Bloomberg Opinion writer Noah Smith has seen some things, y’all. And he’s a better, tougher man for it:

Wow. That means a lot coming from someone like you, Noah. Toughness personified.

This past year was difficult for a lot of people. We’re not going to dispute that. But in the grand scheme of things, we actually had it pretty good. Noah certainly seems to have made out OK.

Heh.

Noah’s the one looking for a pat on the back here. He needs to feel like he accomplished something. Just let him have this, OK?

Or smack him around instead, because that’s much more entertaining.

Just a wee bit!

No kidding.

Yes, but only just barely.