Affective Discrimination

Equality is all the rage in the United States these days. Protected classes of people are popping up like daisies. Just try discriminating on the basis of age, race, religion, even (gasp) sexual orientation, and see how far you get! In our more progressive towns guys can even shashay around in skirts, and nobody dares say a word. How is it then that the only emotional state we're constitutionaly gauranteed the right to pursue is happiness? Isn't it time to stomp out feeling-ism as well? Think about it: the United States is the only country in the world where you can be an old black lesbian in a wheel chair and, in theory, have no trouble finding a job--but only if you smile. Frown at the wrong customer and the deals off. Now I don't know about you, but in my experience old wheelchair-bound black lesbians aren't the most cheerful bunch, so all those smiles can't be coming easy! We make a big show of asking how each other is, but when it comes to saying how we really feel there's a strict don't ask-don't tell policy. It's just wrong. Angry people need to eat too. Now I've nothing against happiness. As feelings go, it's a pretty good one. I can often be found in hot pursuit of that particular endorphin rush, and friends and family sometimes complain that I seem to do little else. Still, I wonder if we're paying a price for trying to feel good all the time. Sometimes sadness can be sublime, and grief really, really good.