Are You Becoming a Curmudgeon as You Get Older? (retired, opinions, behavior)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
When I was younger, I pictured my future self as that wild-eyed crusty mean old lady who stands outside her scary old (haunted) house with a lot of property, overgrown grass and rickety fence, with her shotgun (and her cat), swearing at Halloween teenage trick or treaters treaters who have come to do her harm and telling them that she'd have no problem with putting them in the ground if they don't get off her property BUT now that I actually am old:
1. I live in a modern apartment complex
2. I don't own a shotgun
3. I don't have a cat.
4. I don't have property and the apartment property is very nicely landscaped
5. And most important, I haven't had a Halloween trick or treater in 15 years in 2 states.
Oh well. As far as any other curmudgeon "visions" go, I got nuthin'.
Location: Approximately 50 miles from Missoula MT/38 yrs full time after 4 yrs part time
2,308 posts, read 4,130,092 times
Reputation: 5025
....humor......in a twisted sort of way!!!!
........I may have mentioned this before, but if not .."give it a try....it works!!
Living over 10 miles outside of town, it's pretty common to be bothered by people tresspassing on your land in the summer when they see the nice looking 40 foot wide creek and they are already 1000 feet down your private driveway.
So several years I has six wooden signs made up...(just happen to look like official Forest Service Signs)....that read as follows:............
Caution...TICK INFESTED AREA
...Lime Disease probable if bitten..
........I may have mentioned this before, but if not .."give it a try....it works!!
Living over 10 miles outside of town, it's pretty common to be bothered by people tresspassing on your land in the summer when they see the nice looking 40 foot wide creek and they are already 1000 feet down your private driveway.
So several years I has six wooden signs made up...(just happen to look like official Forest Service Signs)....that read as follows:............
Caution...TICK INFESTED AREA
...Lime Disease probable if bitten..
I know this is an old thread, but it's such an important one I couldn't bear to see it die.
My name is Rosemary, and I've officially become a curmudgeon.
It's taken some time but I am there (at age 54).
Last Sunday, I was attending an event at a big, beautiful old church in town. As I was pulling open the heavy glass door, a not-so-little kid (about 8-9 years old) came running up behind me, literally pushed me out of the way (almost knocking me off balance), and went charging through the door that I was now holding.
I turned around and saw her father about 20 feet behind me. He was about 30, and when I shot him the best evil eye I could summon, he responded with a big grin, as if to say, "Isn't she cute?"
No apology. No grabbing the kid. No offering to hold the door for me. No nothing.
If that had been my kid, I would have grabbed her, scolded her right there, and apologized profusely to the injured party. And then I would have told the kid, "Your behavior tonight was reprehensible. We're going home right now, and you're going to sit down and write a 300-word essay on good manners and respecting our elders."
On airplanes, in theaters, in church, and at other public gatherings, I've observed that a well-disciplined, quiet, well-mannered child is the anomaly.
I know this is an old thread, but it's such an important one I couldn't bear to see it die.
My name is Rosemary, and I've officially become a curmudgeon.
It's taken some time but I am there (at age 54).
Last Sunday, I was attending an event at a big, beautiful old church in town. As I was pulling open the heavy glass door, a not-so-little kid (about 8-9 years old) came running up behind me, literally pushed me out of the way (almost knocking me off balance), and went charging through the door that I was now holding.
I turned around and saw her father about 20 feet behind me. He was about 30, and when I shot him the best evil eye I could summon, he responded with a big grin, as if to say, "Isn't she cute?"
No apology. No grabbing the kid. No offering to hold the door for me. No nothing.
If that had been my kid, I would have grabbed her, scolded her right there, and apologized profusely to the injured party. And then I would have told the kid, "Your behavior tonight was reprehensible. We're going home right now, and you're going to sit down and write a 300-word essay on good manners and respecting our elders."
On airplanes, in theaters, in church, and at other public gatherings, I've observed that a well-disciplined, quiet, well-mannered child is the anomaly.
I'm cooked and done.
I'm officially a curmudgeon.
Try to ease up a little; don't sweat the small stuff. You're way too young to be referred to as The Witch or the Crazy Lady (terms we used when I was a young lass).
Thanks for reviving this thread, RosemaryT, and thus bringing it to my attention.
I always fantasized about being a paid curmudgeon -like a more relevant version of Andy Rooney, and in print. I think I do have enough material to file a weekly column. But you know what they call female curmudgeons, don't you?
So... what do you think? What is a curmudgeon? And, are you one? Are you becoming more so as you get older?
And most of all.... what is it about reaching retirement age that brings this out in us?
I think the definition of curmudgeon depends on one's perspective. ;-) To me, a curmudgeon would be someone who is UNREASONABLY cantankerous about things that the vast majority of people of any age would probably not find bothersome. By that definition, I would probably not be a curmudgeon (or at worst, only a semi-curmudgeon, LOL).
However, I find that other people tend to think that any deviation from a person's 'younger self' tolerance level qualifies them for the label of curmudgeon! For example, up until my 50s I stupidly put up with a LOT of behaviors from other people that seriously irked me, but was either too polite or too nonconfrontational to speak up about them. But after that point I did start speaking up and being more assertive rather than the mouse/doormat/peoplepleaser that I used to be, and guess what? People who know me from earlier days now consider me to be "unreasonably cantankerous" a la my own definition, LOL
What brings out the lower level of tolerance in us after the mid-century mark? IMHO it's the realization that life is too short to put up with b.s. (or other people's stupidity/thoughtlessness/rudeness etc) and that the universe doesn't give us any Brownie Points for doing so. ;-)
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
You're deprived.
....humor......in a twisted sort of way!!!!
