Gratitude

One of the pieces of advice you sometimes get in 12-step fellowships when you are feeling particularly sorry for yourself is to make a "gratitude list." It's the sort of advice that can really rankle a person. It's just a little too "shiny, happy people" for some of us (yes, I am outing myself, but the story is good enough to warrant it). So one night around this time of year ('tis the gratitude season here in the US after all), I'm in a meeting and this new guy is talking about trying to write a gratitude list after it was suggested to him. He says he sat in front of the paper for a long time and couldn't think of anything. Then he finally writes down "I'm alive." Then he thinks about that for a little while. And then he crosses that out. Finally he writes "At least I'm not on fire."

It is in that spirit that I refer you to Popular Science's Worst Jobs in Science, pointed out to me by those crazy Athenians, Eponymous and yelladog. Now when people urge you to be grateful on this day of thanks, you can say "At least I'm not on fire, and I'm not a landfill monitor."