High Hopes

It's always good to look on the "bright" side of things. I mean, there's not much else you can do when something bad happens to you. Take for instance, you get in a car wreck one day. Look on the bright side! At least while you're recovering from a broken leg and bruised face you'll be showered with "Get Well Soon" gifts and now have an excuse for lying around all day watching TV... Now, I'm not saying that I want to get in a wreck or anything. I'm just trying to lighten the mood a bit.

But let's go to a real-life situation I witnessed just last week. As I was driving to church (20 minutes late, I might add) I was stopped at the light at Wynn Joyce and Broadway. I saw an All-American family, mom, dad, and son posting a MISSING flyer on the telephone pole (it might still be there, I'm not sure). At first I thought how sad that must be for all of them with their dog or cat missing and all, but then I looked closer at the sign. I noticed that the sign wasn't for a dog or cat. The sign was for a freakin PARAKEET. I'm NOT even kidding. WHO in their right mind thinks it's gonna be easy to find a BIRD that has gotten loose. Do they honestly think that someone will see the sign, see their bird, catch it, call the number, and give it back??? I have a hard enough time getting my own dogs back inside from my YARD. I ain't gonna try and go catch someone's pet bird; that's too difficult. Now, I think it's actually pretty cruel of the parents to let their kid think that it's bird is gonna be miraculously found... If I were them I'd go to the pet store, buy a bird that looks like the old one, and none's the wiser...

Another SAD Missing Pet sign that I saw this week was one for a dog. The description read, "MISSING DOG. Old, Blind, and Needs Medication"... I uhh, I really don't have much to say about this, just that well, I admire this person's optimism... At least they tried.

So anyway, the question is: is it OK to be optimistic all the time? Or should we really just be REALISTIC and not fool ourselves.