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.