjoys feeling as if life is dropping a big Cleveland Steamer on you.  Yet even the most awful of events can still have dashes of humor mixed in, but we are usually too busy being embarassed or wallowing in self-pity to notice them.

Thanks to the wonders of the internet, there is a site where people are anonymously sharing their misfortunes on a daily basis.  I don’t think that all of these stories are necessarily true, because people like to exaggerate - call it the Penthouse Forum Effect.  I personally don’t care if they are made up or not; they are still good for a laugh, and let you know that life is rough for everyone at one time or another.  Here are a few recent excerpts from one of my new favorite sites - Fmylife (or FML for short), which means exactly what you think it does:

“Today, I went to my grandfather’s funeral.  As I stood there, bawling my eyes out, my aunt came over and put her arm around me. She leaned her head close to mine.  I assumed she was going to say something comforting, instead she asked where I’d bought my shoes from. FML”

“Today, I finished my internship working in a government lab.  I got paid $4000 for the summer.  I was talking to my cousin, who said that when he worked as a carnie last summer he made $8000.  I get paid half as much for doing research as a carnie does for serving people sno-cones.  FML”

Today, I was with my mom and boyfriend at lunch.  My phone rings and my mom excitedly says, “You have friends!”  As I’m about to answer it, she pulls out her phone from under the table and says, “Kidding, it just me.”  My boyfriends starts cracking up, and they exchange a high five.  FML”

“Today, I went for a run.  I ended up being tackled by two cops, handcuffed, and dragged to the station with no explanation.  Turns out a house nearby had been robbed and the best description they got was ‘A man running’.  I didn’t even get an apology. FML”