Bloody hell, I had to look up the spelling of that word! It's still quicker than typing out 'taking pleasure in someone else's misfortune'.

It's hard to tell if others are are genuinely sorry for your situation. I'm sure someone poked the schadenfreunde at me this morning. She chooses not to work, and has been living off a wealthy man for decades. She pretty much called me a loser, although in gentler words.

Any tips on how to deal with these types of not-so-well-meaning comments?

That is an interesting word Nawson, indeed!
Your situation made me think of my mother struggling to bring up 6 kids on a widow's pension, part time hotel cook while we were still tucked up in bed in the early morning.
Her sister married the local plumber with a thriving business handed down from his father. Nice home with a bit of land, she had her own car and would sit in the seat demanding the guy at the petrol station to 'fill it up',and put it on my husband's account!"
Mum had a state house and it was always meticulous, a beautiful flower and flourishing vege garden, loving kids - yet there was always that slight envy with her sister.
The sister's place was never clean, always smelt of something going off in the fridge, she had a gardener in for the front garden the rest was unattended, with lots of chooks shitting at her back door. I can see her now always in her chenille dressing gown, rarely got dressed.
She placed her kids in a boarding school in Wellington, far from Blenheim, and they never forgave her for it. As time went on her husband spent most of his time in his 'den' as their relationship had become non-existant.

As a child I absorbed all this, and decided mum was hard working, appreciated what she did have, and loved us, she was a better person, and we learnt from those values.

The sister's husband came to stay once when we lived in ChCh, he took mum to the A&P Show, she came home looking flushed and happy, I suspect there were a few bevvys afterward. He told her he had married the wrong sister.

It's not what you have got in life, it is how you live life, is the way I see it. There are no 'losers' really, some want more than others, others prefer a simpler life, with out all the hang-ups. There also needs to be a lot of give and take.
There are always those sort of people around, women more so are snobs. They don't appreciate what they have, because they haven't 'earnt' it.

Thanks Gayebelle, you made me remember that the lady concerned also destroyed two marriages and made a good man homeless, so she's got no right to lord it over me. I need to remind myself of those things when I feel I'm getting too worked up about it.

Anyone else have any examples of schadenfreunde?

This thread might be in the wrong place. Maybe it should be in the Family/Life section? Sorry for my ignorance, but I don't know how to move it. Could admin move it?

Bloody hell Nawson, where did you find that word???? And remember, no-body can wipe their feet on you unless you allow them to do so.

Hold your head up high and don't let others put you down. She may "chose" not to work because she has no qualifications and nobody would employ her anyway. Sounds like she has an attitude problem. Just ignore her. In fact, if you see her coming, cross the road to avoid her and she may get the message.