Are We Ironic or Simply Chronic?

Quote of the day:
“Trying to teach manners by being rude is as unpleasant as it is futile.”
--Miss Manners (Judith Martin)

Today’s tip:
Tune in to Lynn Johnston’s comic strip “For Better or For Worse.” There is a major development this week. This is a consistently excellent comic. http://www.fborfw.com/strip_fix/

I got the annual Forbes 400 issue yesterday, and the back-page “Thoughts on the Business of Life” (all from “past or present Forbes 400 members) have to be the lamest, most self-serving quotes in the history of the magazine. With one or two exceptions. If you must see the list, http://www.forbes.com/business/forbes/2006/1009/316.html?_requestid=904 You’ll need to sign up first.

I don’t read the Forbes 400 issue anyway. It’s just not that interesting. It may have something to do with most of these people channeling 100% of their creative energy into making and spending money, which leaves no time for anything else.

I do like the feisty spirit of several of the magazine’s columnists. Gary Shilling, in the October 2 issue, predicts the end of the spending boom brought on by the surge in real-estate prices. He makes this observation:

“Consumers have no alternative to saving more of current income and borrowing less. This will reverse trends that have become so chronic that most don’t realize they exist.”

That made me think that there are likely other things in our lives that are “so chronic that we don’t realize they exist.” Hurrying. Distraction. Noise. Pain. What else?