Back in late 2002, I remember the dot com company I had been working for had to lay off all but the top three executives. Even though I was only working minimum hours and was paid a low hourly rate, I still felt down that I no longer had a job to go to after my classes each day.
The first person I called was Eddie to break the news. I can't remember verbatim what his first response was, but I think it was something along the lines of, "so what?". And at which point I either got taken aback and got quieter or I yelled at him for his lack of emotional support. Whichever reaction I had, he followed with, "Do you think you won't be able to find another job? Does this mean your life is over?" With my meek response of, "no", he followed with some sound reasoning, "things will work themselves out in the end. Things are never as bad as they seem."
His statement carried with me through college and even now, even though I just remembered this last night. It's always been my underlying approach to all the crappy things that happen and to all the good things that don't. This just goes to add how much of an influence Eddie has over me.