Leon the Pessimist

For those of you that fear the depressing, pessimistic attitude this post takes on, turn back now. All others, feel free to read on.

There really is no need for the title second place. It means you were good, but not good enough. Sometimes, such as in the Olympics, you may get a smaller, less (or in-) significant prize for taking second. This is the exception to the rule. Generally, you get nothing.

And such is life. You can apply for 100s of jobs, get 1 response, get flown out for an in-person interview, and in the end you are told that you took second place. What do you get out of it? No silver medal to take home. No part-time job. You get nothing. You get told well you almost had it. Better luck next time. And nobody wants that. The almost-winners of the state championship don't walk around sporting rings that say 2nd place state champions. The guy whose fiance dumps him for another guy doesn't wear a t-shirt around that says almost had her. Nobody wants to take second place.

I don't. Second place, you mean nothing to me. You think you're helping people, but you're wrong. It does nobody any good to tell them that they just weren't good enough. It builds nobody's self-esteem to tell them that they weren't fast enough. You're depressing. You can suck it.