Las Vegas Weekly

Las Vegas? Sad? I don’t think so

Well, Men’s Health got one thing right — the M& Ms aren’t too happy in Las Vegas. But that’s about it.

Are you sad right now? If you live in Las Vegas, according to Men’s Health Magazine, there’s a very good chance you are. Their most recent list—in a mounting pile of increasingly meaningless ones—says we’re the 10th saddest city in America, with Reno coming in ninth.

And just how did Men’s Health come up with this, uh, fact? By lumping together suicide and unemployment rates—as if those two are directly connected—and percentages of households that use antidepressants.

I suppose if one were working for a magazine thousands of miles away and looking at us through the telescope of convenience, it would be easy to peg us as one sad ol’ city. There’s just one wrinkle: It ain’t true. Not remotely.

To begin with, sure, there are lots of unemployed folks in Las Vegas. I know quite a few of them, and without exception, all of them are hopeful for the future, always telling me about upcoming job interviews. I have yet to meet anyone in Las Vegas—unemployed or otherwise—wallowing in sadness. Let’s take the Strip out of the equation, as that’s a place where sadness exists based solely on the size of your chip stack. The rest of the Valley is full of upbeat, friendly, optimistic people. I’ve lived here eight years and have seen the highest highs and the lowest lows, and I have yet to meet anyone really sad about all this. Frustrated? Sure. Angry? Hell yeah. But sad? No way.

And basing sadness on antidepressant use? A completely insulting connection. Depression is a medical condition—people take antidepressants just as a diabetic would take insulin. Simply calling them “sad” slights an entire group of people who would be taking antidepressants no matter where they lived.

Unfortunately, the only thing sad in this whole story is the list itself.