Dear Ernie,
Do you think it’s a bad thing to have low expectations?
Not Really Expecting A Reply in Balzac
Dear Balzy,
There are times when low expectations can be negative. For example, when you’re on Facebook and you don’t ask anybody to be your friend because you think that they won’t respond, then you may never get any new friends. But on the other hand sometimes low expectations can save you from being disappointed. Often times when I go to a movie I will deliberately convince myself that it will suck before I even set foot in the theatre. That way if the film is just mediocre I will think that it was actually really good. This is exactly the method I used recently when I saw the movie "Next" starring Nicholas Cage. It was necessary to do this for a couple of reasons. The movie is based on a story by Phillip K. Dick; the movie "Paycheck" was also based on one of his stories. Anyone who was able to sit through that one will agree that it was a piece of…drek. In addition I recently saw Nicholas Cage’s performance in the movie "Wicker Man"; again drek. However, by lowering my expectations I was able to enjoy the movie and I felt that even the ending was especially good.
Dear Ernie,
Are you a real person or are you just a made up entity like Dear Debbie?
Curious in Sunnydale
Dear Curiously Sunny,
That is a very deep existential question. As soon as I read it I began to question my own existence. I always believed myself to be real, but am I really real or am I just a figment of someone else’s imagination? It really makes you think about reality. I’m going to need to drink more beer.
