by Brendan McGinley
Streeter Seidell is Editor at Large at CollegeHumor, host of MTV’s Pranked, a comedian, actor, writer, and now author. This last thanks to yet another job of his — as the owner and operator of the website WhiteWhine.com, he’s become a folk curator of the 21st century’s least sympathetic woes. With its most offensive whines collected in book form and introduced with Seidell’s thoughts on privilege and perspective, it’s a funny but infuriating read for anyone with empathy or shame.
You can buy a copy of White Whine: A Study of First World Problem- here, or just rant about how you’d rather have gotten a new car and you hate your parents on WhiteWhine itself.
Man Cave Daily: Was it your idea to transition to print, or was it put to you by others?
Streeter Seidell: I think it was always in the back of my mind with regards to WhiteWhine.com. My first professional success if you want to call it that was writing a book, so I’ve always had a soft spot for this archaic medium. My publishing agent came up with the idea though. I always thought a White Whine book would be a good idea but I needed to hear it from someone else before I got serious about it.
MCD: Wading through all the quotes you selected, was it ever a challenge to stay humorous about them in your remarks? Because they’re pretty infuriating to read.
SS: For sure. Some of them are borderline criminal in their hatred for their fellow man. But I’m not here to get people angry, I’m here to make people laugh. So I try to turn that seething hatred into funny commentary. There are definitely some chapters though where you can feel my anger coming through.
MCD: Do you have a favorite White Whine subject that never fails to delight and/or outrage you when a submission comes in?
SS: I love skiing ones. They’re always dripping with entitlement. And they’re also the ones that I grew up saying every winter.
MCD: Does that mean we might one day see a Streeter collection of White Whines? What’s your best/worst quote of your own?
SS: I’m one of the worst white whiners around. I complain about my dog walker. I complain about hotels I’m staying at for free. I complain about waking up early to shoot a TV show. I’m horrible. But as long as I’m not complaining about poor people or other races or anything like that, I feel like I’m OK.
MCD: When people find out you run the site, do they ever speak more carefully around you, or are they eager to tell you their best WW?
SS: Most people want to tell me a WW or two that a friend of theirs has said. I always tell them to submit it to the site.
MCD: Have you ever caught a fraudulent or engineered submission?
SS: Not really. I’ve seen a bunch where the whiner knows he or she is being obnoxious but the submitter thinks I won’t notice. I try not to post those ones since it’s not really fair.
MCD: Has anyone requested you take down their quote, even with their identity obscured?
SS: Sure. I always comply. The site isn’t there to mess up anyone’s life or call anyone out by name. It’s there so we can get some funny perspective on our amazing lives.
MCD: How long do you see yourself compiling these? Do you ever feel burnt-out on other people’s complaints, or are there always new and hilarious frontiers in human dissatisfaction?
SS: Right now it’s not too heavy a burden but there have been times in the past when it’s seemed more like a chore. Hopefully it will continue on for years and years and I’ll always find it amusing but who knows.
MCD: You’ve made the point that as our lives get easier and easier, we take it more and more for granted that all our needs should be anticipated and met. Have you ever uncovered archaic white whines? I was looking at this while finishing the book and couldn’t help but be reminded.
SS: Haha. I haven’t ever really dug in history for White Whines, which is strange because I’m a history buff. Good idea, though! I’ll get on it right away.
MCD: What would you say is the all-time most egregious white whine?
SS: I had one where a lady was writing to a daycare place to chastise them for feeding her toddler generic brand snacks. She said something along the lines of “We’re trying to instill in our child the value of brand name goods.” Just insane. They’re pretty much guaranteeing that kid is going to grow up to be an @$$#()!%. I hope I meet her someday.
MCD: And finally…if you could get the white whiners of the world to heed one piece of advice, what would it be?
SS: To not feel that bad about white whining since that is what moves society forward — “I hate missing TV shows! = DVR” — and also to recognize how lucky all of us are to live in a world where we even have these complaints.
Brendan McGinley is editor round these parts when not writing comics or Cracked columns. You can say a neighborly hello to him on Twitter @BrendanMcGinley.
Brendan rounded up 5 Weird Search Terms You Used (for Some Reason) and interviewed model Charisse Mannolini to be your girlfriend.