A secret at the end of the year: You CAN be happy. You just need low expectations. Then you’ll often be pleasantly surprised.
Take Storrow Drive, for example. A few years ago it seemed possible that Boston could get a gorgeous, ceremonial, street-level entrance to the Esplanade. But as is often the case in these matters, high hopes were dashed. The plan neighborhood groups and the state’s Department of Conservation and Recreation eventually put forth for repairing the Storrow Drive tunnel turned out to provide no benefit for the Esplanade and, at the end, actually threatened it.
So DCR went with Plan B—well, actually, more like Plan G—and “temporarily” fixed the tunnel. Everyone thought it would take forever and be a mess. Instead, it took only 13 months, $15 million and drew raves from neighbors for the work’s efficiency and low noise level. There will be a time in Boston when parks and residents’ habits of walking will be valued over cars, but this isn’t it. This “temporary” fix will work until we can design something worthy. How nice to have a better outcome than we expected.
Another benefit of low expectations is how happy you can be about the recent mayoral election. This past November, many downtown Bostonians—it turned out there weren’t as many as the other candidates thought—hoped for a new direction with a new mayor.
Instead Boston voters sent Mayor Menino back for a fifth term. Our expectations for Mayor Menino are usually low. We don’t expect him to be visionary or eloquent. But he cares about Boston and doesn’t have his hand in the till or in the back pockets of the people coming for approvals. The garbage trucks rumble down the street on schedule. Street lights and roadways are repaired. He’s accessible, and once in awhile he shows a slice of courage. Unless you’re the genius who could do better, you should realize that he far exceeds expectations.
High expectations about the two parties working together were what lots of Democrats enjoyed last January. They should have known better. Everywhere you go—in Boston, at least—you hear complaints about the villainous Republicans who, to avoid cooperating with Democrats, are willing to let Americans die without health care or bankrupt themselves to get it. But what did you expect from a group of people who learned their tactics and their morals from the cynical Karl Rove? At some point it may happen that a Republican senator or congressperson will show courage and concern for his or her fellow Americans, and they will restore our faith in human nature.
I’m writing this column while the fate of the health care bill in the Senate is still uncertain. Instead of expecting perfection, we should be grateful that senators like John Kerry and Paul Kirk are steadfast in their intention to pass a bill that is a beginning, not an end. The Democratic Party leaders, having to deal with the pathetic (and bizarre) Joe Lieberman and the self-important Ben Nelson, look as if they’ve pulled it off. It’s not over, but it is surprising and heartening to watch Congress addressing the health care problem, when some of us expected so little.
Of course, the highest hopes were for Obama. Some voters expected a messiah, not a president. But now he has to govern. So he’s not doing everything you desired? He’s not perfect? You’re right. Instead he is intelligent, crafty, deliberate, imaginative and wise. He possesses the first real family values I’ve seen any president demonstrate in my lifetime. If you don’t agree with some of his decisions, and I don’t, well, there’s no one I’ve met with whom I agree entirely. Unrealistic expectations were bound to hit a wall.
My favorite surprise this year, given my generally low expectations, is reserved for George W. Bush. I knew he wouldn’t jet around the world handing out money as Clinton does or build houses like Jimmy Carter. I expected him to do nothing but play golf and cut brush while living off the $1.6 million welfare allowance we pay him for retiring. (It’s worth every penny.) But he’s found his calling as a motivational speaker. Now he may be restricted in his presentations to Texas and a few other southwestern states, and he was never known to have great speaking ability either, come to think of it.
But this step he has taken shows that anyone can re-invent himself in America. Keep those low expectations coming.