The one-upmanship of life's miseries is physically exhausting.

You're not allowed to feel sad because there are people who have more reason to be sad than you. You're not allowed to feel afraid because there are people who have more reason to be afraid than you. You're not allowed to feel anything any more because there's always, always, a person out there worse off than you. Money, health, security, work, misfortune, friends, family, life, death... whatever the situation... you don't get feel what you're feeling because somebody somewhere has it worse. So what are you complaining about, you ungrateful piece of shit?

And God forbid if anything good actually happens to you. Heaven help you if you manage to carve out a little slice of happiness for yourself. You see something you enjoy, do something fun, go somewhere nice, get to experience something that makes you happy. Because then... then... you're just rubbing it in the faces of people who didn't get experience what you did.

No matter how meager it might be.

And it always escalates in bonkers ways...

"What did you do this weekend?"

"I watched this movie on Netflix I really enjoyed."

"Oh yeah? Well I know somebody who doesn't have a Netflix account. They don't have a television. In fact, they don't even have a home to put a television into. They probably can't even remember what it's like to watch television. Do you want to know what they probably did this weekend? They sat in their grandmothers unheated basement staring at the wall while eating a can of beans. AND IT WAS COLD BEANS BECAUSE THEY DON'T HAVE A MICROWAVE!"

And then...

"Really? Must be nice... because I read in the news about somebody whose grandmother DIED yesterday!"

But I exaggerate.

Kinda.

Because while this fictional conversation (likely) hasn't happened, it's a pretty accurate scenario generally speaking.

At least from my experience lately.