And while I'm here, I figured I'd share something else. Cookie Monster's and my roommate has been watching all the Locke episodes from the previous seasons of "Lost", trying to analyze him as a character. Now, there was one scene where Locke was in some kind of group therapy session. SPOILER FOR LOST: In Locke's timeline, this was post-kidney but pre-paralysis. END SPOILER A woman in the group was telling how upset she was that her mother had taken $35 out of her purse. Locke blew a gasket: how could she think that was anything to get upset about compared to what his father had stolen from him? And he stormed out. And of course it made me think of April's guilt trip chorus.
What happened to Locke was terrible, of course. It was also damned unlikely. Was that woman really supposed to check herself before complaining, in case there was someone in the group who'd SPOILER AGAIN had a kidney stolen? END SPOILER And it wouldn't be long before his situation got even worse, so I wonder if he ever would have looked back and thought he hadn't had it so bad at that time. Meanwhile, that woman still had a problem with her mom, even if it was nowhere near that severe.
Likewise, April can only "consider herself lucky" that she was born (white) in suburban Canada, instead of in a war zone. Suburban Canada is not likely to suddenly become a war zone, so she hasn't had extraordinary luck after birth in that regard. With that established, there's still a lot of room for her life to suck. And she was the worst off in her immediate family. Liz never had to take the amount of crap she did, and neither did Mike. No one seemed to be making any effort to let her know she was still appreciated and loved, either, so it's hard not to conclude that she wasn't. And I think that is something to be upset about.
And you know who else should consider herself lucky? Shannon. There was a time, not too long ago either, when someone in her condition (whatever the eff it is besides a cleft palate) might not have been going to high school. She's got special classes, she's got some kind of aide, at least in school, she's got "Justin", and she's getting training in something, plus the Towards Independent Living program. I'm in California, so from my perspective, that is a LOT. I'm sorry it hurts her feelings when people yell things in the cafeteria, but in an earlier era, she wouldn't have this chance to better herself.
Finally, a few days ago, I mentioned that back in February, I'd made a comparison between the Leno/Conan debacle and the Liz/Anthony/Therese triangle, and that I'd started posting it but had gotten distracted. When I opened this thread, I was given the option to restore from saved draft. Out of curiosity, I did, and this came up.
Edited for clarity:
Jay Leno = Liz. NBC = Anthony. Conan O'Brien = Therese.
NBC told Leno in 2004 that he should retire in another five years, kind of like Anthony and Liz drifting apart after they went to separate unis. Conan prepares to take over the Tonight Show, and meanwhile, Leno is starting to look better to NBC. NBC signed Conan to TTS anyway, just like Anthony married Therese despite still having feelings for Liz. NBC was not satisfied with Conan's TTS ratings, but it's questionable how many people would have tuned in if Leno hadn't been on every evening at 10, just like it's questionable how much Anthony invested in his marriage to Therese.
I was going to carry the analogy further, with Jimmy Kimmel representing the snarkers, and David Letterman corresponding loosely to Dennis. He'd been in Conan's shoes back in the early '90s, and I remember him making comments (earlier this year) to the effect that Conan shouldn't let it bother him; that neither Leno nor NBC was worth losing sleep over. That's not quite Dennis, but since he was the only character who flat-out told Liz that continued association with Anthony would be wrong, it'll do for a parallel. I think I had more to say beyond that, but I don't remember it now.