Thursday, New York City, New York

The television show WKRP in Cincinnati was a classic show that only aired for four years (1978-82), but became a memorable television program. Like every classic television show it featured memorable characters. It featured a wonderful leading man in Travis (Gary Sandy), the voice of sanity as the station’s Program Director. The classic actor Gordon Jump played the wonderfully bumbling station manager John, “the big guy.” Howard Hesseman was the memorable Dr. Johnny Fever, a burnt out disk jockey with an intrepid history.

The program also featured Les Nessman, the inept news director while blond beauty Loni Anderson portrayed Jennifer, the station’s receptionist and lust object. And idiot Herb was the sales executive who rounded out the cast. In essence, the show depicted every stereotype available in life. The writing was excellent, and the characters sharply defined.

Like every great television comedy, the WKRP’s ensemble cast depicted a wide variety of stereotypes. And who among us can’t relate to having people in our lives that reflect this broad array of human personalities? When we watch any television show with such characters, although portrayed in broad, almost cartoonish strokes, it represents much of what we experience in our own lives with the people around us. It is a delight to watch the nut cases around us who stumble along in life. Every life is a soap opera and we enjoy looking at someone else’s complex life for laughs.

Yet WKRP in Cincinnati had everything going for it to last a much longer time. It only lasted four years and it’s curious that it did not become a long term success. One suspicion is that the writing eventually waned. But given the clearly defined characters on the show, it seems odd that the scripts would not have gotten better over time. It certainly had its moments. For instance, during this very season of Thanksgiving, there was a delightful episode where the station, in a misguided but well intentioned attempt to reach out to their listening audience, decided to higher a plane to drop hundreds of turkeys down on the city as a gesture of goodwill. Of course it didn’t occurr to the staff that, as the station manager noted, “I swear it had it never occurred to me that turkeys couldn’t fly!” The show’s writing in its heyday was outstanding and evoked belly laughs.

In light of its short life on the air, yet reflecting on its great thematic premise, WKRP in Cincinnati reminds us of the power of the writers in media. As we read about the television writers on strike seeking their fair share of revenue, shows like WKRP in Cincinnati, as well as other great classic programs that never lasted more than a few years, are evidence that the variable for success is not with the actors or the characters that portray the leads. It is in fact with the power of the written word that is given voice with the talented actors under the direction of the producers. But it all starts with the writers and they are often marginalized in the process of revenue sharing. The writing s the fundamental.

If the writing is weak, every other person involved in the endeavor essentially works in vain!

There seems to be an imbalance between the lofty remuneration of the actors who appear on the screen, the networks that air the shows and the writers who make the the great characters that become a hit program.

The whole thing seems out of balance to me.

Wednesday, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

TV Land and Entertainment Weekly compiled a list of the top 100 television icons. Johnny Carson, whose late night show was a staple for three decades was named Number 1. The names represent a cross section of sitcom comedy stars like Lucille Ball, Mary Tyler Moore, Bill Cosby and Jerry Seinfeld. It features talk show host Oprah Winfrey in the third spot while newsman Walter Cronkite comes in at 5th. The top ten also includes Dick Clark and Homer Simpson.

Perusing the list it is interesting how many of these iconic personalities came to their fame in the classic television era. While there are some current stars like Seinfeld, Sopranos star James Gandolfini and George Clooney, the majority harken back to television programs at least two decades old. There were some omissions like Sid Caesar who has not appeared on television in many decades. But it is very curious that late night staple Jay Leno dod not make the list. Huh?

The actors that became household names through their famous characters have stayed current in the public consciousness since before many fans were born. The popularity of reruns on cable television introduced dozens of shows and characters to succeeding generations. When I speak to young audiences virtually everyone of them are very familiar with Gilligan’s Island, I Love Lucy and The Mary Tyler Moore SHow. They also know who Kermit and Lassie are just as they know David Letterman and Jon Stewart

In my public presentations I remind the audience that:

Americans are watching an average of 4 hours of television each day (That’s 28 hours every week!)
The television is turned on for 8 hours every day in the average American home
There are now more televisions than people in the average household.

Think about these numbers? Imagine if you dedicated four hours a day, seven day a week to some other activity - like learning to juggle, whistle or learn a language? Apply 28 hours a week to your hobby, your avocational passion, college or graduate program and much of what you wish could happen in your life would probably come to pass.

