# What's the most depressing "dose of reality" that you can give? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 29, 2004, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-depressing-dose-of-reality-that-you-can-give/242679 "2004-04-29T15:07:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![drm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e57/32.png) [@drm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drm)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2004, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-depressing-dose-of-reality-that-you-can-give/242679/41 "2004-04-30T02:41:46Z")
Somebody out there you like hates you. There are people out there who desperately want kids but can’t have them. There are also people out there who don’t want kids but have many (or at least a few). These two groups probably won’t meet. If the two groups do meet, the later won’t want to give their kids up due to purely selfish reasons. The rich will get richer and the poor will get poorer. ---
**Author:** ![Fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bc8723/32.png) [@Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2004, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-depressing-dose-of-reality-that-you-can-give/242679/42 "2004-04-30T06:18:28Z")
The future is a bright utopia full of universal peace and health, scientific discovery, spiritual well-being, happiness, and amazing technology that would astonish the mankind of today. You, however, will die before any of the really _neat_ toys get invented. ---
**Author:** ![shijinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@shijinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shijinn)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2004, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-depressing-dose-of-reality-that-you-can-give/242679/43 "2004-04-30T07:00:42Z")
there is no happily ever after. the story is it. ---
**Author:** ![Flutterby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Flutterby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flutterby)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2004, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-depressing-dose-of-reality-that-you-can-give/242679/44 "2004-04-30T08:13:54Z")
> [@clairobscur](#): > > Actually, there are hundreds of them waiting for you. All perfect matches for you. > One was in the car car you just crossed on the road. He was driving distractly, wondering if there’s a true love waiting for him somewhere. Another is living in Bombay. Sometimes, he thinks about visiting your country. He will never do so. Another yet is going to be married tomorrow. He’ll have a couple children and will be reasonnably happy. Another spent all his life in this small town you went to once, when you were a child. He’s sad, tonight, and feels lonely. He thinks he messed up with his life until now. He thinks he’ll do better in the future. He won’t. > There are hundreds of them waiting for you. But none of them you’ll ever meet. That is even MORE depressing than nocturnal\_tick’s ---
**Author:** ![PookahMacPhellimey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pookahmacphellimey/32/3175_2.png) [@PookahMacPhellimey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PookahMacPhellimey)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2004, 9:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-depressing-dose-of-reality-that-you-can-give/242679/45 "2004-04-30T09:51:38Z")
No matter how razorsharp your wit, no matter how much you have in common, no matter how well you get along and feel like you are soulmates, the overwhelming majority of guys will end up choosing the dumb but gorgeous skinny babe with the big tits over you. (actually this might be ALL guys, given the chance) ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2004, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-depressing-dose-of-reality-that-you-can-give/242679/46 "2004-04-30T12:09:33Z")
**Shirley’s Rant Before Coffee** Oh, Dear Og, people. What is this the Meeting of People Who Aren’t Medicating Themselves Properly? Buddha on a trampoline. Look, I’ve amazed all of you with the crushing reality that is my life, and I dare any of you out there to ‘beat’ me at the shit factor that it brings. I am not talking about self-induced sucked factor made from poor decision making and the inability to learn from Life Lessons, but outside forces that you cannot control. I could spend my spare time moping about the \*unfairness of it all \* and how \*I and my family got the short sheet in life \*and \* my, oh my, doesn’t it all just suck? \* and I should \*just end it all now. ™ \* \*WAH WAH WAH. \* Having a pity party occasionally is perfectly natural. Your heart gets ripped out, your back gets stabbed, your credit rating bottoms out because of losing your ATM card. It hurts, you learn from it and move on. But when it turns into a year long-decade long event of sulking, whining and self flagellation, the problem isn’t \*Your Boss Hates You, You Are Grossly Underpaid \* (we all are, baby), \*the World Is Against You \* or the \* Planets Are Not In Alignment. \*The problem is \*\*YOU. \*\* Yeah, you. Your mother’s little sunshine. You gave in. You gave up. You know what I am talking about. You did it all yourself and have only to look in the mirror to know who to blame. You donated your spine to Goodwill, sold your soul for a weekly paycheck from the Company From Hell and your brain and creative drive were sucked out of you faster than a teenage boy and his first hummer by the hot skanky