I was thinking about something recently that amused me, so I figured, why not make it into a journal entry, right? It actually occurred to me a few weeks ago, and since I have just kind of kept noticing this thing in action. What I’m talking about is what I like to call the “I’m More Miserable Than You Game.”

Undoubtedly, not everyone has played this game. Here at school, however, this game is played hundreds of times a day by hundreds of people. Here’s how the game works: Someone says something bad about their day/week/life. For instance, they have a really bad prelim that night. Then someone who hears them sympathizes, and counters them with something even worse, like having 2 prelims that night. Then the first person (or perhaps another person) tries to out-do their thing with something even worse, like 2 prelims that night and a meeting afterwards until midnight.

People who go to school with me are, no doubt, familiar with this game. We’ve all played it one time or another. A few things strike me as interesting about this game. First, why the heck do we play? Is it because we want sympathy from those around us? Is it because we enjoy hearing others who have it as bad as us? Does that somehow justify our misery in our demented minds? Is this the kind of twisted logic that our university has taught us to embrace? I don’t know why it helps to hear that others are miserable; it probably doesn’t. But somehow, it seems to. Kind of strange – maybe we’re sadists and masochists? We just love pain around here I think.

Don’t think that last comment is true? Well then why do we (consistently) try to win the “I’m More Miserable Than You Game?” By winning, you are the one who has the most miserable condition, so that no one can possibly counter you. Now, intuitively, it would really suck to have a miserable life, but somehow, there is a feeling of satisfaction when you prove that your life is more miserable than someone else’s.

Here’s an example: A few weeks ago, a friend of mine was talking about how bad her Fridays were. She began by complaining about all of the classes she had on Fridays. She made the first move in the game. I countered by saying that I had 4 classes on Friday. She said that she had 4 too (not a winning move, but she was ready to settle for the tie). I then countered by saying that my classes started at 8:40am, and one of my classes was a 75 minute class. She replied, “Oh. That does really suck.” Alas, I “won” the game. As a result, I felt an enormous amount of satisfaction. Yet, what had I proven? I had proven that my life sucked. Why, in God’s name, would that produce a good feeling? Why would one even consider this “winning”? I mean, let’s face it, I may have “won” this game, but I clearly lost the battle of having a pleasant Friday. Personally, I’d opt for the latter.

So what’s the moral of the story? Probably that life here is pretty messed up – so messed up that we’ve convinced ourselves that misery is desirable. That said, I’d be happy to play the “I’m More Miserable Than You Game” anytime. Sadly, I have to warn you, I rarely lose.