I wish I were an optimist...
11 September 2004, 05:21
McG is an optimist. He always thinks the very best of people. I, on the other hand, have an unfortunate defence-mechanism, finely honed since childhood, that if I expect a worse-case scenario, anything better than that is a nice surprise.
So when I left a few new purchases (a couple of photo frames and some pink beaded hair thingies) on the train yesterday, I didn’t expect them back. Matt insisted that he call Eltham station to see if they were still on the train, but my response?
“Don’t bother, some scumbag will have taken it”.
Turns out I was right (no sign of said bling blong at the station) but that’s not the point. The point is that I switched on the defensive “don’t get my goddamn hopes up”. But McG… Husband… Angel in my Kitchen was convinced that someone would do the honest thing with a reassuring “someone will hand it in, sweetie”.
I wish I were more like Husband. But I hate disappointment more than anything (even more than passive aggressive HR-y type D personalities) so no matter how hard I would like to be otherwise, I just have to accept that I will always be a pessimistic cow.
But although I tend to see humanity as a generally crappy place with people crapping over each other, setting off bombs in each other’s faces and starting war ‘cos it’s the thing to do, I am generally in an exceptionally good mood. All the time.
All hail the power of the ENFJ (sorry, Hitler channelling again…)
Permanent Link | - i also try to remain the optimist but i must admit that it does wear me down. i end up going into a complete depression because of it every five years or so until someone shows me a great example of human kindness. around NYC, you're very lucky if you can find kind souls. better off being a surly pessimist me thinks.
— gleek Sep 11, 04:33 PM # - Yes, McG is a happy soul (actually we're both happy souls) - we balance each other nicely I think. He's calm and I'm feisty (note, I didn't say evil). Ah, yin and yang. Thing is you do see people do beautiful things to others every day so it's not a case of writing humanity off entirely. Maybe looking at the worse case scenario is actually a kind of reverse optimism - you're rarely disappointed, so life tends to be just peachy.
— Kinki Sep 11, 07:40 PM # - That's what I think Kinkers! Expect the worst (or at least not the best) and if it doesn't work out, then you were expecting that anyway. If it does work out, it's..like..absolutely fan-fucking-tastic. Daz is just like Matt - totally always hopes for the best and sees the best in people, which is what I love about him....but I just hate to see the disappointment in his face if things don't turn out just like he expected!!
— kat Sep 11, 08:09 PM # - I hear ya girlfriend! I think we actually had this conversation when we were in Japan about how alike Daz and McG were in this respect. I feel like a right royal harbinger of party-poopery when I bring McG down to earth because I feel like he will be disappointed too much if I don't. But I absolutely do love his optimism - in fact I love it so much I bloody well married him!
— Kinki Sep 11, 08:28 PM #
