Mindset of a New Yorker

I was walking through the hallway at the NIH (clearly not in NY) and
a fellow I know asked me how things are. I responded:
"I'm still breathing, so how bad could they be?"
To me, that was an upbeat positive answer. I was saying 'I'm still
alive and happy to be so, nothing else can bother me'.
the fellow then asked me where I was from, I answered "born
elsewhere, raised in NY".
He said "Ahhh, thats where the cynicism comes from."
Since then I have been looking at the things I normally say, and
while I see them as positive, I now realize that many of them are
positive only in that they are discounting the negative. Sort of like
answering the question of "is the glass half empty or half full" by
saying 'its not more than half empty so I am happy' or maybe 'its
only half full, it could be better'

I wonder if its just me or if that pseudo-optimism is endemic of NYC
life.