Saw an interesting opinion piece in the Sunday New York Times the other day. It was entitled "A hazard of good fortunes" and said right upfront, "America is in the best shape it has ever been. So why all the grousing?"

He went on in the article to say, "Circumstances just keep getting better, and Americans just keep complaining."

And then the writer, Gregg Estabrook, a senior editor at The New Republic and soon to be author of a book about how we've been handling the good times, made these two points.

"Psychological research shows that people rapidly adjust their perceptions of life circumstances. As standards rise, most men and women almost immediately begin taking gains for granted - what were yesterday's luxuries really do become today's necessities."

"Meanwhile it is the movement in living standards, not the standards themselves, to which most people are keenly attuned."

You know, Estabrook makes a really good point in that final quote. But I'm not sure it's the same one that the headline or even the first quotes mentioned here were meant to illustrate. What started out as a self-absorbed whine takes on a much more noble mantle when that quote is put in a different context.

What's negative about being at least somewhat dissatisfied with whatever good has already come to you? Isn't the desire for better circumstances and more of whatever a major motivator? You bet it is. Sounds like positive grousing to me. Try a few examples in this issue.

Pioneer-Standard brought assembly, component storage, and distribution under one roof when the old model wasn't working very well. Turnaround times that had been 7-10 days are now only 3 days. "That's best in class," says Jeff Levine, vp of operations.

Over at Crate&Barrel, some kinks needed to be worked out of the supply chain. So the company combined both its retail store and direct-to-consumer (catalog and e-biz) in one facility. The system worked so well and business grew so much, the company just added another 340,000 sq ft and enjoys additional efficiency gains.

Then there's the timeline and story about the first 50 years of the Industrial Truck Association. As ITA executive director Bill Montwieler explains, the group spent $750,000 and 16 years telling OSHA that its lift truck training standards were inadequate. Finally, new standards were put in place over a year ago. "We never took no for the official, bureaucratic answer," says Montwieler. "The final OSHA regulation will save lives. I am damn proud of that."

By the way, Estabrook ended his piece this way – "Imagine if Americans really had something to complain about?"

It seems that some do and know what to do about it. Feel my pain, they say. And then they do something positive to improve their lot. Sounds like a plan.