It's Not Just You; However...

I've recently been enjoying the book Is It Just Me Or Is Everything Shit: The Encyclopedia Of Modern Life. It's an amusing look at all that is wrong in the world today, from cafes that charge an extra $5 for a slice of tomato with your cooked breakfast, to grown-ups who read childrens' books with "adult" covers,in order to escape public scorn.

It's a familliar theme though. There's just so much that is whinge-worthy in modern society, and my goodness, do people enjoy whingeing. Just read through the weekend supplements in any major newspaper, and witness the orgy of complaining-about-the-small-stuff being engaged in by columnists. Too worn out by the woes of modern life to read? Not to worry, you can receive your gripes in television form, thanks to the Grumpy Old Women and Men series.

And I must admit, I like all this enough to engage in it endlessly myself, as any read through this blog's archives will show you; posting diatribes about manners, music, supermarkets, advertising, and (over and over) public transport. Why do we all love it so? Speaking only for myself, I think we all have a certain amount of anger in us, and it needs to come out; focusing on the big issues, such as global warming; the humanitarian crisis in Darfur; the rise of the Neo-Cons in Western Politics, whatever the hell you call whatever the hell is going on in Iraq, is all too confusing and complicated. Who, though, can't relate to the feeling of utter dismay at discovering there's 43 different kinds of milk in the supermarket chill cabinet, or seeing a 16 year old with an emo haircut sending text messages in the cinema?

Whatever the case, it looks like whiny is the new gay/carbon neutral/plaid/urban boho/low carb/parrot love, or whatever the "new black" is this year (you know what I don't understand? Trends!)