Nutcase

Last Friday, my final act of the day was to listen to a raving lunatic scream at me on the phone. He was screaming so loudly that I could not understand a word he was saying. I wanted to help him. Really I did. It was so bad that my supervisor had to get on the phone to "try" to "help." The experience was no better for her. This lasted an hour and a half, with the occasional lull in conversation so he could catch his breath. He did not want either of us to speak. It ended with the need for a follow-up call this morning.

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Lord help me, I did not want to make that call. I think we woke him up calling him at the hour he requested. He was calm at first then lunged into his tirade. An hour later we had all his issues down pat and we began working on his issues. Which were not really issues that were terribly bad. He just wanted to vent. The minor details were easily navigated. I had to write a letter and my boss and her boss had to call the man back. I was relieved that I did not have to be on that call. I actually had a headache from that experience.

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For the most part, I spent the better part of the day working to manage that one situation of relative nothing. To appease a freaking lunatic.

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Where's your optimism now Thomas. Well it's inside my heart-felt letter of apology on it's way to that clown by way of FedEx. What a joke.

PessiOptimism

A lot of folks would describe me as a pessimist, or cynical, even warped. Warped - definitely, Cynical - maybe, but not pessimistic. I tend to plan and be prepared for the worst to happen and have a positive outlook on things. So while I may state the negative, I try to find the better spin on things that I actually focus on. I like to think that I'm pessi-optimistically inclined.

• Financial Crisis: bad, bad thing. But there's not much I can do about it to make it better. So I'll roll with the punches and manage my life accordingly.
• Financial Bail Out: bad, bad thing. There is no way I support that decision. I prefer the ill-run institutions fail miserably and let it all work out. But since I have no control over the decision, I'll roll with the punches and manage my life accordingly. I did send my congressman a letter to advise that I did not support the bailout. See what good that did. My employer preferred I send a supportive email, but I get to vote my conscience, my way.
• I planted a Lilac bush in April and it was doing wonderfully. Until a family of ants decided it liked the taste of the root system. So I'll plant another next Spring, and educate myself on how to get the critters to move onto that Japanese crap tree that's in my back yard. Or, I'll gleefully have it cut down next year.
• I'm registered to vote because I want my voice heard. Which it is, in local elections. But if you think your voice is truly heard on the national level, you're delusional. I'll still vote, for President, but I know my vote won't matter. Nor will yours. Unless you have representatives that vote the "will of the people" and that's not going to happen. And since some people think you can't complain about who's in office unless you vote - I'm voting.
• Lately I've been going in to work feeling like I'm just shooting myself in the foot trying to get anything done with all the past complainers calling in whining about the economy. So I'm not going to answer my phone on Monday and hunker down on the folks that really need my help. I'm not a counseling hot-line. But the good in me will eventually call them, to make them feel better.
• I used to be one of those kids that wanted their parents to divorce. I really thought it would be better for both of them. Now that I'm older I see that they have stuck together, and have grown to depend on each other. An exercise in pessimism that with my father's optimism proved right.
• I have a group of friends that make some really wacky decisions. The pessimist in plays devil's advocate with them as they bounce off ideas. Though for the most part I know they have made up their mind when they discuss the issues with me. I love them and their individual freakish quirks. And they hate/love mine. Otherwise they wouldn't be friends.

Any obstacle in life is just a fun opportunity to put your unique spin on it. Enjoy.