No one is getting out of this life without experiencing problems. They come when you least expect them and can run the gamut of being serious to mundane.
Years ago problems were looked at as par for the course. My grandmother would gather her cronies for a little coffee and biscotti every once in a while and they would go through everyone’s stuff as if they lawyers. One of them would always act like the judge, either dismissing or condemning the perpetrators who had caused the suffering of those at the gathering. Most of them would go away satisfied that they had been heard.
Today problems are still discussed with friends and family, but they also have become fodder for the media. A plethora of shows exist whose primary purpose is to focus on people’s (issues), the new and more exciting word that describes problems. Issues are tantamount to being in dire distress and in need of experts to help a person through their stuff. Dr. Phil and others have made their fortunes helping individuals navigate their problems, while millions watch them as they are reduced to tears or anger.
Realty shows have gone the next step, making us part of the action so that we, the viewer, is now in concert with the problems. I am always in awe at how many of these shows proliferate and become part of daily conversation. So now you not only discuss your problems but you also discuss the ones that you saw on a particular show.
When my grandmother had a friend who just kept going over the same scenario time and time again without resolution she would lift her hand up in the air and bellow “BASTA” which means enough. She had lost her patience and that was that! I wonder why we don’t hear more of that today? Why do so many of us have to go on and on about the same thing? I recently watched a very funny bit on You
Tube with Bob Newhart. He portrayed a psychiatrist who said he could cure patients in five minutes. A young woman came in with a host of problems and when she was done speaking he said” are you ready for the cure”? “Yes”, she said. “Okay then”, just stop it! I’d like to add, get over it, do something about it, and stop talking about it. Enough said.