When I reflect on the thousands of hours I have given to passively watching television over my life time it is astounding how little I have devoted to other, more fruitful endeavors. But by God, I have seen every episode of Law & Order, Rhoda and Friends.

This is not a comforting thought.

Tuesday, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Dr. Gunnar Ollsen is a senior research fellow at the Teletherapy Institute in Fowler Indiana. He was born in Holland and emigrated to the U.S. as a teenager. He became addicted to television, typically devoting over one hundred hours each week to watching. Sent by his parents to counseling, he then developed a reaction formation and became committed to spreading the idea that television is destroying American civilization. He now devotes his life to the science of teletherapy - the study of hidden meanings in television programs. He sent the following to me:

(CAUTION: Some of the writing below shows signs of incoherent rambling and may indicate a decompensation or even a psychotic break on the part of Dr. Ollsen. Pick out only what is helpful for you)

Dr. Will,

At a recent conference on the effects of television I was asked repeated questions about whether television causes anger and violence. The whole discussion became heated and several chairs were thrown. It seems that there is a need for a sane analysis on television and anger. And since you are the one credited with tying these two issues together in your classic text Why We Watch: Killing the Gilligan Within, I thought I would share these thoughts with you.

Television and Rage: The Dilemma of Anger

No theory of psychological healing is valid if it fails to address anger, perhaps the most fundamental of all human struggles. Anger is the cause of untold amounts of misery and failure. It has baffled the greatest minds in history. Every great thinker has wrestled with the problem of anger; millions of great and wise words have been expressed to help us in the battle against our inner rage. Freud himself admitted that trying to adequately define the concept of anger was a task that often enraged him (one famous incident involved throwing pool equipment out a window while vacationing at a spa while trying to collect his thoughts on the subject of anger).

My own father, Todd Ollsen said to me when I was ten years old, “don’t be angry … ever.” Moving in its simplicity, these words served as a guiding force as I entered the field of mental health and sought to unravel the mystery of this most disquieting human emotion. After many years of intense study, many of which enraged me as well, imagine my euphoria when it suddenly struck me upon reading your book and hearing your lectures that television was the answer!

There can be no doubt that we are in desperate need of a new response to human anger. Many strategies have been developed, all to little effect. The fact is that American society has become a boiling cauldron of contempt, a percolating pot of provocation, an oven of animosity. Where can we turn for relief? What is the common denominator?

As we look around for a source of hope, it becomes apparent that what we all share is the reflective glow of the television screen on our hot faces. It is through television that we can be reached. And this is the essence of the miracle of Teletherapy. This is what you discovered many years ago while working at the Nick-at-Nite Research Labs in Puerto Rico.

The answer to the dilemma is simple: watch more television that resolves anger in a peaceful way. Or focus on programs that portray clear consequences for the outbursts of an individual’s anger: shows that depict perps being pummeled by righteous authority figures. Select dramas where the guilty are harshly punished and the peaceful people are saved. Never watch shows that equivocate about the consequences of violence. What good does the anti-hero do anyway? In the words of Carl Jung, “anti heroes are almost always repressed turds” (loosely translated from his German).

What good does it do to sit through a program where someone guilty of anger walks away scot free? Nothing…absolutely nothing…except…to make you angry. And even when there is a two part series,if the first episode ends in a cliff hanger here an angry person seems to prevail, you must sit through the sequel to experience a gratifying resolution. And if the episodes are separated by a week, arrange to remain at home until the matters are resolved.

For those who are victims of the angry: form watch associations and cultivate warm friendly relationships with the local police who will happy to come to your rescue and aggressively subdue the violators. And for those who are angry and take it out on others, your day of reckoning is at hand. The peaceful are fed up with you and your ilk. There will be blowback!

So before you act out your inner rage, sit and watch at least twelve hours of Law and Order: Criminal Intent. Gentle but clear thinking Detective Bobby Goren will use his brain to overwhelm your primitive impulses. Bobby will bring you down, and Detective Eames will be standing by to laugh at your humiliation.

Have a great day!

Gunnar

Perhaps you are unaware if your anger has become a problem for you.
Using your experience as a viewer, see if these signs seem familiar to you:

- Tearing labels off beverage bottles while viewing television

- While channel surfing, making exaggerated changing gesture to move past religious programming.

- Unnecessarily loud hand striking when using “The Clapper” device.

