Did you ever get down in the dumps?  Of course you have.  We all have, but what do you do about it?  

Some people exercise.  Some eat a lot of ice cream or chocolate.  Some talk to a friend or have a good cry.  But sometimes the best thing to do is read a story about dumb criminals. 

I was feeling down the other day because I kept forgetting things.   I missed someone’s birthday.    I forgot to make an appointment.  I lost my phone.  I couldn’t find my purse.  By then end of the week I was convinced I had dementia, Alzheimer’s, and that other disease…you know the one…that makes you forget things....  but I couldn’t remember the name.

But then I read a story that made me feel so much better, and I will share it now in the hope that it will help someone else feel better too.

It seems some guy in California put on a mask and gloves, pulled the hood up on his sweatshirt and walked in to a gun store.   If this wasn’t dumb enough, the guy then tried to rob the store, armed only with a hammer.

Yes, that’s right, using only a hammer he tried to steal a gun from a gun store.   Well, you can guess the rest of the story.  The gun store owner pulled out a gun and shot the robber.   The end.

When I first read the story, I laughed.  Then I thought, “Oh, I shouldn’t laugh, the guy got shot!”  But then I laughed again.  It may sound harsh, but usually you can find someone doing something so stupid, that no matter how bad you mess up, you still look good by comparison…and it brightens your whole day!  

My friend Rhonda has a sign on her kitchen wall that says “There is always, always, always something to be thankful for.”  When you’re down sometimes it helps to think about that.  

But there is another sign I would like to see someday.  I think if you put it up on your kitchen wall it would help you feel better about life, even when life is tough.  The sign would say, “There is always, always, always someone stupider than me.”

And if that doesn’t help, definitely go out for ice cream – the ice cream might not do the trick, but along the way you will most likely see someone doing something so dumb that it will make everything better!