# 2019. Are you feeling Optimistic or Pessimistic? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 31, 2018, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2019-are-you-feeling-optimistic-or-pessimistic/826951 "2018-12-31T00:46:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2018, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2019-are-you-feeling-optimistic-or-pessimistic/826951/1 "2018-12-31T00:46:26Z")
I think I may actually be feeling a very slight bit of optimism. How about you guys? ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2018, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2019-are-you-feeling-optimistic-or-pessimistic/826951/2 "2018-12-31T02:40:23Z")
Pessimistic. I am concerned that I’m going to have some sort of major medical event in the coming year, and I’m not going to be able to afford it. I’m worried about an economic recession as well. but my job, while not highly paid, is somewhat insulated from that. ---
**Author:** ![Lancia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lancia/32/17174_2.png) [@Lancia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lancia)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2018, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2019-are-you-feeling-optimistic-or-pessimistic/826951/3 "2018-12-31T02:45:13Z")
Optimistic. Assuming I don’t totally fuck up, I’ll earn my MA sometime this year – hopefully in May, perhaps in August. 8 years of school, while working and raising two boys. I’ll finally be done. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2018, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2019-are-you-feeling-optimistic-or-pessimistic/826951/4 "2018-12-31T02:45:17Z")
I’m the eternal optimist. It’s sickening. I know. Pollyanna rears her cute little head everyday. I’m not always happy, but I’m always hopeful. ---
**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2018, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2019-are-you-feeling-optimistic-or-pessimistic/826951/5 "2018-12-31T02:51:00Z")
I have always been an optimist. But even more so this coming year. I will be my last year of working a full time job. That light at the end of the tunnel is starting to shine bright. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2018, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2019-are-you-feeling-optimistic-or-pessimistic/826951/6 "2018-12-31T02:56:56Z")
Until recently I had always been a realist on the side of optimism because most things in this world tend to work out well and improve upon themselves. The last few years that optimism has dropped into pessimism, and though that’s still where I’m at for 2019, it did feel like a tipping point has been reached and things may begin to change. And that’s not just about politics etc, but my personal life too. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2018, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2019-are-you-feeling-optimistic-or-pessimistic/826951/7 "2018-12-31T03:10:19Z")
I have a full time, well paying job for the first time in years, I have employer paid health insurance, and the push back against the CFSG seems to be gaining traction. I feel better about 2019 than I did about 2018, but that’s kind of a low bar. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2018, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2019-are-you-feeling-optimistic-or-pessimistic/826951/8 "2018-12-31T03:14:11Z")
Optimistic. 2018 was mostly awful. It’s time for a new job and a probable move to Washington DC. And, let’s see what happens with my new dating interest. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2018, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2019-are-you-feeling-optimistic-or-pessimistic/826951/9 "2018-12-31T03:16:02Z")
I don’t know if I can pick one the other of those descriptors, but I’m pretty sure that 2019 is gonna be a real shitstorm of a year. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2018, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2019-are-you-feeling-optimistic-or-pessimistic/826951/10 "2018-12-31T03:20:06Z")
Personally optimistic. If I don’t have any health crises. I pretty much have it made. For the country and the world: pessimistic. Evil is defeating good. There is good in the world and good people, but it’s not enough. Entropy will triumph soon. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2018, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2019-are-you-feeling-optimistic-or-pessimistic/826951/11 "2018-12-31T03:25:38Z")
It feels like I’m due for some badness, since I’ve had a long stretch of good times. But I’m going to try to be optimistic about my ability to roll with any punches that get thrown my way. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2018, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2019-are-you-feeling-optimistic-or-pessimistic/826951/12 "2018-12-31T03:42:33Z")
Pessimistic doesn’t do it justice: our democratic norms will continue to erode; we will not do anything about global warming; new and perverse mass shootings are coming our way (in the US); and we will continue to witness more sever natural disasters. I’m so glad I never had children. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2018, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2019-are-you-feeling-optimistic-or-pessimistic/826951/13 "2018-12-31T04:01:31Z")
Optimistic, with a dash of caution. I am starting in a new department at work, and planning some overseas travel after a very long time. I feel like I have something to work for. The caution is just part of my nature, never wanting to get too high, knowing there is a trench out there approaching. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2018, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2019-are-you-feeling-optimistic-or-pessimistic/826951/14 "2018-12-31T04:34:10Z")
Optimistic with a dash of caution myself. Yes, we own a small business as we head into a probable recession; yes, our family relies on the ACA for our healthcare at a time when that law is continuously under attack; yes, our nation has a web of pure evil and corruption running the show right now; yes, I’m another year into my 40s and physically feeling it; yes, my parents are deeper into their 70s and starting to decline quicker than I’m comfortable with; and yes, I’m a worry-wart of a parent. But. I’m feeling good about the upcoming Democratic primary, and the 2020 election. I’m feeling good about the results of the midterm elections. I’m feeling good about the Mueller and state investigations. I’m feeling good that our seasonal business (organic lawncare) was successful enough this year that I can take the months of November through March off. I’m feeling good that a lot of our lawn customers are wealthy and insulated enough from a probable recession (for now), and most of them have already pre-paid for their 2019 season. I’m feeling good that my kids, my wife and me are all relatively healthy now, even as I watch friends and family struggle with various illnesses. And, I know it’s not popular or common here, but my faith gives me hope, even when things go sideways. So I am looking forward to 2019, while at the same time I know it can all go to shit in a blink. But even if it does, I know that people have endured worse, and the Lendervedders will get through anything. This is life, and then there’s death. You make the most of everything with the people around you as long as you can, and you adjust as necessary. ---
**Author:** ![CharmaChameleon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@CharmaChameleon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CharmaChameleon)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2018, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2019-are-you-feeling-optimistic-or-pessimistic/826951/15 "2018-12-31T04:34:12Z")
Optimistic enough to keep doing target practice. ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2018, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2019-are-you-feeling-optimistic-or-pessimistic/826951/16 "2018-12-31T15:46:05Z")
Being British, I’m finding it very hard to be in the least optimistic overall about the upcoming year. My own life looks to be going pretty well, and I’d otherwise be feeling pretty positive, but if the political situation gets as bad as it’s threatening, who knows what impacts it’ll have. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2018, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2019-are-you-feeling-optimistic-or-pessimistic/826951/17 "2018-12-31T17:38:32Z")
Pessimistic. Brexit encapsulates it entirely. ---
**Author:** ![Buttercup\_Smith](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buttercup_smith/32/473_2.png) [@Buttercup\_Smith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buttercup_Smith)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2018, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2019-are-you-feeling-optimistic-or-pessimistic/826951/18 "2018-12-31T18:23:53Z")
Neither. Still massively concerned for our country. Hoping that he gets taken down by the investigations. Personally everything is OK at the moment. ---
**Author:** ![Helena330](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/helena330/32/531_2.png) [@Helena330](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helena330)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2018, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2019-are-you-feeling-optimistic-or-pessimistic/826951/19 "2018-12-31T19:35:12Z")
Very pessimistic because the end of 2018 has been so bad. One bright beacon of hope is Nancy Pelosi, but that’s it. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2018, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2019-are-you-feeling-optimistic-or-pessimistic/826951/20 "2018-12-31T19:43:17Z")
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