Is the rest of the world the same?

Men in Australia think they have a right to comment on the way any woman looks, but they tend to dismiss you if you are older, as not worth looking at, not worth commenting on. Even the insults grow less. Which is nice.

When you are young you get quite enough of the comments. Walking in the street you get comments and shouts from cars or passer-bys. From friends, acquaintances, relatives. The size of your breasts, whether you are pretty or not, how fat or thin you are. It's all up there for public discussion and derision.

I've never thought of myself as the glass half-full kind but...

Sometimes people just need to complain. I get that. I complain more than I probably should, but I consider it part of my national identity as an Australian. Besides, people who never say what they think must explode sometime, don't you think?

Anyway - my possible failings aside, I'm here to complain about other people complaining. Things are bad, so you join a group on Facebook to get sympathy and help. Or why do you join? It seems some people just join to tell you how bad things are with them and never offer ideas or help. They take anything you say aggressively, even though you are just trying to offer help or hope or solidarity. But their situation is so bad and nothing you say will help. Their situation is worse than yours or anyone elses and no one has ever had anything remotely like it happen to them. In the group that is about that stuff.

It's not that I don't want them to explain what's happening with them. And I fully believe you should be allowed to be unhappy, express depression and all those bad emotions. I just think you also need to be aware that other people are going through things too and that a group is about helping each other, not just the all important 'you'. You can't show your unhappy, woe is me face every second or you risk doing the opposite for everyone else. Equally you can't show your totally perky side, but help groups should definitely not be a competition of who has it the worst.

I also find that when I suck it up and just try say things that might help rather than constantly complain about my own problems, that I find myself listening to my own advice and things get better.

And the glass? The glass is full - it has air and water. Does that have anything to do with who I am and how I relate to the world?