Why are we working our asses off? For the money? Or is it for the status? A question that was posed last week on PBS on a special called "Status Anxiety" by Alain de Botton. Are we all just starved for societal love? Are we just all really that new little kid in kindergarten craving for social acceptance and that elusive feeling of feeling loved and safe.

The show really got me thinking. I mean why are we all running the rat race? Especially in this area. I mean, the GDP in this DC Metro area alone is probably more than several developing nations put together. Of course I don't have any scientific proof to that, but it sure feels truthy, doesn't it? I mean, seriously, the weddings industry in this region alone is somewhere around 4 billion dollars or so I heard on Marketplace in passing one evening.

The funny thing is, I found that living in this area has been more of a hindrance than a helping in really finding deep connections/bonds with people. In my experience, most of the people I come in contact with are willing to be around me if it suits them. Fairweather friends I suppose.

We happened to get Clerks 2 in Netflix over the weekend, and man, Kevin Smith gets it. Or so he does a very good job of eloquently grossing me out and preaching about what real deep friendships are all about. If you haven't seen it, you should, not just for the donkey scene. Between all the dick and fart jokes sprinkled with Star Wars and Transformers, there are real moments that friends share with each other that you can't get from 99% of the superficial people out there that you want to respect your supposed status. And you can take that to the bank.