I took two years of German in high school. Occasionally I will remember a word or a phrase in German which works. I am not sure I learned the the word schadenfreude from Mr. Rendon, but it is one of the words that does not have its equal in English. It literally means pain joy—taking pleasure in someone else’s misfortune. The Three Stooges made a living with these antics. For me schadenfreude is not cruel or gloating, but rather a more primal response of a need for some kind of justice.
I suspect that no one who has read this for the last eight years would be surprised that I am a 66 year Bronco fan. There are three teams that no self respecting Bronco fan can stand—in this order those teams are: The Raiders, The Cowboys and The Patriots. In the last few years both the Raiders and the Cowboys have hardly been worth wasting my bad vibe JUJU on. They are both awful. In fact, the Cowboys have lost 12 games in a row to the Broncos. The Raiders are more like a cartoon. Now, to the Patriots. The very first game the 1960 Broncos played was against the Boston Patriots—we won. Our lifetime record against the Patriots, including our most recent loss, is 35 wins and 24 losses.
Three weeks ago we lost the AFC Championship game to the Patriots 10–7. There are all kinds of reasons we lost but the fact is that we did. The gloating from the East Coast media about this victory was their version of schadenfreude. Enter the Seattle Seahawks, their NFC opponent in Super Bowl 60. This game was one of the worst ever, trust me, I have seen the Broncos totally stink in the big one too. I am not immune to this form of humiliation.
The Patriots were nothing short of embarrassing to their minions (morons). They were outclassed, outplayed, and frankly pathetic… my schadenfreude was oozing by halftime. Yet, it was a hardly compensation for losing our quarterback to a broken ankle and a second half blizzard that made losing to those smug Yankees even harder to take. However, it was satisfying as the camera panned the crowd to show the faces of New England fans in utter disbelief.
Enough on football, and I will skip my long list of public figures for whom a day in “Stocks” with buckets of garbage would provide great satisfaction. I will spare you my list.
Mudita (from Sanskrit, used in Buddhism) taking genuine pleasure in someone else’s good fortune or success. Watching the Olympics this week has been a true journey into sharing stories with these amazing athletes from all over the world. Yes, I cried when Lindsay Vonn crashed, but I loved every second of the “Curling Underdogs—AKA USA women” knock the rocks off the favorites… (yes you can giggle).
Onward and Upward,
Mark
Lyfting Me Up 