I make a point, during last week's five day stay in
Is it their pissy beer that makes them so miserable? I don't know. But I have a theory why they look miserable and it goes like this:
No nation on earth is a more fervent follower than the Swiss of the dictum of F. Scott Fitzgerald that: "The richer a feller is, the better I like him."
The Swiss love the rich. They want the rich to put their money in Swiss banks. They like the rich to buy houses in
Now the rich, of course, are miserable. They worry about: Will I lose my money? Is my wife rogering her tennis coach? Am I over-paying the Philippino help?
So, the Swiss try to make the rich feel comfortable by behaving just like the rich i.e. appearing miserable.
For instance a posh Montreux restaurant proclaimed that it was: 'The quietest place to eat'.
Now normal people want a jolly place to eat, somewhere with a bit of life, a buzz of convivial conversation.
But not the rich. They want a quiet place where they can sit among quiet miserable people, being served by quiet miserable waiters, quietly wallowing in their misery.
So that's my theory. The Swiss aren't naturally miserable, they just know, after decades of sucking up to the rich, that it's the best way to look for the sake of
Observation and logic spot on I think David! It is a strange quirk of human nature that these people who have it all are some of the most miserable....and that the happiest appear to be the ones with pretty much nothing! In the case of Switzerland maybe its the fear of being finally exposed for what laid the foundation for their wealth...a certain country from a certain era whose gold ended up there maybe. Pure speculation of course.......
Thanks Dave, Yes I think that episode highlighted the priorities of the Swiss
Nice observation, though a bit of a generalization.
It's worth also looking at the other end of the spectrum- people of countries who're really happy and what's working in their favour.
I read that Norway or Denmark was again voted as having the top "Gross National Happiness" index or some such..
David, it'd be great if you can share thoughts on this end!
My God, Gautham don't get me onto the Scandinavians they each think the other countires are: boring; stupid; lazy etc etc. I've heard the Danes slag off the Swedes; the Swedes slag off the Norwegians and vice versa, and the Finns slag off everyone. It's fun listening to it but I'm not getting involved
After a first and very recent trip to Norway I would be hard pressed to find the link between GNP and joy.
The locals were courteous, cheerful, generous to a fault, (and just a little mad). Very heart warming and a stunningly beautiful country. Surprising really given the price of a pint!
Also interesting was that I didn't spot a single obese person whilst out and about.
Perhaps it's not how much money you have (and the Nords are doing OK) but your attitude towards it.
Thanks for the x86/88 insights, as to the Scandinavians, they always seem basically a happy lot to me, Rob Gillatt,do you think it could have anything to do with the combination of very long nights and very beautiful women?