Doggie Doo

I just started this optimism stuff what, a couple of weeks ago? It seems too soon to be having a big exam. It really does.
Yet that is what today is shaping up as.
Word started trickling out yesterday that my husband's employer, the McClatchy Company, is considering another round of drastic cutbacks--again. They just had two painful rounds of layoffs at the end of last year, which spared our family. However, it was awful to see good friends losing their jobs.
(Smile. Must maintain smile.)
Then yesterday the buzz was that the analysts would meet with company bigwigs today and that would likely mean more cutbacks, since company stock prices have fallen so low as to be in danger of delisting. Among the possibilities was the idea of a "furlough" which sounds, on the surface, like a kind of fun vacation ashore but in reality means you have to take unpaid leave time.
(Must maintain smile.)
The idea is that we could miss a week of pay this quarter. So I suppose there's a possibility there could be more furloughs in future quarters.
Like many people (see this poll) we would take a pay cut if it means being able to work. We feel lucky that my husband has this good job. If he lost it, my piano lesson fees wouldn't pay the bills, that's for sure.
But sitting here thinking about missing even one week's pay makes me want to throw up. We've just had our second son graduate from college and the double-digit tuition increases (at a state school) exhausted all our savings. Additional college debt payments, plus higher spending on doctors visits, home heating and groceries doesn't leave much for replacing our bald front tire, or the recliner that fell apart three years ago, or our old stove that is just limping along. We don't go out to eat, hardly ever buy clothes. I just don't know what else is left to cut. And our youngest will be college age in just four years.
It doesn't help, either, that various cold-blooded bloggers and blog commenters who read my husband's column are dancing around and clapping their hands at the idea of him being fired. Apparently they would delight in seeing us all sick, cold and hungry on the street as punishment for not being conservative enough. Bad enough that you have to face this kind of strain without people cheering on your destruction.

How to turn this s***storm of bad news into something optimistic is going to be a trip. But somehow I don't think smiling is going to be enough.

So let's see...What Would an Optimist Do?

Well, first of all I suppose she would not dwell on the negative. So let's deal with the haters first. These people rank with the guy who narrowly (and rudely) cuts you off in traffic and ruins your day. I think I need to use some visualization here.

Ok. I'm picturing a nice clean sidewalk lined with buttercups. There in the middle of my nice clean sidewalk is a ferociously huge bit of dog feces, partially stepped on. I'm taking out my hose. I'm setting it on power spray and--yes--there goes the dog crap, rolling away to fertilize the buttercups. Bye, bye, guys.

Yeah, that actually feels kind of good. But it's not particularly nice. Does being an optimist mean you always have to be nice?

As for the furlough. Well, I guess it would be good if we still had the income, lower though it may be. But doesn't that fall into the "it could always be worse" trap I said I'd avoid? So maybe there's some other reason this is good? Thinking...thinking...thinking...

Nah. I've got nothing. That's going to have to do for now.