If you've noticed people around here seem incurably grumpy/grouchy, now we have empirical proof: a recent study has named Connecticut as almost dead last in a state-by-state ranking of American happiness.
Two economics professors, Andrew J. Oswald of the University of Warwick in England and Stephen Wu of Hamilton College in Clinton, N.Y. analyzed a load of data to come up with their findings. Factors included climate, taxes, cost of living, commuting time, crime rates and schools.
New York was at the very bottom of the list. Connecticut was first runner-up.
If you talk to anybody in this state about the cost of living, the climate, crime or commuting time, it's no wonder we were near the bottom of this survey. Our highways are a mess, the weather outside is frightful much of the year and people are feeling taxed to death.
Maybe it's because of my upbringing by a father who worked for Norman Vincent Peale (author of "The Power of Positive Thinking") that I often tend to tell the nay-sayers to lighten up a little. Hey Nutmeg State, look at what we've got: the shoreline, those hills and mountains, the parks, the theaters, those town and city greens...
I say the same thing to New Haveners when they start to whine and gripe. Dudes, take a walk on the New Haven Green! Visit Lighthouse Point and the beach (well, not right now). Go to one of our city's museums. Maybe the dinosaurs at the Peabody will lift your spirits a little...
You know who really needs to improve their outlooks? The people who respond to the New Haven Register's "Soundoff" questions, many of them from the suburbs, where I suppose life is delightful. I get especially annoyed when they answer anything pertaining to New Haven. On and on they vent about "the parking, the crime," etc. I'll bet they haven't set foot downtown in months or years; they're just too scared or paranoid or even prejudiced.
Would it be so tragic if they had to walk a couple of blocks after parking their cars? Would it kill them to get some exercise? Do they really think they'd be mugged during that short walk?
I have lived in this city for decades, have walked all over it and I have never been a victim of serious crime. Nor have my daughters, nor has my wife. We like this place.
We even like Connecticut.
OK, so you're wondering where people are happy. It's in the warm and sunnier places. The Top 10 are: Louisiana, Hawaii, Florida, Tennessee, Arizona, Mississippi, Montana, South Carolina, Alabama and Maine.
I know, Maine is not warm. I guess Mainiacs are just possessed of sunny dispositions. Or maybe it's because their highways aren't jammed, except when we all go up there in the summertime.
Anyway, let's all try to have a happy new year. I know it's cold, I know there's more snow on the ground.
But when I drove past the New Haven Green this morning, it looked beautiful.