Congrowlulations
Congrowlulate
(verb) kuhn-GROWL-yoo-leyt
- to express congratulations to another on their successes, while one’s tone of voice or general demeanor betrays the resentment and contempt felt toward the other for having succeeded.
I wonder if it is a psychological inevitability or a cultural mindset that creates a very short thought bridge from another’s success to your own failings. Sure, it’s the social convention to say that you are happy for them, but does someone else’s good news really make you feel truly happy? Sometimes, certainly! Other times, certainly not.
On the flip side of these inappropriate resentments, it is by contrast very socially acceptable to compare yourself to people that are worse off than you, and feel really happy about it. The argument goes something like this- the world is a very unjust place where bad things happen to good, undeserving people all the time! But for now, this broken system that we are all trapped in is favoring you while it tortures others. Doesn’t that make you feel so HAPPY?
I guess the take away is that no matter what, it is socially appropriate to feign happiness. Unless you are one of those people who feels genuinely happy most of the time and doesn’t have to fake it. If you are such a person, I congrowlulate you!