- Habitual lip biting while watching rugby

- Lingering fantasies of retaliation against inconsiderate behavior by sitcom characters. (e.g., spending more than twenty minutes ruminating about a confrontation with Ted Baxter. NOTE: if this behavior includes actually making a physical list of such strategies, or attempts to make contact with the actor, seek help as soon as possible)

- Sweat soaked clothing while watching Without A Trace

- Upon entering a bathroom, you have a sudden outburst mimicking the sound effect of the shower scene in the movie Psycho

- Fantasies of physical retaliation against Monk

- When alone watching Ultimate Fighting you stand and imitate the movements of the participants

- You own a black SUV with darkened windows

Monday, Cancun, Mexico

When he was running for President, George Bush Senior often had to defend himself from the accusation that he was a wimp. Although he was a fighter pilot in World War II who served heroically, his elaborate diction and manner of expression gave off the impression of an Ivy League dandy. But his later public image belied his real character.

As if to emphasize his machismo Bush has made several parachute jumps from planes in his old age. His first celebrated leap was on his 80th birthday. And then this last week he jumped out of a plane right into a celebration of the dedications ceremony for the expansion of his presidential library. At 83 he is just recovered from hip replacement surgery and is obviously full of the joy of living.

But the senior Mr. Bush is no stranger to the experience of jumping from planes. In 1944, he made his first jump from his plane that was shot down by enemy fire in the Pacific. Surely the elder President Bush is no wimp. And of course as President he is remembered for the war he fought against Iraq. And it seems that his leadership in that conflict was steady and confident in some measure because he was personally tested in combat. It is the same feeling of assurance the country had with the leadership of every commander-in-chief who has been through a war. Dwight Eisenhower, John Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford and George Bush Senior were all men who felt first hand the impact of nations at war. They all faced fire.

And it is this lack of experience that gives me pause about the leadership of presidents and advisors who are eager to send soldiers into combat having never faced it themselves. And it’s made worse when there is a suspicion that they avoided the experience when they had the opportunity. Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter wer both in the military although neither saw combat. Bill Clinton was the first President to have never been in the military and , like so many Baby Boomers facing the draft during the Vietnam War he avoided service.

The distinction between George Bush Senior and Junior is stark. Dad came across in the media as soft.; the son comes across as tough. Dad was in a war; the son served far away from a war. Dad executed a military mission carefully planned and managed; the son…

And of course there’s the active war experience of Donald Rumsfeld who served in the War as did Colin Powell and of course, Vice President Dick Cheney. (Ah, scratch that last one)

Friday, Cancun, Mexico

A good deal of my time and energy is focused on what helps a person maintain a positive mood in the midst of the predictable uncertainties of living. Simply pretending that there is no suffering and sadness is does not work. Such denial strips us of emotional resources to cope with inevitable setbacks and diminishes our empathy for the people who suffer around us. Wallowing in the anxiety of what might happen next is not the answer either as it incapacitates us from living in the present moment and feeling the serenity available and necessary to stay healthy.

In general, Americans are doing a poor job of finding this balance. In fact numerous studies confirm that we are lead the developed world in stress related disorders. Between depression and anxiety it is fair to say that here in the United States we are struggling with a collective adjustment disorder. We have lifestyles characterized by a scramble for personal happiness but are mostly frantic and reactive to what may come.

Quite frankly, the evidence abounds from social and health science that our approach is utterly ineffective. It offers only momentary and anecdotal moments of peace between stressful events. And even these moments of quiet are infected with the ominous fears that it won’t last. Now of course this is a generalization, but it applies to tens of millions of intelligent, successful individuals of solid character and good will. What’s up?

Over the past 15 years, combining the efforts of my own personal quality of life along with my writing, teaching and research with Dr. Glenn Sparks at Purdue University I am more convinced than ever that our thesis in the book Refrigerator Rights: Creating Connections & Restoring Relationships is more relevant than ever. Social isolation is what is ailing us at every level.

If you are living the good but uncertain life, I urge you to consider the relevance of our principle challenge: how many people are in your daily life that have refrigerator rights in your house? If the answer is too few, you may have answered the fundamental question of what’s wrong with my life, my mood and my elusive feeling of success?

