[etoile noir]

i voted - every now and then - because quite frankly i can't understand how we can long to live in ancient times when we weren't around then, and don't know the extent of the problems our ancestors faced.
i sometimes feel that people are never happy. you speak to the older generation and they say "oh you have it so easy these days, we never had all the mod cons that you have these days". then we have a poll and most of today's "youngsters" vote that they are always pissed off at the modern world.

are we born with this "never satisfied" gene? is it intrinsic to our nature to always want what we don't have?

having said that, i must admit that living in malta does have the benefit of being "backward" in the sense that the frantic, hurried way of life that is inherent to most modern societies in mainland europe hasen't yet reached our shores. this is a country where shops open from 9am-1pm, close for siesta and re open from 4 - 7pm. the normal working hours for offices are 9 to 5, with approx 45 mins for a lunch break, hardly anyone exceeds the 40 hour week, and furthermore in the summer, everyone works half days for almost 3 months! even the civil servants finish work at 1pm during the summer months.