It ain't all roses

This may come as a surprise to many of you out there, but in this job I do here in this cozy meeting room, I have to deal with some pretty weird people. I know, you thought that a job like this would be a good place to influence the powerful and mighty as they come in for their weekly or monthly chat, but that isn't always the case.

Oh, I have seen a few people whose names might perk your ears up, but without mentioning any names, they were drunks. I have seen some lesser lights and local stars, and some of them were pretty interesting, although many were tortured souls.

But, in the course of a day, I spend an hour with one or two folks who are just nuts. They have weird thoughts, they come to nutty conclusions, they don't make a lot of sense, and they tend to ramble on with great intensity, but no real point.

I have to dig deep into my clinical bag of tricks to devise the most effective response.

I often give a long, thoughtful look of deep reflection and then say "That's just crazy shit."

It's not usually too effective, but I feel it necessary to attempt to introduce some reality before the deluge of delusion.

Many of the other people I see are certainly not crazy, but they do seem to like to do weird stuff. but again, after years of clincal experience, nothing seems too weird any more, so what's the big deal.

As long as no one gets hurt -- including me.

I also see several people from very well-to-do families. But they are the losers of the family. Every family has one, some have several. Not all families can afford too many, but some can support two or three generations. Success does not always breed success.

So, here's hoping you are enjoying the holiday season, and for some of you, may the apple roll away from the tree.