Ask a dumb question, get a dumb answer

Ask a dumb question, get a dumb answer

A new survey has revealed the all-too believable truth: half of us in the UAE are dissatisfied with the life we lead. Kipp thinks it’s time for everybody to grow up.

July 15, 2010 3:25 by kippreport

A press release reached Kipp’s desk this week announcing the results of a survey into the life satisfaction levels of UAE residents. More than half of those surveyed are satisfied with the life they lead, it proclaimed. Though not many more than half: Just 53 percent, in fact.

At first glance, we thought that was pretty high. More than half of people are happy with their lot; not bad in a country with tens of thousands of immigrant workers toiling in the hot sunshine in incredibly dangerous and thankless circumstances for a pittance.

Then we read on. It transpires the survey was conducted online. Ah. Pretty sure there won’t have been many construction workers responding, then.

Which means there are an awful lot of people feeling sorry for themselves in the UAE. Almost 50 percent are not satisfied with their lives.

Ironically, they’re probably sitting at their computers, with their broadband internet connections, filling out a quick survey before their dinner is ready and they settle down on the sofa to watch that movie they’ve been meaning to get round to.
Yeah, that sounds pretty terrible. No wonder people are dissatisfied!

As far as Kipp is concerned, these people should grow up. Too many people nowadays spend too much time whining. Too much time coveting stuff they don’t have, desperately trying to pay for stuff they do have, watching other people with lives they dream of. So asking these people if they’re satisfied with their lives is a dumb question that leads to dumb answers. They will never be satisfied. Unless, of course, they come to accept that life can be hard, it is almost always unfair, and that they are probably way better off than many other people.

Years of wealth chasing, consumerism, jealously, and misplaced priorities have left so many people in society unable to recognize their own blessings or the hardships of others. If they spent more time trying to do those two things, and perhaps tried to help those less fortunate, they might find they have less time to complain to pointless online surveys about how unsatisfied they are.

And that would go some way to satisfying Kipp.