Conversation last night:
Jrex explicates, "You know how they say the glass is either half-full or half-empty? Well, I say that the glass is half-empty and getting emptier all the time. It's always evaporating, you see."
I groaned, "It was bad enough when you were just a pessimist, this takes it down to a whole 'nother level."
He smiled, "Yup. Call me a cynic."
I mock glared at him, ". . . Honey, I hate to tell you this, but you're not just a cynic. You REEK of cynicism. People can smell your cynicism from 50 feet away!"
He cracked up laughing and I continued, "The really scary thing is that you just took that as a compliment!"
Nodding, he responded, "I am not a pessimist, I'm just a cynical realist."
"No, dear. You're not a realist. If I tell you ten good things and then one bad thing, you only remember the bad thing. That means you're not being realistic, you just weight the bad. That makes you a pessimist."
"Hmm...that's a valid point. I'm a cynical pessimist then!"
I groaned again, "Is there no hope then!?" I shrugged and grinned, "The sad thing is that at some point I'll accuse you of these things in front of other people and they'll get all weirded out thinking we're having a fight. Yet all along you and I will be fine with it. I can't believe you were happy to be called a cynic."
With a cheerful grin, he nodded.
8 comments:
My husband insists that this is a Korean thing. All I know is that if I show him a silver lining, he is certain to find the dark cloud from whence it came. If I say I'm going out, he doesn't say "have a good time," he says, "be careful driving - I wouldn't want something to happen to you." If I get a cold, he thinks it's the beginning of the end. Freaking blackbird of despair.
I feel your pain. ;)
I just realized that all I need in my life is someone like you. Who will allow me to embrace my cynical pessimism... and will still be endeared by it.
So you got a male doppleganger somewhere out there?
I was just going to say, this sounds like a Korean-man thing, but Lori beat me to it. Maybe it's because the older generation of Koreans suffered so much, and they passed on that negativity to their kids. Or does it go deeper than that?
My husband always says what's wrong with Americans is that we expect to be happy, and life isn't like that. He has gotten a little better over the years, though.
Sometimes, especially when you write conversations like this one, I think it would be such fun to be a fly on the wall to get to watch you and JRex interact. While I know no marriage is easy or fun all the time, it is cool to see you guys have fun together, even with differences in perspective like this one. And the bright side for me is that it sounds like I could just have you tell me a JRex story if I'm needing to feel like I'm not the most pessimistic person in the universe. =)
This is so hilarious and a little bit sad at the same time. I accuse my husband of being pessimistic ALL the time and he totally agrees that he is. I guess I should be grateful that he is trying to change this about himself. =) What Lori said is so funny. haha
I have to admit, this made me laugh! I can see his logic in the glass evaporating thing. That worries me a bit.
In case you're wondering, I got here by way of Inkling. She's my cousin. I'm in the midst of a Blog to Blog project & have linked you in my post. Please come by & check it out!
i totally love it. i keep trying to figure out how to make my cynicism work for me. lately it just makes me not want to vote.
A cheerful pessimist! Who'da thunk it? ;^)
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