Deminski’s Jersey cynicism proves this personality color quiz wrong

We all remember the famous 'Dress' optical illusion. Some swore it was blue and black while others saw it as white and gold. Well I was on Facebook the other day when I stumbled upon a quiz much like this. They show you a square of a particular color and give you two or three choices of what color it is you're seeing. The claim is where one person may see gray another may see green and so on. The results are supposed to give you a thumbnail of your personality type.

Now I had to try this, because I was pretty sure it would be way off. It did not disappoint. After picking the colors I saw, this was the result it gave me.

"The Optimist"

"You tend to always look on the bright side of life, no matter what obstacle is in your way. You are a constant ray of light to all in your life."

...Yeah, right.

Look, I was born and raised in one of the more cynical states I can think of. I grew up with political corruption constantly in the news. I lived through the Florio years of runny egg laws and taxing toilet paper. I see homeless people and assume they have a nice car around the corner. I unfairly assume everyone has an angle. My radar is always on high alert for a scam. I've seen Abscam and mayors go to jail and bad police ruin it for all the great ones. I saw the Whitman financial shell game that resulted in a deepening pension crisis. A guy named McGreevey who not only lied to all of us but even to his own wife. I've seen runaway property taxes and ridiculous laws and nanny government up the wazoo. A blowhard named Christie that parlayed such promise into such bitter disappointment. A soon to be gubernatorial election I can't begin to care about because I'm so cynical at this point I believe anyone seeking power is cut from the same cloth and nothing will get done and nothing will be fixed.

Yes, I'm cynical as hell. I have an impossible time believing New Jersey will do what it takes to turn itself around. I love the people but I hate the politics. I love the culture but I hate the corruption. I love the variety but I hate the audacity. Do I want my children to grow up and stay here? No, not if things are still this way. Yet this crazy color quiz calls me an optimist. Just as Bruce Springsteen wrote that it's hard to be a saint in the city, I think it's even harder to be an optimist in New Jersey.