let there be hope

recently, there has been a sprinkling of people in my life that have really given me hope for the whole of humanity. maybe that sounds like i carry around a rather pessimistic outlook in my back pocket, just waiting to pull it out and say "see? i told you!". really, i don't. instead, i tend to be overly optimistic about people and fall blind to all but their good qualities (i'm sure i've mentioned this before, as it gets me into trouble more often than not). this less than sparkly view of humanity comes from many years of being slapped in the face by the sometimes harsh reality of human behavior. call it cynicism. call it life. as usual though, i digress.

the recent rays of sunshine that have renewed my hope have come in random forms:
- a mechanic who worked on my car for free, just because it didn't take much time and he was a genuinely nice person.
- a boss that asks how life is and truly appreciates the hard work i do (and tells me that)
- a landlord that brings me a plate of fresh picked grapes, just because she thought i'd like them