Sounds Like Life To Me

Riley Dino is a great fan of country music. He embraces his rural heritage. He imagines himself driving a pick-up truck and living out in the country somewhere - possibly Florida, where the Protosaurs live; maybe Michigan or West Virginia, the ancestral nesting grounds of my people; probably Arizona or Utah, where the fossils are; or maybe Denmark, where the Legos come from. In any event, because Riley asks nicely - and because the HD oldies station craps out north of Laurel most days - I listen to a lot more country music than I ever have before. I like it.

There's this song on the country station called "Sounds Like Life To Me." The point of the song is that life is full of pressure and worries and that there's no reason to overdramatize one's misfortunes. I am ambivalent about this song. On one hand, there have been many points in our family life when I would have paid some dude to have this conversation in a bar with Dino Spouse. On the other hand, pressure and worries need outlets. Some yahoo in a bar telling you to "suck it up" over drinks is not necessarily a constructive outlet. Where is the fine line between compassion for one's fellow creature and constructive criticism?