cheerleader. It is not whether you make \* Big Bucks, Make a Huge Difference On The Planet, Change the Social Structure of Humankind \* or _Will Be Remembered in 100 Years._ It’s about learning how to manage your own little universe. Making smart decisions that keep you in balance with yourself, not the Jones or the guy next to you in Cubicle-ville. It’s about seeing a wrong and doing something about it right then. Not just sending off a $10 donation to Do Something About The Rainforest/Marsupial Gonad Issues. A wrong doesn’t have to be single handedly stopping baby seal clubbings though good luck in getting the bat away from those large natives. it’s about seeing a peice of trash on the ground, stopping, picking it up and disposing of it. Or holding open a door for the next person that comes along. It’s about listening to someone who’s had a craptacular day, just listening. Little things don’t end global hunger, but it can spark a revolution in someone else to try to do better, be better. It’s not about whether the name Oswald Fartknockle will be synonmous with a great Scientific Breakthrough and Cutting Edge Whoo-Ha that will have Changed The Face Of The Planet and How We Floss Our Teeth in 100 years, it is about being liked, known and respected by those of whom we like, know and respect. And that doesn’t mean you are the \* Center of Attention\* and _Men Want to Be You and Women Want to Bear Your Children._ You can keep that fantasy if that is what fuels your mental playground during the Soul Sucking Moments that are known as 9 - 5 Monday through Friday, but if you have just one good friend to whom you can discuss anything, that is worth more than the false adulation of a 100 simpering sycophants. Life isn’t about being the _Big Hero on a National/Global level._ It’s about getting up, day after grinding day and doing what needs to be done to take care of the kids, an elderly parent, pay the bills. It’s about finding an outlet for the pressure, whether a hobby, exercise or something, to channel the negative energy into something positive. Not just eating yourself into a pair of sansa-belts with comfort foods and beer night after night while turning off your brain to the Electric Pacifier known as TV. It isn’t about becoming a bitter, hateful person because Life Is Too Hard. Life isn’t calculus, people. Life can be hard, very soul crushing hard at times. These little bon mots from the Devil himself are known as _Lessons in Disguise._ You are enduring this little Valley of Shit at this particular place and time for reasons that might not be clear now or in five years, but I swear to you on everything I hold dear, the lesson will not be lost and you will end up helping someone later on who is in their own Valley of Shit that is near exact to your experience. What you earn, what kind of car you drive, where you live and what you wear \*does not matter one ounce. \* Are you confident in yourself enough to say no to someone else, to disappoint them, so as to remain true to yourself and trust your instincts? What matters is, can you sit by yourself, all alone, and like the company you keep? I’ll shut up now lest I end a Greeter at Walmart. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2004, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-depressing-dose-of-reality-that-you-can-give/242679/47 "2004-04-30T15:39:20Z")
**Shirley** , now you cut that out! I’m trying to be depressed in here!\* > [@](#): > > _Originally posted by clairobscur_ And I’m thinking about all these people who are doing small little things, from the guy sweeping the floor to the high-ranking civil servant working in this office about some obscure regulation. All of them know and understand only a tiny little bit of the whole picture, and nevertheless, this results in an incredibly complex system , that nobody can really grasp, and which nevertheless actually works. My train runs, the power flows, the food will be tomorrow on the shelves of huges cities shops. It truly amazes me. I see what you mean, on the other hand, my inner Eeyore thinks it’s an awful lot of wasted effort. \*Actually, I’m not at all depressed. There is absolutely no reason for me or any of the rest of us to go on living, and I accept that, yet I still want to live and I’m moderately happy with my life. 🙂 See? ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2004, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-depressing-dose-of-reality-that-you-can-give/242679/48 "2004-04-30T16:06:52Z")
I think you’re missing the point of this thread, **Shirley**. I think most people here (myself included) think their lives are pretty good, and mostly enjoy them. It doesn’t hurt once in awhile to toss out a summation of the bad things that have happened, though. We can compare notes, see that it’s all just normal life, and get back to doing what we do. Maybe next we can do a thread on the most optimistic doses of reality we can give. ---
**Author:** ![Small\_Clanger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@Small\_Clanger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Clanger)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2004, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-depressing-dose-of-reality-that-you-can-give/242679/49 "2004-04-30T16:34:16Z")
Enter the Vortex… [TOTAL-PERSPECTIVE-VORTEX]…one momentary glimpse of the entire unimaginable infinity of creation, and somewhere in it a tiny little marker, a microscopic dot on a microscopic dot, which says “You are here.”[/TOTAL-PERSPECTIVE-VORTEX] But Clanger’s just this guy y’know? ---