Thursday, Cincinnati, Ohio

Dr. Edith Munch is a psychiatrist from New York City who testified on behalf of Dr. Will when a patient sued for malpractice. He had charged Will with using secret hypnotic techniques to make him shoplift at Walmart. Dr. Munch’s testimony cleared Dr. Will and charged him fifty thousand dollars for her assistance. He has been paying her off in installments for fourteen years. She has authored four books on feng shui and the psychology of cabinetry. She has been a technical advisor to the Maury Povich Show and is a certified tool & dye maker. She often writes to Dr. Will about issues in psychiatry.

Will,

As you know I rarely agree to see patients anymore. After so many years of their yakking I just had enough. You know my motto these days, "I will medicate but I will not ruminate." But I sometimes get roped into a clinical situation and always regret it. The latest is my sister Marie’s butt head twenty year old son, Alan. She calls me up and says he is losing it and I must help him.

So I agree and she’s right, the kid’s seriously buggers. I said hello and he began sweating profusely. I realize he is in the middle of a panic attack. After calming him down I asked what got him upset and he tells me that he suspects Marie’s new boyfriend is a terrorist. Say what!?

Yeah he was arrested by the FBI and hasn’t been seen since. Although I said the right things to him professionally, by the end of the session he actually had me nearly panicking about how vulnerable we are to lunatics bent on killing us. He left and I had a panic attack. Can you imagine?

In the interests of our readers I thought you should define panic disorder and its symptoms. Here is my two cents:

Panic Disorder. Can you relate to these symptoms:

Panic is a discrete period of intense fear or discomfort, in which four or more of the following symptoms develop abruptly and reach a peak within ten minutes:

1. Palpitations, pounding heart, or accelerated heart rate:

– Your heart rate is so fast, rabbits approach you without fear.
– You can only tolerate listening to music whose percussion is in time with your heartbeat.

2. Sweating:

– After exercising at the gym, the staff must mop up your areas.
– You must launder your clothing at least twice each day.

3. Trembling or Shaking:

– In order to focus your eyes to read, you must lean against a solid object.
– Unbeknownst to those you meet, your vigorous handshake requires no energy on your part.

4. Sensations of shortness of breath or smothering:

– You can only fall asleep without covers.
– When listening to your breathing through the phone, others suspect that your dog is nearby.

5. Fears of choking:

– You are terrified of eating chicken or fish.
– Activities such as scratching your face or trying to apply lipstick triggers your gag response.

6. Feeling dizzy, unsteady, lightheaded, or faint:

– Even while standing perfectly still. You weave from side to side.
– You pass out into unconsciousness at least seven times each week.

7. Derealization (feelings of unreality) or depersonalization (being detached from oneself):

– You don’t always really know it’s you in the mirror.
– You often have a strong desire to step aside away from yourself.

8. Fear of losing control or going crazy:

– You only feel completely secure when you are physically attached to a solid object or another person.
– Even though you do not have panic disorder, this test is causing you to develop the illness.

9. Fear of dying:

– Your funeral arrangements have been made and prepaid since you were 20 years old.
– You spend every free moment of spare time sitting still in a chair in your basement.

10. Paresthesias (numbness or tingling sensation):

– In order to lift something, you must look at your hand to insure that it is really grasping.
– Every few minutes you make a little jump and cry "Wooo."

Wednesday, Lafayette, Indiana

So it isn’t just Brittany Spears, David Copperfield, Paris Hilton and Dog the Bounty Hunter who are the focus of the tabloid press and the paparazi!

Of all people Andy Reid, coach of football’s Philadelphia Eagles had to listen a judge call his kids drug addicts and describe his household as "a drug emporium." He used these terms as he sentenced Reid’s sons to jail for up to two years.

It seems that while Coach Dad was busy at work overseeing his young athletes, mentoring and keeping them all in line, his two “boys” (in their twenties and still living at home!), were partying with a variety of illegal drugs and guns. His home was full of heavy drugs weapons and his lazy slob sons doing “business” out of the mansion.

Now, such a story is shocking enough regardless of who is involved. We realize there are stupid people and inept parents everywhere. But for mature individuals blessed with wealth, privilege and superior career success to remain so out to lunch that there is a drug den operating in your own home is mystifying.

It calls into question Reid’s mental competence, or at least his focus. While he dutifully said all the right things about this being a painful but private family matter, it doesn’t wash away the stunning revelation about his lifestyle and character. Did the tragic situation come out as a result of the parents behaving like parents and putting their foot down about illegal activiies in their home?

