Wyss: Pessimist or pragmatist? This glass half full

The optimistic among us are more well-armed against stress, more likely to achieve in the face of adversity, not to mention more pleasant to be around – if you subscribe to the notion that perpetually cheerful, noncomplaining types are more fun than witty cynics.

Everything written on the subject expounds optimism’s virtues.

And, if one has a pessimistic, skeptical bent, well, then one can and should learn to see the upside, the pundits advise.

Because there’s always an upside, right?

Hmmm. ... well, when the water heater in the house you just drained your bank account to buy begins to leak with abandon and clearly needs to be replaced, where’s the silver lining?

Eureka, the house came with a home warranty. Surely this is a covered appliance. Yep, says so right here on the cover. Just call this number 24 hours a day, and ...

Well, yeah, the woman at the other end of the line says, it is a covered appliance, but not if it fails because of corrosion or rust within the first 30 days of the warranty’s existence.

I’m sorry, what? It’s a water heater. Problems due to rust or corrosion are not covered? OK. What’s the likelihood that a leak in a water heater is going to be caused by anything other than rust or corrosion?

I don’t know, ma’am, the calm voice at the other end of the line says, but it’s all there in black and white in subsection Z under the exclusions – there in the fine print. Anyway, we’d be happy to send our guy over right away. You’ll just have to pay him a $100 service call fee.

Nice racket, the boyfriend and I agreed after some discussion. We pay $100 for some vendor of the warranty company’s choosing to come over and – whatcha want to bet – tell us that it’s not covered.

Yes, call me a pessimist. I’m also a pragmatist, and Wednesday night I’m pretty sure it saved the household $100.

As for the leaky water heater, I’m optimistic that I’ll deal with it in a more cost-effective fashion than the warranty folks would have advised.

Uh-oh, there I go being less than exceptionally trusting of others again.

That, according to my quick research on optimism, is another sign of pessimism.

Maybe. Or maybe it’s a healthy sprinkling of the wisdom that reputedly comes with age.

I hope so. A little something to balance out the sagging skin – and keep the glass half full, so to speak – would be most welcome.

• Cyndi Wyss is a Northwest Herald community editor. She can be reached at 815-526-4534 or cwyss@nwherald.com.