The Misanthrope’s Corner

ANOTHER Sunday with the newspapers, another pile of stress articles. This is becoming such a regular experience that if This Is Your Life is ever revived and they decide to do me, they’ll have to figure out some way to show it. I don’t know how they could do it except to heave a file cabinet full of clippings through the rose-covered trellis while the band plays “Auld Lang Syne.” The show’s format demands a real live person, but it won’t be long before every American newspaper has a separate Stress Section, so they’ll be able to bring on a real live Stress Editor to hug me.

Stress as it is now defined got its start when feminists adopted the Nazi motto, Arbeit Macht Frei, and ordered wives and mothers to go out to work. I admit to a touch of schadenfreude here because this kind of stress plays no role in my life. I have never had a husband or a child and I no longer drive a car so I am immune to the Big Three, but my advantages are a double-edged sword. Living alone and working at home may sound unstressful, but they have spoiled me so much that the least little thing ticks me off.

About the Author

Florence King

Florence King was a contributing editor of National Review.

ANOTHER Sunday with the newspapers, another pile of stress articles. This is becoming such a regular experience that if This Is Your Life is ever revived and they decide to do me, they’ll have to figure out some way to show it. I don’t know how they could do it except to heave a file cabinet full of clippings through the rose-covered trellis while the band plays “Auld Lang Syne.” The show’s format demands a real live person, but it won’t be long before every American newspaper has a separate Stress Section, so they’ll be able to bring on a real live Stress Editor to hug me.

Stress as it is now defined got its start when feminists adopted the Nazi motto, Arbeit Macht Frei, and ordered wives and mothers to go out to work. I admit to a touch of schadenfreude here because this kind of stress plays no role in my life. I have never had a husband or a child and I no longer drive a car so I am immune to the Big Three, but my advantages are a double-edged sword. Living alone and working at home may sound unstressful, but they have spoiled me so much that the least little thing ticks me off.