Glass half empty and shattered on the floor

Last night I was trying to soothe Geekman who was all stressed about the conference he had to head off to this morning*:

"Come here and sit down. You're pacing back and forth like a nervous ferret."

[...]

"That's better. Now think of something happy."

[...]

"Are you thinking of something happy?"

"Uh-huh."

"What are you thinking about?"

"I'm remembering a skiing holiday I once went on—"

"Excellent! See, you CAN do it when you try."

"—the one where my girlfriend broke up with me."

________

* You may remember I said he was going on Friday. I was confused. He left today. He gets back next Friday.