Final Word: Les Miserables

By Paul Moore

I have on occasion pointed out that I tend to mistrust happy people.

They have no business being happy and full of the proverbial joys of life when the rest of us are merely trying to get through another day without inflicting violence on those who persist in pursuing stupidity, particularly in the workplace.

One can both forgive and legislate for anything except stupidity, and of course happiness. For the record, I am especially wary of those who claim their happiness is the product of some kind of religion or religious experience. Everyone is entitled to believe in who and whatever they wish and I respect them for that. They are not entitled, however, to bore me with their religion enthusiasm or, more often that not, try to persuade me to accept the efficacy of their religious fervour.

At this point they can sling their biblical hook. I was pleasantly surprised, therefore, given my mistrust of happiness, to find that neither Ireland nor the UK featured in the recently-reported ‘Top Ten Happy Countries in the World’. That statistic makes me feel happier, if not completely happy.

The top ten countries were, of course, the usual suspects, with a couple of outliers Mexico was there (has to be the food), Costa Rica (has to be the coffee), and Israel.

Most interestingly all the others were from what might be termed the ‘Nordic region’ – Norway, Luxembourg, Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands and Iceland, with the happiest country in the world, for the eighth year ins a row, being Finland.

Frustratingly the reports on this list did not indicate why the Finns are so happy but it was suggested it was because they care about each other. In fact the report argued, derived from an experiment involving lost wallets which were returned, that strangers are generally twice as kind as we think they are. The issue with this is that they are comparing apples and orange here.

Kindness is not the same as happiness. I would like to think I might be kind to strangers if I could, be but I also imagine I would still be grumpy when doing it.

I have also not visited enough of these countries to know what the secret ingredient is. I have been to Iceland and have no idea what they have to be happy about, since it is covered in freezing snow and winds for half of the year and in the dark for nine months.

Anyone who has seen Bjork (whose work incidentally I adore) or Sigor Ros will know what being in the dark for three quarters of each year does to your psyche.

The report also said that those with larger families tend to be happier, with the perfect happy family being mother, father, and three offspring.

As an only child, this may explain a great deal. The part of the report which intrigued me most, however, was the assertion that sharing meals with others is a key factor in happiness and well-being. This may be true unless you are the one picking up the bill for everyone else’s happiness.

It is also the case that eating on one’s own in a restaurant is one of the great pleasures in life because it makes the waiting staff all feel sorry for you and other diners deeply uncomfortable as they think you are Johnny-no-mates or you have been stood up.

The truth is that I am very happy not being happy and derive great joy from bursting the bubble of those who want to smile, engage in conversation or, sweet lord, sing, first thing in the morning.

If this is your thought on how any given day should be greeted then I am sure the Finns would be as delighted to have you, as we would to be rid of you.