About this quote

We love to bond over shared misery. Look at how people behave at a office water cooler; they are rarely trading pure joy. Instead, they swap stories about bad traffic or terrible coffee. This shared venting is how we find our tribe. Next time you complain, ask yourself if you actually want a solution, or if you just want someone to agree that things are tough.

When to use it

• You are stuck in a three-hour budget meeting that could have been a quick email, and your coworker slacks you a complaint about it. You reply with this quote to laugh at how modern work culture breeds misery.
• After spending two hours trying to assemble a flat-pack bookshelf with your partner, you are both hot, frustrated, and bickering over a missing screw. You say this to break the tension and make them laugh at your mutual whining.
• You are standing in the freezing rain at six in the morning waiting for a local 10k race to start. Hearing the runners around you groan about the weather, you mutter this quote to the person next to you to make a quick connection.