Ah, it could be worse - we could be Greece - The Irish Times

Ah, it could be worse - we could be Greece - The Irish Times - Tue, Apr 17, 2012
Fintan O'Toole recognizes the 'could be worse' current mentality to something identified 50 years ago by a German writing about Ireland :"
?When something happens to you in Germany,? Böll noted, ?when you miss a train, break a leg, go bankrupt, we say: It couldn?t have been any worse; whatever happens is always the worst. With the Irish it is almost the opposite: if you break a leg, miss a train, go bankrupt, they say: It could be worse; instead of a leg you might have broken your neck . .
Böll was not engaging in colourful Paddywhackery. He realised that a culture in which people routinely answer the question ?How?s things?? with ?Ah sure, they could be worse? is one that has learned to defend itself against real and persistent pain: ??It could be worse? is one of the most common turns of speech, possibly because only too often things are pretty bad and what?s worse offers the consolation of being relative.?
Even more incisively, he suggested that this habit of mind is not mere passivity. On the contrary, it takes great creativity to sustain it: ?With us [Germans] when something happens our sense of humour and imagination desert us; in Ireland, that is just when they come into play. To persuade someone who has broken his leg, is lying in pain or hobbling around in a plaster cast, that it might have been worse is not only comforting, it is an occupation requiring poetic talents.?