Life as we know it is not that bad.

I hate it when people tell me that their lives are terrible. Their lives are never that bad.

I was thinking about this the other day while on a very slow escalator outside my local Sainsbury's eating an M&S sandwich. This is an unusual event for me, since I only very rarely go to M&S, and the last time I did it was because I was in desperate need of a public toilet. Most of the food in M&S is far too expensive for me to afford on a budget, and when I feel like indulging - as I had done - I find most of their flavours involve fish and unusual mixtures of vegetables. This is off putting for me normally, but I'd quite happily found one that suited my tastes. Fie to Jeremy Clarkson.

Coming up the escalator in the opposite direction, just as slowly, was a young girlfriend and boyfriend. You could tell they were very much in 'love' by the way they were ignoring each other and arguing while holding hands. Or what is classed as 'love' by people of a certain age and social class in England nowadays. They definitely didn't have jobs, from the overly-loud details about their benefit claims and lack of employment. They had two kids, although they were no where to be seen so maybe this was a lie, or perhaps just proof that people without proper upbringing, education and gainful employment should be parents. They were complaining about how terrible their lives were.

No, I'll grant you, I would never trade places with them. EVER. I'm infinitely happier in my social station than there's. But their lives were not terrible. My (friends') tax-paid monies are going towards this example of dysfunctionality as per our flawed government system to keep everyone alive whether or not they're useful, decent or in fact entirely human any more. And they seemed quite happy in their designer-trash clothing and were probably going to buy a host of branded, over-priced items that are completely superfluous to their actual dietary needs. SO while they themselves are terrible examples of human beings, their lives are not terrible.

While returning my trolley (that's right, I ate my M&S sandwich is Sainsbury's while shopping there. I'm not proud, but I was hungry) I then had to use the tragically slow escalators again, which gave me another wonderful opportunity to bear witness to another person's 'terrible' life. She was probably 17ish, I don't know exactly because asking would be weird and borderline paedophilic. She was complaining about how her mother always did all her washing and helped her with her homework, and her teachers were always trying to encourage her to go to university and how she just felt so much pressure on her. Oh my God people! I wish my folks had helped with my homework. And encouragement? Wow, people. Pain.

So next time you think your life is terrible, think about it really. You life is probably pretty good, it's just - for one second - not quite as good as you would like. I have no job, dwindling funds, student debt and financially obsessive parents. But I have good friends and I'm getting work done AND having fun, importantly. If my life is not terrible, nor is yours. Unless you're a starving African child born with aids into a harsh and unforgiving world of crime and violence with little or no chance to escape but all the while you retain the knowledge that you will almost certainly die before you've completely lived. Then, I have to admit, you have a valid case for claiming a terrible life.

Still, it could be worse, right? Right...?