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It’s hard to know how to respond to the inevitable doom both tribes expect

It was 24C (75F) in New York last weekend, triggering a very particular New York response. As families flooded Central Park for what felt like the first nice day of spring, the compulsion to enjoy the weather was followed by an equally strong compulsion to speculate that tomorrow, in all likelihood, it would rain. This is the great qualifier to American optimism – neurosis – and it shares a reflex with British defeatism. The difference between the two is in what happens next.

When I first moved to here, I remember thinking the tendency of New Yorkers to fixate on “solutions” was a noble but misguided impulse. Like British people, New Yorkers can look at a scene and immediately identify the stress-points where disappointment is likely to set in. That cough is pneumonia, you should go see a doctor; a delivery that is five minutes late won’t arrive unless you ring and complain; you should over-insure everything from your house to your health because the worst will almost certainly happen.

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from US news | The Guardian http://bit.ly/2Pg0W2D