**Author:** ![Doomtrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2004, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-depressing-dose-of-reality-that-you-can-give/242679/50 "2004-04-30T16:49:06Z")
> [@Shirley Ujest](#): > > It’s about getting up, day after grinding day and doing what needs to be done to take care of the kids, an elderly parent, pay the bills. Ha, this is possibly the most depressing thing in the thread. I don’t get people who open a thread with a clear title like this one, then come in and bitch about it. [ul] [li]No matter how clearly you label your thread, someone will come in and complain about it.[/li][/ul] ---
**Author:** ![flamingbananas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f4b2a3/32.png) [@flamingbananas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flamingbananas)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2004, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-depressing-dose-of-reality-that-you-can-give/242679/51 "2004-04-30T16:58:08Z")
> [@Ilsa\_Lund](#): > > Life’s a bitch, then you die. There is an ending to that quote. This is the full one. The one I read in a bathroom stall anyway: Life’s a bitch, then you die. So fuck the world, And let’s get high. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2004, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-depressing-dose-of-reality-that-you-can-give/242679/52 "2004-04-30T17:40:37Z")
The number of people in California, and the Southwestern U.S. will continue to explode without regard to the problems caused by having so many inhabitants in a region of water scarcity. I won’t even go into the social, economic, and environmental problems that will come to pass, and how it will wreck our quality of life. And there’s not a damn thing I can do about it. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2004, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-depressing-dose-of-reality-that-you-can-give/242679/53 "2004-04-30T23:16:02Z")
No matter how old you’re feeling now, in ten years you’ll be wishing you felt that young again. ---
**Author:** ![Cuckoorex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Cuckoorex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cuckoorex)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2004, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-depressing-dose-of-reality-that-you-can-give/242679/54 "2004-05-01T05:45:20Z")
I think it’s telling that many of these items end with some variation of “and there’s not a damn thing you can do about it.” Fear of the unknown and a fear of the lack of control over our own lives, those are two of the biggest fears that humanity faces. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2004, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-depressing-dose-of-reality-that-you-can-give/242679/55 "2004-05-01T13:08:41Z")
Your life is futile. You are not making any one-of-a-kind contribution to the planet or history. Yet, you should still live life to the fullest. It’s an irrestible force meeting an immovable object. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2004, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-depressing-dose-of-reality-that-you-can-give/242679/56 "2004-05-01T14:54:58Z")
I was having a _perfect_ moderating day. No double posts, no one starting a thread in the wrong forum, no flame threads requiring a warning or worse. Then I opened _this_ little ray o’ sunshine. Thanks for pick-me-up, people-I’m going back to bed and hiding under the covers for the rest of the weekend. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2004, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-depressing-dose-of-reality-that-you-can-give/242679/57 "2004-05-01T16:22:17Z")
See, maybe this thread _does_ have a good purpose. Maybe it’s like that puddle of black ooze in the Star Trek show that sucked all the bad stuff out of everyone - we have all the bad stuff in life concentrated in one thread, so maybe the other threads will all be happier. ---
**Author:** ![vl\_mungo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc8723/32.png) [@vl\_mungo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vl_mungo)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2004, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-depressing-dose-of-reality-that-you-can-give/242679/58 "2004-05-02T01:24:53Z")
No good deed goes unpunished. That which doesn’t kill you will actually make you weaker. If you get old, you will spend most of your time going to funerals. Everything sucks, at least on some level. ---
**Author:** ![II\_Gyan\_II](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/bbe5ce/32.png) [@II\_Gyan\_II](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/II_Gyan_II)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2004, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-depressing-dose-of-reality-that-you-can-give/242679/59 "2004-05-02T01:35:58Z")
There’s nothing to be depressed about. ---
**Author:** ![Zjestika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/8edcca/32.png) [@Zjestika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zjestika)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2004, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-depressing-dose-of-reality-that-you-can-give/242679/60 "2004-05-02T01:45:34Z")
That expensive cream you bought won’t do shit to your cellulite. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-depressing-dose-of-reality-that-you-can-give/242679.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-depressing-dose-of-reality-that-you-can-give/242679.md?page=4)