Postcards from the Funny Farm

I just read this article this morning on how Britney Spears’ lawyers are quitting her case. Her story has gone from bad to worse and I guess there is further down to go. First, she got married overnight in Vegas, then divorced. Next, she had kids and married Keniv Federline, then divorced. After that she was filmed with her baby on her lap while driving down the street. Soon after all that, a separation from Federline precipitated her shaving of all her hair on camera in a local salon … no need to email me, I am sure I missed something. What the hell is wrong with this woman? I think I might know.

Imagine a young child, say six or seven years old sitting in a playroom with 20 or 30 toys. Now watch that child play for a while. Next take another child and put them in a similar room with 2 or 3 toys. Give them a few hours. Watch how fast the first child gets bored. I’ve seen it happen and its uncanny. When we have everything we want and more, we tend to have a tough tie making choices on what to do (and/or in the case of the child “play with”). Brit (as she is called in the press) is like the first child. She has more money than she could ever spend and access to anything money can buy. What’s missing? The ability to know what to pick. If she would have had someone holding back her giant payroll when she was younger, she might have better discernment today.

Rich people who fall into scandal such as Britney are victims of “freedom anxiety,” a syndrome where the high number of choices and possibilities actually causes stress and anxiety. Those of us in the middle class who have to get up and work to pay our monthly bills often become jealous of rich entertainers like Britney Spears. This is foolish. Often times, they are jealous of us.

Brittany’s kids are now in the custody of their father and she is gallivanting around with her new beau. I read yesterday that Brit was down in Dana Point last weekend where I grew up. How much of it did she enjoy I wonder? For example, walking down Del Mar street taking in the sights and sounds while shopping and buying snacks is the best part of Dana Point for me but Brit couldn’t do that, not without a disguise anyway. To me, the tension of hoping I get in enough overtime hours to buy the new “fill-in-the-blank” is a happy trade off for being able to be myself and know myself and be comfortable in or out of public with myself.

Here’s the original article that spurred this post:

-Britney Spears Arrives to Give Deposition in Cust...