New York, New York

So when one thinks of unhappy places to live, New Jersey and Connecticut come directly to mind. Maybe also Louisiana post-Katrina or the ominous deep South ala Mississippi. And of course, if you think about happy places to be Hawaii and Florida would obviously be near the top of the list. Where would New York fit though? The place of dreams where millions come to chase their dreams, make millions of dollars or get lost in the cultural and financial capital of the entire world? One would think this would have to be near the top of the happiest state list, would they? Instead New York is the unhappiest place in the country: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/dec/22/new-york-unhappiest-state/print. How could that be? Well maybe part of the explanation comes from above. Many of those people who come to chase their dreams fail. Many don't ever make those millions -- and even those who do are often disillusioned by the fact that while money does bring comfort, it alone does not bring happiness. Maybe those who come to forget their past, forget their present and future as well. At the top of the list, though, may be the fact that New York doesn't seem to live up to its promise any longer. Most New Yorkers I know spend their time either bragging about how great everything is here (often unconvincingly) or engaging in our favorite pasttime -- complaining about just about anything we can think of, from our apartments, to the weather, to cabbie who seem to have more friends than us (given their constant, ongoing conversations throughout their shift in some exotic language we wish we knew), to a subway system that is under perpetual construction, to traffic, to our jobs, to the new restaurant or club or movie or play that just didn't live up to the hype, to the waitress who is too slow, the buses that drive too fast, to the neighbors who are up too late or complaining we are, to the air conditioning, the heat, the water, the prices, the mayor, the governor, the president, etc., etc., etc. Really it seems to have a lot to do with the "grass is greener" mentality. The married friends I have are bored, the single ones are constantly complaining about the latest relationship gone awry or the guy or gal that never called, texted or facebooked them (or that it took too long), my friends that make truck loads full of money are complaining about never having any free time or dating girls that see them as an ATM machine, those of us toward the lower end of the spectrum constantly worry about money even if we do like our jobs.