Editorial May 6, 2024 Issue

We can lay down our cynicism

Tony Lobl

“You’d be surprised!” the transit employee said when we reported the lost phone. She continued, “More often than not, people finding a phone hand it in to our staff. Keep ringing until someone answers.”

She was right on both counts. We were surprised (and comforted) by this countering of the assumption that lost phones remain lost. And as predicted, the phone was quickly returned—kindly recharged by the person handing it to us.

Though we’d like to expect such goodness from everybody, that can seem hard to hope for. Given things we see on social media and in politics, or even encounter directly, many of us conclude that cynicism is the wise way to look at life.

Send a comment to the editors

NEXT IN THIS ISSUE

Article

Choosing where our thoughts dwell