Great to see you writing again! As I was reading your post I was reminded of a trip I took in the 1990's to the deep south—McCondy Mississippi to be exact. We were visiting my ex-wife's grandmother who lived off a dirt road in the country and the next neighbor was about a half a mile away. We were there for a week and the first few days were excruciatingly boring but we all just kind of adjusted. Being from the city I had never experienced life at that slow of a pace ever. I don't even think she got a television signal out there because we never watched TV. After that initial transitionary period we shifted our attention to conversations, reading, cards, and board games. I imagine that's what life was like for a lot of people before technology and I was glad I got to experience it for a week. It was cleansing.

Now chronically bored people are different altogether and are a pet-peeve of mine. I equate chronic boredom with laziness. I have a few people in my life like this and, you're right, they begin to invent their own stress and problems. When I was younger I guess I was "nicer" and would indulge them but as I've grown older I've learned that tough love is called that for a reason because sometimes people need it to keep them from self-destructing.