Like most people who choose to live in the real world and not look on “the bright side of things” I often get called a pessimist. I prefer the term realist. In case you're interested, realists also get called bitter, cynical and jaded. I've noticed that people who have a generally optimistic outlook on life claim that it's their positive attitude that makes things great. Only people with a blindingly positive attitude would attribute their good fortune to anything other than dumb luck. Life is random and I've said it before on this blog, Springsteen had it right, “...down here it's just winners and losers and don't get caught on the wrong side of that line..”
I've been on the wrong side of that line for a really long time and here's a perfect example of why you will never see me not expecting the worst.
I ordered a dress from the US for my Titanic collection. It was sent by a courier. The problem with using a courier is that you will get zinged with a bill from their brokerage company and this was the worst one that I have ever seen at 20% of what I actually paid for the dress. Fine, I resolved to come up with other options in the future and I paid the bill. The charge appeared on my credit card over two months ago.
Yesterday, I got a letter from a collection agency demanding that very payment.
Optimist: Someone who falls into the crapper and comes out with gold.
Pessimist: Someone who inevitably gets kicked in the ribs when they're already down.