Strange
social custom, primarily practiced by
subcultures like
retirees,
motel employees,
undergraduates, etc. In most cases, the motivation is
catharsis.
Whining about little things takes attention away from the big, scary parts of life. It helps you
laugh at yourself, because it's impossible not to realize how
silly you sound,
going on and on about your minor
dramas and
tragedies. This is demonstrated by the fact that these sessions often end with a statement like: "
Shut up, it's not a big deal," which is usually all that any participant truly wants to hear.
These
dialogues also accomplish a more important end, that of bringing people
closer together. It's much easier to open up to mere
acquaintances about little problems than to share experiences that were
deeply effecting, things that reveal information about
who you are and why. It can serve to begin establishing
trust between people. Knowing that someone is willing to
listen to you, even when you're
talking about nothing, makes you feel
safe in telling them less
superficial secrets and
fears.
It should be noted that there is a large contingent of people who, for whatever reason, do not participate in this exercise and are sometimes
irritated by it. What the difference between the two general categories is, I cannot really say. You could chalk it up to different ways of dealing with
emotions, or different base levels of trust toward
strangers.
As
shared experiences go,
bonding through
bitching can be
invaluable. To be able to talk about
nonsense with someone, but look into their eyes and see real
empathy and
understanding, is a trait
friendships often take years to acquire. If
minor complaints bring this about faster, it's worth the
social transgression.