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My second-favorite thing to say is “I told you so,” outranked only by “Thanks for the free lunch.”

So when I saw the Des Moines Register’s first story about problems in the Iowa movie industry and Mike Tramontina’s rather stunning resignation as head of the Iowa Department of Economic Development, I couldn’t help but recall an incident from a couple of years ago.

I attended a press conference about – well, it was about something, I’m pretty sure of that – and asked a few questions. Afterward, I introduced myself to Tramontina for the first time, and he placed me like this: “Oh – you’re the skeptical one.”

I didn’t know quite how to take that. It’s like saying to a police officer, “Oh – you’re the one who ruined the fun when everybody stopped to reload.”

Of course newspaper people are skeptical. We’re in a business where people tell us things that aren’t quite, technically, 100 percent true, and then complain that the stories are inaccurate. What we can’t figure out is why everybody else isn’t skeptical, too. Especially people who are running government programs involving large sums of money.

According to the reports about our movie office, the people in charge seemed to assume that nothing ever goes wrong and everyone can be trusted. It may be time to take Bernard Madoff’s portrait off the wall.

We’d better pause right here and note that the entire story has yet to be told about our fresh-faced Iowa leaders dealing with those slick hustlers from Hollywood. They probably used big Los Angeles words that we don’t understand, but that’s just speculation at this point.

Also, my goal is not to kick Mike Tramontina when he’s down. I just want to seize the opportunity to speak up on behalf of skepticism. It needs the help. Positive thinking, on the other hand, is an easy sell.

For example, Peter Lowe held a motivational event at Wells Fargo Arena recently, one more installment in a successful series. Lowe takes a collection of well-known leaders around the country, and at each stop they sell tickets to thousands of people who hope optimism will pay off better than the lottery or dieting.

He’s been doing this for years, so clearly he’s serving a need. But sometimes a true skeptic isn’t sure whether he’s seeing real optimism or something more like a hologram. When the show comes to town, I always remember the time I interviewed Lowe backstage. (I’m at that stage of life where everything reminds me of something else. Right now I’m thinking about another occasion when I placed words in parentheses. Good times.)

With very little coaxing on my part, Lowe admitted that even he was bemused by the juxtaposition of happy thoughts and naked commerce. The typical speaker spends half of his time telling the crowd to get confident and work smarter, and the other half recommending that they buy a few of his high-priced books, tapes and DVDs to speed the process along.

It can make a person feel skeptical, which is different than cynical.

If an employee asks for time and money to attend a training seminar in Las Vegas, it would be cynical to automatically dismiss the idea. Some people might get a lot of value from attending, especially if they’re running low on notepads and three-ring binders.

However, it’s a leader’s responsibility to be skeptical.

You might make sure that the seminar will deal with a topic relevant to the employee’s duties. You might check to see whether the same information is available in a quicker and cheaper way. You could even ask why he’s carrying a bottle of cognac and has requested his expense money in one-dollar bills.

Then you can make a rational decision.

As for the media, Americans may dislike our skepticism, but where would they be without it?

Probably at Peter Lowe’s house, helping him count his money.