is, ostensibly, 69 today. Poor bastard. I suppose he never had to agonize over what clothes he was going to wear. A lot of the time he seems like an idiot because he keeps coming back for more abuse, and everything in his life goes to shit.

Still, he understands. When most of your life is crap, a little victory, here and there, is a sweet, sweet thing. When people live their lives getting participation trophies, being rewarded for succeeding is nothing special. So people go around chasing the dragon, looking for that next big buzz.

To someone who is regularly the nail that sticks up and gets hammered down, small victories are wonderful. Living your life by contrasting the hard times to the good is not the worst thing you can do.