Plenty to be thankful for this year

A couple of years ago, my employer at the time told me he had no further use for my service, saying I was a "glass half-empty" sort of guy. (By that, I think he meant I simply refused to agree with him when he had some half-cocked plan that would make the company instant money but might not be good for the customer in the long run. If that is "glass half-empty", I plead guilty.)

I like to think of myself as just the opposite, a "glass half-full" person. Granted, I have been semi-employed for the past six weeks and my favorite pro football team has a chance to be the first squad ever to go 0-16 in a season. It's minor inconveniences in the big picture.

Life really is not so bad. I have a terrific wife who went through a surgical procedure and (it appears) came out fine. I have a terrific family, the type of people you are honored to be associated. We have a dog we like a lot and who (I think) likes us.

We have been doing a lot of work on our house this year. It has been a long process but the basement is taking shape and looking nice. We live in a nice neighborhood, an areas where folks notice when something is out of the norm and check in to make sure everything is okay.

Although there are times when it is appropriate to do so, it is just too damn easy to be cynical and downcast about life. There was a story this week about a blind woman who runs a convenience store in downtown St. Paul. Some grinch had stolen her laptop. Mark Dayton, a former US Senator here, heard about it and said he would buy her a new one (it cost $6,500).

Dayton certainly has the dough to do so but that's not the point. The point is he saw someone who was in need and helped the person, who was very thankful he did. (Judging by the comments on one of the local papers' website, it wasn't enough. Some people are never satisfied.)

As long as we have that type of spirit still around in this country, there is plenty to be thankful for this year. Along that line, here is my Thanksgiving wish: For one day (okay, two), can we stop focusing on those big car company CEOs who are making oodles of money and thumbing their noses at the American public? Can we quit carping about politicians from the other party? Instead, can we just take a second to look around and see what is right in our little world? Is that really a hard thing to do?