You ever wonder why people on vacation often have a bad time? I do, and I've concluded that–absent obvious things, like flat tires, or missing one's plane, or getting abducted like that family in Flannery O'Connor's A Good Man is Hard to Find–it often stems from a hell-bent intent to have a good time and to be happy. Such an intent has a tendency to backfire, for whatever reason. It reminds me of Malcolm Muggeridge's words about the pursuit of happiness: "To pursue happiness, individually or collectively, as a conscious aim is the surest way to miss it altogether."
