I am NOT lucky

I work hard to achieve my goals.

You keep wondering, and asking me why I am so lucky. To you, it seems like I get whatever I want, whenever I want. To you, I’m probably the luckiest person in the world because everything I want is within reach. Like you, I’m an introvert. I prefer staying at home, or at my SO’s house reading a book and chatting with people online than to go to a loud party where I find it hard to escape idiots and their idea of an interesting conversation. However, unlike you, I’m not socially inept.

You and I are capable of having nice conversations… about cars, dogs, cats, other animals, renting, but when it comes to personal things, like work, social life, and boyfriends/dates and such, you are a fucking pain in the ass. You and I have graduated high school for five years now. I took some time off to work and then went back to school, and took some time off again. I was lucky to be able to do this because my parents let me live off them rent free. However, it wasn’t LUCK that enabled me to find work. Unlike you, when I need to be, I can become very social, and kiss ass like no tomorrow. You tell me that you don’t have any skills in kissing ass… and then make it seem like I’m some sort of blessed person with social skills. Well, I’m sorry your parents didn’t socialize you better, but believe me, social skills aren’t some sort of prized trait. Everyone has them!!!

So, a while ago, we figured out that you were looking in the wrong places for a job. Retail is most likely not your thing if you can’t even fake a smile to your future boss. That’s fine… how about being an admin assistant, or some other type of office work. Hey, you’re pretty good with computers, how about doing some menial jobs in a field you’re familiar with? No? No one will hire you because you don’t have previous experience? How about volunteering then? Volunteer and then you will have the experience to find a real job that pays. What do you mean you don’t know where to look for volunteer jobs!!! They’re all over town. Every freakin’ charity and society and organization needs volunteers!!! Okay, let’s scrape that volunteer idea for a minute… how about dog walking? You looooove your two little pooches and read up on how to take care of them all the time. You love taking them for walks, so why don’t you create some flyers, distribute them around your neighbourhood, and see who takes you up on it? What do you mean that’s a job for a twelve year old kid?!? WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU FUCKING WANT FROM ME? I give you all these suggestions, and you shoot them down because you don’t want to do it. If you want to talk about luck, you’re lucky you’re still fucking alive after this aggravating conversation!

But you, this would be all okay, I can accept my friends’ faults and be friends with them regardless, but can’t you, just for a fucking second, stop whining about how crappy your life is, and how lucky I am? I don’t mind that you’re a socially inept person and I am one of your few friends you confide in. I feel bad that you don’t know how to function properly, but stop making me seem like the bad guy because I am doing what I set out to do with my life. Very little part of my life is actual luck. You know what luck is? Your parents continuing to let you live with them, rent free, tuition paid for and don’t mind a single bit that you have yet to find a job since you graduated from college. THAT is luck!! My achievements come from HARD WORK! HARD WORK!! HARD WORK!!!

Wow, I only did it once. You’re pretty lucky! :stuck_out_tongue:

Your friend sounds like a garden-variety whiner.

Looks like someone has a case of the Mondays!

My very bestest friend in the whole world makes about 3 times what I do. He started with his company for about 1/3 what I make now. He went from the bottom rung to the top rung in just under 4 years. He was lucky to have found that particular company that had that particular opportunity. I tried to do that “lucky bastard” grumble about him to myself for a little while, and to some extent it fits, but the truth is he saw the opportunity, decided what he had to do to take advantage of it, and followed through without stabbing anyone’s back, and without counting on any breaks. he just worked hard, chated with the management and demonstrated his worth.

In the exact situation, I would probably have quit that job by my third month into the bottom rung. Even though I could do his current job as well as he does.

In many cases, you make your own luck. Or perhaps more accurately, in many cases we tie our own ropes.

You have an SO? Lucky bastard.

I’m not sure if I’ve parsed everything correctly, but it seems to me that Sad and Deranged is, in fact, Britney Spears.

In which case, maybe you need to start an “ask the…” thread.

I hate it when people tell me that I’m lucky to live in Santa Barbara or I’m lucky to own a house here. Luck had very fucking little to do with it. Inigo is right. For the most part, you make your own luck. In other words, if you work hard, make intelligent choices be aware of opportunities that come your way, that odds are so much more in your favor that it’s not luck any longer.

A house in Santa Barbara? Luxury. We only had a hole in the ground in Compton. But it was a house to us. And we were thankful!

But if you tell that to the young people today, they won’t believe you.

Really? It seems to me that Britney Spears is, in fact, sad and deranged.

I just ranted this last week. A coworker of mine was going on about how “lucky” I am and everything just pretty much falls into my lap. Um, when was THAT? Because if I had balls I’d be working them the hell off to get what I want. STFU and do the same!

The problem with relying on luck

I just love the title of the linked article.

You’re lucky I read that whole long fucking boring OP.

(my bolding)

I’m usually good at deciphering typo’s, but this one has got me beat. Cheated, hated, chatted?

:slight_smile:

Ergh… when I lived in Philly, I contacted a number of local charities re volunteer work and none of them wanted my work. Even the one whose address I got from an ad asking for people to translate paperwork from, among other languages, Spanish to English, all they wanted was my money. Just sayin’.
OTOH, I do feel for you. I’ve been in the situation of having a boss who thought I’d gotten where I was because of “luck”. He thought I was ten years younger than I was and had been given my job in order to fill some quota (AFAIK, US positive discrimination laws don’t include any quota for foreigners). Nope, I’d worked my ass off for it thank you much.

My SIL used to be one of those people who thought bad things happened only to her; after all, most people are likely to share only the good things or the real bad ones: “don’t want to bore anybody with my little problems”. We seem to have healed her, but it sure was a pain hearing her whine about say, being out of work for two weeks - when I’d been unemployed for 6 months! Very bloody sensitive, that gal.

I think it’s a basic human quality to attribute our own success to talent and hard work and the success of other people to luck. Similarly, the failures of others are due to character flaws, but our own failures are unbelievably bad luck.

You take the richest kid, who gets a free ride through the best schools despite poor grades because of his rich parents, and is allowed to start at the top at many businesses and fail at them all, and he’ll still think he’s a great American story about hard work and perseverance. Then he’ll run for president.

Hard work, or being really good at kissing ass?? That can be hard work too, but not the kind that is usually respected. So maybe you’re lucky that you’ve run into people who prize ass kissing and socializing.

I have no idea if that’s really you, but it’s certainly some people and unfortunately one works next door to me. :mad:

Bullshit. I’d bet someone like that couldn’t even get half of the popular vote.

Years ago I worked for Kodak in Boston. It’s based in Rochester, NY. My boss was an insufferable bitch of the most insufferable insufferableness. And a bitch, to boot. When I let on that my parents lived in Rochester, she said “Ooh, are you a Kodabrat?” I almost punched her.

Well, are you?

No. My father was one of the three people in that city who did not work for Kodak.

There are way too many people like the whining “friend” in the OP. I hate that “you’re lucky” or you “Have advantages others don’t” cop out. (speaking of “normal” people, not someone who had a legitimate mental or physical challenge).

No, it has nothing to do with that you idiot. It’s about putting one foot in front of the other and simply being responsible for one’s self.

Period.