If someone asks me if I am cynical, I tend to immediately answer in the affirmative. After all, I work for the government, which means that no matter how apolitical I might feel my job is or should be, it still is. I also say that I expect the worst, so that I won't be disappointed when things go badly and I'll be happily surprised when they go well.
I think this might not quite be accurate in terms of my relationships with other people. It's true that I never assume people like me just because I like them. I guess it just seems easier that way, although my feelings still get hurt when I find that I am right. However, no matter how cynical I am, I still tend to give a person multiple chances, even when I feel they have wronged me in some way. I suppose I believe that THIS time, things will be different. Eventually, even I give up on someone. However, if they show any remorse for their actions, I almost always forgive and am willing to try to be friends again.
This attitude doesn't seem to apply only to friends but to strangers as well. For example, even though my gut may tell me that the person panhandling is in their situation through their own shortcomings, I want to believe that there is hope for them. I want to believe that they are sincere when the homeless man at the park asks me how I am and seems friendly to me. I want to believe that if I treat others with respect, they will return the favor. It doesn't always happen that way, but hopefully more often than not.
So I think that although I AM a cynic in many respects (which I tend to think of as being a realist), I am an optimistic one.
Does anyone else think this way?
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