The trouble with composite pictures is that, like the most common man in the world, they don’t really exist.  Take, for example, a recent happiness survey of 1000 people.  According to the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index, the happiest person in America is “a tall, Asian-American, observant Jew who is at least 65 and married, has children, lives in Hawaii, runs his own business and has a household income of more than $120,000 a year.”  Amazingly, this composite person exists, and the New York Times tracked him down!

Meet Alvin Wong, the happiest man in America.  He’s 5’10, 69 years of age, a Kosher-keeping Chinese-American Jew who is married with children and lives in Hawaii.  He runs a health care management business and earns more than $120,000 a year.  The New York Times tracked him down with the help of a local synagogue.

Said Mr. Wong when reached by the Times, “my life philosophy is, if you can’t laugh at yourself, life is going to be pretty terrible for you.”  He added, “This is a practical joke, right?”

Tags: the happiest man in America, happiest man in America composite, real-life composite of happiest man in America,  Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index, Alvin Wong, unusual people, the real-life composite of the happiest man in the US, Honolulu, Hawaii, unusual composites, real-life composite persons, happiness poll

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