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Sam
Gives Optimism a Try
by Sam Smith
March 31, 1997
I've been accused over the years - justly, I suppose - of
being too much the pessimist. Negative expectations yield
negative results, my friends tell me, and while I have argued
that in my experience positive expectations yield negative
results, too, I've been forced to admit that Murphy's Law
isn't much of a philosophy to live by.
And so lately I've been attempting to think more optimistically
on the assumption that, if my friends are right, positive
expectations result in positive energy, thereby fostering
an environment conducive to positive results. It's working,
too, and the events of the past few days bear it out. Life
may be a good news/bad news proposition, but I'm beginning
to see how the good outweighs the bad. Let me give you some
examples.
Bad
News: Last night around midnight a drunk in a junked 1937
Chevy Citation rear-ended my car, a perfectly nice 1989 Mazda
MX-6, which was parked in front of my apartment building minding
its own business. My car was totaled.
Good
News:The accident brought me closer together with my fellow
human beings. Take, for instance, the owners of the other
four cars the drunk damaged in his attempt to flee the scene.
We now have a shared bond which links us together in a show
of support that recalls the mythical gilded age of American
community, when all neighbors were friends, all just and truly
invested in the well-being of their fellows. And I got to
meet new folks, too police officers, tow truck drivers, claims
adjusters....
Bad
News: The driver of the Citation, a Mr. Dick Head (not
his real name), had no insurance.
Good
News: I do have insurance, which means that I'm certain
to recover at least half of the value of what I lost in the
wreck.
Bad
News: At the time of the incident, Mr. Head was out on
parole for possession of narcotics. The police officer on
the scene says this probably means Head pleaded down from
a dealing charge. Which means that I'm now legally entangled
with the neighborhood pusher.
Good
News: I feel almost certain that in the fair State of
Colorado, driving without a license, driving without insurance,
DUI, and 5 counts of hit-and-run constitute a parole violation,
which means that our divinely-ordained American justice system
is working for us all! God Bless America!
Bad
News: The paramedics said Mr. Head sustained a "significant
head injury." Or should this be in the good news section?
Good
News: I suspect Dick's head is the one part of his body
best equipped to handle sharp blows.
Bad
News: I cleaned all my stuff out of the car so it could
be towed. I placed it all by the street so I could take it
up to my apartment. Then I went back to talking to the police,
other victims and witnesses, collecting all the information
I'd need to talk with my insurance company. As I did so, one
of my neighbors (you remember the heartwarming neighbor discussion
above, don't you?) stole most of what I had removed from my
car. Included was several hundred dollars worth of baseball
equipment and some books that I simply can't replace. And
my basketball.
Good
News: My apartment is kind of cluttered already, and the
last thing I needed was to drag more stuff up into it.
Bad
News: My insurance won't cover the cost of a rental car
while I wait for a settlement.
Good
News: I need the exercise anyway, so biking for a few
days will be good for me.
Bad
News: While biking around town today collecting information
so I can estimate the value of what was destroyed or stolen,
I picked up a shard of glass in my front tire and now have
a flat.
Good
News: Walking is even better exercise than biking.
Bad
News: I have a huge amount of work to do, and really cannot
afford the time needed to deal with these problems.
Good
News: I won $3 playing Lotto. I used it to buy lunch at
SubWay. And I really like that spicy mustard they put on their
sandwiches.
Don't
worry, be happy.
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