Everyone likes to think they have it worse than everyone else (many like to say it out loud even more than they like to think it). There are those who think they have the hardest teachers, classes, or major. There are those who think their sports team trains harder with practices more physically demanding than any other team or sport. Everyone seems to think his or her own race or ethnic group went through the cruelest oppression throughout history.
I suppose success may be measured by the obstacles that one has overcome. I'm assuming that this belief is at least loosely held with the masses. Those that are lamenting about their hardships are actually attempting to assert their success as defined by their difficulties. I've often seen students in different classes after discussing grades received fall into an argument with each other about whose teacher was harder. I believe the general attempt is to raise oneself by recalling how hard their road has been, or how many hindrances life has thrown at them. It even gets so absurd as to be taken to the point of bragging rights? “Look how far Coach pushes my team in practice, but you wusses on the track team have it so easy!” That's another thing, it comes as an insult to say, "your _____ is easy." I feel very few of those that live on Easy Street would like to admit they do.
This mentality is all a bit narrow-minded. The first line in the above paragraph is itself a paraphrase of a quotation by Booker T. Washington, who was born into slavery. Slavery was pretty tough, or so I'm assuming. No one currently living in this country has ever been an institutionalized slave. I think Booker might have been a tad bit worse off at one point than most of us are today. I think slaves have legitimate clout to gripe.
Those who truly have it bad don't have school courses at all; they're not able to complain which one is tougher and would likely be happy with any education. Those who truly have it tough don't have sports teams that are difficult; they also don't have good health at all. In regards to race and ethnicity, the groups who have truly had it the worse aren't around anymore to complain that they have had it so awful, be it any of tribes and people on at least five continents of which I'm not educated enough to name (and in some cases written history itself has forgotten about). The people who have truly had it bad are now extinct.
Maybe it's all relative. Yes, I know: "We're not under the slave-driver's whip anymore but the Joneses are still much richer than me." It really is all relative, however, and we should consider the bigger picture, as we possibly have imperfect information. For example, why do many view themselves as middle class? They likely are the middle class, given their immediate geographical area. If you widen that area to include outside of what is immediately visible, that might not be the case anymore. Look, the median income of Beverly Hills is a bit higher than Mississippi's, but chances are a family in either location is just an average family, however of two very different areas (with a big difference in averages). Go further still and look outside the U.S. borders. Just by being in this country the odds are you are in fact fairly well-off. There are people in other countries that would commit crimes to possess the standard of living of even the poorest American has.
Let's really put things in perspective. We have it pretty good, just given the technology of age in which we exist. Even the richest kings of medieval Europe didn't have flush toilets, and the Emperors of Rome didn't have air conditioning. Those men were the rulers of the civilized world. I've been to Rome in July...it gets pretty hot.
I propose we stop being drama queens, whiners, and complainers. I’ll admit I am guilty of the same, though I will resolve to quit as well. It’s important to recall from where you may have come (figuratively speaking) to keep things in perspective, but immature to throw a pity party with woes and absolutely ridiculous to brag about them.
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