Is the glass half empty or half full? Everyone at some point in his or her life has been faced with this timeless question, often used to determine personality type. I think a better question would be: Who came up with such a ridiculous test? If you are a so-called optimist, you supposedly see the glass as half full, while the pessimist sees it as half empty.

I got to thinking about this and decided that the glass theory is screwed up. The main problem is that it never tells you what is actually in the glass. Let’s imagine a little scenario at Hickory Park restaurant. You have worked your way through half a glass of a tall, tantalizing chocolate malt. According to the glass theory, if you are in the mind set of your typical optimist, you would see it as half full and be happy about that fact.

What happens if the drinker of this malt absolutely detests chocolate and breaks out in hives upon digestion? However, this person is also an optimist. Does he or she look at the glass with a big martyr-type sigh and think it is half full? Of course not. They probably take a more motivational approach and think “All right! Half empty … almost done! The end is near,” and toss the rest of it down the hatch. The glass theory may work for certain cases, but it doesn’t examine all the issues, like the chocolate malt hater.

Some may wonder why this person is drinking a chocolate malt if he or she hates chocolate. Well, keep wondering. That isn’t the point of the example.

Society has typically told us that being an optimist is the way to go if you want to be successful and get what you want. People who are negative or in a bad mood are supposed to be cheered up or are told to smile. (There is nothing more aggravating than to be told to smile when we’d much rather crack that person in the jaw than crack a grin.) We say things like, “Don’t worry; be happy,” use Prozac, or repeat that old adage, “You get more flies with honey …” to keep ourselves optimistic.

Lately, however, I’ve been noticing that sometimes being too positive is not a good thing when you are dealing with people who are traditionally pessimists or are kind of moody.

For example, usually I am in pretty good spirits. When someone asks me the standard, “How are you?” I usually tell the truth. If I am having a good day I will say, “Great!” or sometimes, if it’s an extra good day, I’ll answer with, “Fabulous!”

If the person who questioned me is not particularly happy with the day’s events, he or she will often seem slightly irritated with my attitude. These people will sometimes say, “What’s so great about it?” or even more to the point: “What are you so damn happy about?”

There isn’t always a reason to explain happiness. I once read that a happy person is one who has no cares, and a cheerful person is one that has cares but doesn’t let them get to him or her.

Cheerfulness could be caused because you got a good grade on a test that you thought you failed, or you ran into an old friend on campus. Maybe you are happy simply because the sun is shining and the grass looks green. Who can explain the mind of an optimist?

Rather than trying to figure out whether you are an optimist or a pessimist, I would just try to find some joy in whatever personality traits you do recognize. As we are heading into our last few weeks of classes, emotions and responsibilities may be running high while time and energy may be running low.

If you can continue to be in a good mood and stay positive while meeting all the deadlines and assignments of the last half of the semester, clap your hands, nod your head and stamp your foot. If you’re truly happy, go ahead and do all three.

If you need to grumble around, complain that you won’t do well on the four tests you have next week, or drink yourself into a mad stupor over a poor grade, so be it. Just keep an eye on your glass.

Joanne Roepke is a junior in journalism and mass communication from Aurora.