Philly Ranks as the Third Happiest City in the Nation

A new poll from Harris Interactive has found that not only are Philly’s residents not miserable bags of meat and whiz with a chip on their shoulder, we’re actually … happy. The third happiest city in the nation, in fact.

Not only that, but one-third of respondents told Harris that they were “very happy.” You get that? Very happy.

There was a time in this city when our anger and rage defined us. When our misplaced and often compulsive cruelty inspired fear in not only sports rivals and tourists, but actual residents of the city itself. Tumbleweeds rolled through Center City, and we threw batteries at Santa Claus for no good reason at all.

Now, though, we get upset when a guy says “fuck” in public after winning a World Series, or cry when a football coach who inspired nothing but complaining while he was here leaves. We’re still fat, but we’re no longer the fattest. We’re hosting music festivals. We truly have gone soft as a people.

Or, perhaps we’re finding out that there’s room for happiness in the makeup of Philadelphia’s character. It’s just a little hard to accept that. [Newsworks]