If I believed in biblical things, I would say that this is the time of Job in my life, but on a much-smaller scale. Maybe I am operating under the principle of Murphy’s Law, which states that, “Everything that can go wrong will go wrong.” I’ve decided to take a cautiously optimistic approach to life and my spell of minor troubles and believe that if the universe is indeed dishing me a few too many sides of bad luck, I’m going to take it as a semi-positive sign and believe that at least I am somewhat important- being totally ignored by the Fates would be worse, wouldn’t it?

My troubles are the same as everyone else’s- the only difference is that they all came at once. My hard drive unceremoniously crashed on my computer, a week later my e-mail was hacked, my car decided to make enough funny noises that I was reduced to taking  public transportation until I could afford to get it fixed, my wallet got stolen by a seemingly friendly backpacker, and when I got angry about the BS, someone close to me started judging me a little harshly- I wasn’t dead, I still had all my working parts, and I wasn’t on death’s door, so what could possibly be the problem?

I don’t know what my problem is- I used to be happy- things used to run a little more smoothly, and I was a generally happy person. I’m not necessarily unhappy now- just going through the normal bullshit that is life and getting a little aggravated sometimes.

Thankfully, I haven’t yet taken a total turn to the Dark Side yet- I’m still smart enough to listen to Yoda when I can decipher his poor grammar. I’m not bitter yet, either. Maybe I’m not old enough yet- I’ve had enough bad things happen to me and have lost enough of myself to mourn, but whenever I feel the bitterness creeping out, I try to turn kill it off fast.

What do you do when the crap starts hitting the fan? Do you duck and run for cover? Do you yell at the Life, The Universe, and Everything (thanks Douglas Adams) or do you pretend that nothing is wrong and wait until your internal organs combust one day? Do you tell your friends and neighbors what’s really going on as you fake a smile throughout your day? If you need a place to vent, I suggest ranting online. Just don’t get fired like the Waitress who got a bad tip.