Stress!!

I see that there is a new poll out showing that folks are stressed out here in A-merry-ca. Maybe not as stressed as this guy. (WTF?) But stressed nevertheless. Nooo, not A-merry-ca. I thought everyone was happy here in A-merry-ca. Oh well, it just goes to show you what two active wars, money worries at home and abroad, and a Gulf full of jheri curl juice will do to you. Folks are worried about their jobs; worried about their homes; and worried about their debts:

"Cynthia Bryant, 73, feels stress from her bills - much of that heartburn related to medical expenses. ..."I need a different car. I can't afford it. I have to watch every penny that comes in," says Bryant, who worked as a purchasing agent for a computer company before she retired. Bryant, who lives in a Denver suburb, gets by on a fixed-income that hasn't budged, although her expenses - rent, groceries and other basics- have risen. "

Wow, so much for the A-merry-can dream. But Cynthia, you are 73, why are you even worried about your bills? Tell the bill collector you will pay him whenever. What's he going to do, turn you over to the credit bureau? And if you are retired, you don't need a car; walk or take a bicycle. It might do wonders for your health.

I have this uncle who still lives in the western part of the island of Jamaica. -Way Out in the country. Of all my aunts and uncles he was the least successful education and money wise. Yet I swear he is the happiest, and I am taking bets that he will outlive all of his brothers and sisters. Why? Because he has zero stress in his life. He looks younger than all of his siblings as well. Whenever the family gets together they always comment on how good he looks. Go figure. They worked all their lives to achieve success in their various fields, they have all the outward trappings of success, and yet, when it's all said and done, they aren't as happy nor do they look as good as their brother who just took it easy, mon.

We could all learn a thing or two from people like my uncle. I know I did. I work in what is supposed to be an extremely stressful job in a very stressful city, and yet, I always try to keep things in perspective. You can't get too high. (Or stuff like this and this might happen to you) And you can't get too low, either. (Or you will do stuff like this to yourself.) Suicide rates are way up in A-merry-ca. I wonder why? Life is never as bad as it might seem, there is always a silver lining somewhere, you just have to find it. That sounded hokey, but it's true. Folks living in A-merry-ca and other "developed countries" need to just slow down and smell the cannab.....I mean coffee a little bit. We would all feel so much better about ourselves and our surroundings. And I know, I know, you Negroes in A-merry-ca are feeling particularly stressed out. Hell just getting up and walking through some neighbor-hood-s is stressful. The whole urban environment is tailor made for stress. But don't let it get to you, repeat after the Field: I will make it in A-merry-ca. I will make it in A-merry-ca. I have cable television, a cell phone, and Chrysler 300 parked outside with a full tank of gas, how bad can life be?

Finally, Happy Memorial Day and shout out to all the vets out there who put their butts on the line on a regular so that folks like me can get on a blog and talk shit to a few thousand of my closest friends on a daily basis. They are the only ones in A-merry-ca who should be stressed right now, and they are stressed so that you and I don't have to be. Let's not disappoint them.