Stressed?

Reading the newsadvertisement papers

I was reading about stress in the Sunday Papers, and this bit caught my eye. Commenting on how folks who are poor suffer higher levels of stress, a doctor then qualified his remarks by saying that in a fairly affluent Singapore, poverty is not so much an absolute but a relative concept. In order words, it's those who feel themselves poor when compared to their peers who are likely to feel most stress.

How warped can it be, this materialistic, competitive, consumerist, absolutely silly island life.

J: All the handphones I've ever owned are always the most in-between models.
Y: What do you mean?
j: You know, neither the top of the range nor the cheapest.
Y: Oh, I see. So?
J: Like my camera. My laptop. My toys. Everything.
Y: Everything? Like your life? Like me?
J: .... you wouldn't understand.
Y: Yes, because I only get the best? Like you?

OK, in reality the conversation didn't go this far (artistic licence la. Heh, sweet J's not so silly). But you get the idea. Friends, don't look around and start to believe those mad mad lies!