No. It came out with the intervention of law enforcement to make him step up and put down his foot? Can you say codependent? Has he never watched Oprah or Dr. Phil? A Grey’s Anatomy episode can school you on the proper response to dealing with an addict in the family. Enabling the behavior to the point of turning your own home into a crack house is beyond the pale.

What’s distressing about this particular family’s crisis with drugs is that the high profile, wealth and power shielded or at least delayed the consequences for hosting a “drug emporium” because Dad is famous, rich and a sport icon in the city. It’s easy to blame police or other public officials, but powerful lawyers and friends often collude to shield the privileged from taking their medicine as quickly as others without such benefits.

Well with the Reid boys going away to prison, perhaps Mom & Dad can spend some time reading the literature of Alanon and attend a few meetings. And maybe Andy will have some insight into handling the complexities of some of his spolied millionaire players. Kind of makes one wonder if ther wasn’t another side to the Terrell Owens sage.

"Coach Reid’s Drug Emporium"

What a world!

Tuesday, Newark, New Jersey

Marco Gabbo lives in Seacaucus, New Jersey and works for his father’s scrap metal company: Gabbo’s Metallos. He came to Dr. Will for eleven years in shackles through court ordered anger management therapy. Since ending treatment he quit his father’s business and opened what he calls an Urban Discipline Ranch for boys with behavior problems. It is called the Triple R (“Ralphy’s Rehabilitation Ranch”) with facilities in the city of Elizabeth, New Jersey. He has written a pamphlet called “Beaten Down With Love: A Guide to Helping Screwed Up Teens.”

Hey Doc,

Hard to believe I miss your ugly mug already.
Anyways…

Luther (you know, the officer who used to accompany me to the sessions) now works for me at the Triple R. He called and said you ordered my book online. I wanted to know a few things. First, are you intending to use this against me in some way? Hope not…for your sake.

Otherwise, giving you the benefit of the doubt, I assume you are interested in using it to help some of the the little crud balls you treat (like me, ha, ha, ha!).
Anyways…

Since you got the book (and it IS a book, not a “pamphlet” as those turds at Amazon called it!). I mean it’s almost 40 pages. Isn’t that about the same as Jonathan Livingston Seagull?” Come on.
Anyways…

I cannot trust that you will promote the book, even though the state paid you thousands of dollars for my treatment over a decade. So the least you can do is give me some air time on your weird little web sty. The main point is to share with your readers advice for raising a better boy than me.
Anyways…

These are my ten tips for keeping your son on the straight and narrow:

1. It starts with the parents when the boy is young. Make sure that his father spends as much time with him as his mommy. If Dad is a low life piece of ear wax, then find some good guy you trust (NO, not Mom’s new boyfriend!). Get a coach or someone with no prison record to hang out with him, give him noogies, teach him to spit and whistle. No singing!

2. From his first visit to the Dentist follow one rule: NO Novocain! Learn to deal with pain! DO NOT allow his mother interfere.

3. Give your son a good name. Take a list of possible names and read them aloud to three thugs from the local high school. Any name that these guys laugh at is O-U-T!

4. For every grade below B on his report card, make your son sleep outside on th lawn for three days. (If he cannot be trusted to stay, hire a guard dog). DO NOT allow his mother interfere.

5. Insist that your son plays a contact sport that requires little or no protective gear. If there is no rugby in your town, start a club. Nothing makes a man like losing a tooth in a scrum! DO NOT allow his mother interfere.

6. At least twice each year visit a local prison with your son and have him meet some of the men who are there.

7. As soon as he turns 11 years old, make him take cool showers three times a day.

8. Keep you son away from girls until he has learned to control his urges. Any girl who tries to lure your son before the age of 16 report her to the authorities and get an order of protection from the court.

9. Spend the money and hire a private investigator to do a thorough back ground check on every friend of your son, including their families.

10. Disassemble a motorcycle or a small automobile in your backyard and tell your son he cannot eat until he figures out how to put it back together again. DO NOT allow his mother interfere.

The main point here is that if you do not follow these steps to the letter I guarantee your little low life prize will be a camper at my ranch in Jersey. And neither of us want that (except me, of course).
Anyways…

That’s it from here. And by the way, I would like to formally invite you to be the graduation speaker at the Ranch next Spring. Although most of the kids will think you’re a fairy, they will get a glimpse of what a guy looks like who is not a criminal (as far as we all know, Doc! Ha Ha Ha!).

