I am like most people
and from time to time I get bored with things. This often happens
when I'm stuck in a routine doing the same things at the same time
day after day. This is when I know it's necessary to change the
daily routine in my life. I'll have my breakfast outside instead of
sitting inside. I'll have my afternoon snack at least fifteen
minutes later than usual. I may even get really crazy and purchase a
brand of coffee I've never tried before. When it comes to
eliminating the boredom from my life, I know no boundaries.
It seems like I'm
different than most Americans. My period of boredom will last a few
days or a week or two at most. According to a survey, there are
quite a few Americans who spend up to a third of the year feeling
bored. How does this happen? Do people feel bored and just get into
a routine being bored? What are they doing for the other two-thirds
of the year they aren't bored? Could they just be boring people? I
guess they haven't had the courage to change their brand of coffee or
time of their afternoon snack. I accept that not everyone is as
proactive as myself.
Below are excerpts from
the story with my valuable insights in italics.
For the survey, the
researchers defined a boring day as one that involved simply no fun
at all. After averaging out responses of all participants, they
calculated that Americans experience 131 boring days annually.
They reached that
number by converting the average “percentage of a typical
week that is not fun/boring/dreaded” — which was 36% — into
hours per week, or 60.48 hours. They multiplied that by 52 weeks in a
year, then converted it into days: 131.04 boring or unfun days in a
year.
So, it is just not a
boring day, it is a double whammy of boredom and unfun. I wonder if
they calculated days that were occupied with things that could be
considered boring but fun. These are things such as watching a funny
movie you've seen more than once because your friend ordered pizza
from the best local pizza place. Could there be a day that is unfun,
but not boring? Such as the day after you forgot to pick your wife
up from the airport. I, ah, have no idea what that is like, but, ah,
people who have had this experience tell me it is unfun but
definitely not boring. So, I think these calculations need to be
included in the final statistics of boring days. It will paint a
more accurate picture concerning the depts of boredom and unfun for
adults in our society.
Full-time, “adult”
responsibilities, particularly work and parenting, appear to be
sucking the fun out of American adults’ lives. The results showed
that 60% of participants believe their life is just too “grown-up.”
In fact, 73% miss aspects of what they remember from childhood, such
as spending time with friends (50%), fewer responsibilities (52%),
and attending birthday parties (25%).
(Sarcasm Alert)
What are we going to
have now? An unfun crisis in America with panel discussions on how
to address this national epidemic and how much taxes should increase
to deal with it. Gee, life being too grown up must be a terrible
thing. Will there be a national drive to include a roundabout and
swings at every workplace? Generations of people for thousands of
years have dealt with being an adult. I'm sure those people who
lived through the depression and World War II felt terrible about
things being so grown up for them. Missing aspects of childhood like
not having responsibilities is great for children, but children can't
drive, vote, consume adult beverages. Maybe the responsibilities
associated with being an adult is a mixture of unfun,
responsibilities, and independence. These could be considered some
of the perks of things being too grown-up. I don't know people who
stop attending birthday parties when they are adults. I find adult
birthday parties a bit more fun and enjoy the ways they can become
too grown-up.
Despite so much boredom,
the survey showed that Americans still spend an average of $303 each
month on fun activities or about $3,500 annually. For parents, that
number balloons to about $5,000 on the year.
I like how they don't
round off numbers when determining the amount of money people spend
on fun activities, it is $303 a month. That averages out to $10.10 a
day. I'm sure you may think you are having fun at $10 a day, but
without that ten cents, it is probably just another boring and unfun
day that is part of the third of the year you spend being bored.
I like how parents
spend even more on having fun each year. I suppose parents are more
interested in having fun than single people. Could it be they are
more dedicated to having fun with their children? Does this mean
boredom lessens when you have a family? Is having a family more fun
or does it just cost more? Maybe parents have to invest more in fun
as a parent because they feel their world requires them to be too
grown-up. It could also be because their fun is more cost-effective
for enjoying a lot of family discounts.
(Sarcasm Alert)
Their cost could be
$416.66 a month. A small price to pay to have those special moments
where they don't feel too grown-up. Isn't it worth eliminating the
unfun and boring days that occur a third of the year? Should adult
versions of twister be part of a tax refund program? It could lead
to bored numerous adults roaming the world suffering the terrible
effects of feeling too grown up and forced to deal with unfun in
their world. We better do something before it becomes a national
crisis.
Below is a link to the
article.
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