Common suffering

I work in a job that puts me in a great deal of contact with the public.  The amusing and interesting part of the job is that, when I'm not actually talking to my customers, they have a tendency to ignore me while I'm within earshot.  This leads to the overhearing of some very interesting conversations.  (Not that I eavesdrop - it's not my fault if they just keep talking while I'm a foot away.)

One of the things I have observed about people through this is that they are perverse when it comes to negative things.  More often than not, if one party begins to complain or tell a story about some ordeal they have been through, the response by the listeners is to offer quick sympathy and then attempt to one-up the misery.  Age, class, and race seem to have no bearing on this reaction.  It's as if there is some sort of status gained by having been through the most pain, physical or otherwise.

It's a form of reverse bragging.  While there are cultural taboos in place against actual bragging and bravado, it seems that to show that one has survived or endured personal hells is perfectly acceptable.  In a way, we define ourselves by that which has scarred or almost scarred us.  It's as if we say "Look what I have been through.  Doesn't this make my existence have meaning?"

Is simply enduring an accomplishment?