Anyways…

I’M OUT!

B.R.
Founder & President
Triple R Camp
The Solution for Rotten Boys

Monday, New York, New York

Any hit television show, like C.S.I., Grey’s Anatomy or Desperate Housewives, for instance, is successful because of the great scripts that allow the actors to shine in their gripping stories. A TV program or film becomes successful because of the combined talents of producers, writers, directors, actors, editors and all the other artists who sew it together. And most of us are aware that the actors, director and producers receive most of the public acclaim and, of course the most money.

Right away I confess to a biased view here as someone who has been both a performer and a writer. But thinking about the contribution of each of the creative professionals, it seems odd that there is such a disparity in the rewards given to the writers compared to the others in involved in the process. Any of these individuals can make or ruin a program.

Does anyone doubt tat success of such programs as the Daily Show or Leno and Letterman’s monologues and skits keep their audience if they were badly written? Of course not. It all begins with good written material that arms the ret of the crew with what they need to bring something wonderful to the scree. Bad acting gets panned just as poor directing or a lame script. But again, writers are the ones most often short changed when it comes to sharing in the profits of a successful television or film project.

So my sympathy is with the writers as they venture out on their labor action trying to secure a better del for themselves against the television networks. Classic film and television all begin with good scripts. It is what separates the hits from the crashes.

They may not be beautiful or glamorous, but it’s time to give the writers their due.

Friday, Lafayette, Indiana

The recurring theme in the cartoon Blondie is the plight of Dagwood Bumstead who works under the thumb of his sadistic boss J.C. Dithers. In one recent entry Dagwood and Blondie are looking into the window of a pet shop watching a hamster run around a wheel. Dagwood says “look at that hamster working as hard as he can and getting nowhere. That’s just how I feel at the J.C. Dithers company!” He storms off as Blondie observes, “somebody had a bad day at the office.”

Working as hard as we can and “getting nowhere” is an affront to our life expectations and sense of entitlement. We reasonably expect that if we work hard and follow the proscribed path, we will inevitably have our dreams fulfilled. When the formula fails it’s disappointing. We may feel outraged by the injustice. Such expectations are highlighted in the American way of life. Despite all evidence to the contrary about the capricious nature of human reality we continue to plow ahead refusing to accept that we may not get anywhere near where we dream of getting.

How have we come to this place where so many people stand on their expectation that they are entitled to succeed? Research studies have shown that the majority of young professionals test above average for narcissism and its attendant expectation that good things will come their way because they are entitled to it. And certainly American life is full of opportunity and an unprecedented ease and comfort.

But life is also replete with the lure of fantasy. Unlike societies where wealth, privilege and status are always determined by birth, we in our time and place believe these can be attained with labor and the nurturing of our personal gifts. The only concession we seem to acknowledge is luck. And even there the advice is understand luck as when preparation meets opportunity. Preparation can be controlled and opportunity is seen as inevitable and recurring.

The prospect of remaining anonymous for the entire duration of our life is frightening & depressing for many people. This has become so engrained in our self esteem culture that we are failing to inoculate our children against emotional meltdowns when life’s tragedies and disappointments visit us. The popularity of the television program American Idol reveals this insatiable drive to be acknowledged. The ingenious format of the program shines a light on the dilemma of the self in modern culture. Young performers stand before judges who evaluate their talent. Most seem supremely confident that they have what it takes to become a star, a celebrity artist who will become rich and revered. When the judges reject them many seemed shocked and crushed. Their self image is shattered and it’s clear that they had little understanding of how their talent compares with the other performers. The exciting lure of the program for viewers is rooted in the withering critique of the judges, specifically the blunt, even cruel comments from Simon Cowell. As scathing as his comments ay be, we feel a level of gratitude that someone has finally told this deluded individual the truth, even as it humiliates the performer.

The truth is that life’s unpredictability is its essential feature and a happy, low stress life begins by accepting these inevitabilities and gathering the support around us that will enable us to cope and behave with resilience. Despite his bad day, certainly Dagwood Bumstead has what he needs to bounce back from his momentary existential meltdown. What are your expectations? When the stresses come, what resources do you have at your ready disposal? On this dstressing

matter you man find it helpful to read Refrigerator Rights.