Are you a Curmudgeon?

[happy2bretired]

I voted that I wasn't becoming a curmudgeon. I think I'm a nice person most of the time. I do get irritated and mutter under my breath when people irk me. Maybe I'm a pre-curmudgeon and haven't blossomed yet. I have yelled at kids being in my yard a couple of times...without a shotgun though. Hmmm, wonder if it's too late to change my vote.

 

[noworkethic]

I was quite curmudgeonly my last few years of wage slavery. MY curmudgeonliness diminished rather rapidly when I FIRED.

 

[kumquat]

You can still accomplish this goal if you apply yourself diligently!

Now who are you to tell me what to do? Get [-]off my lawn[/-] out of my face!

How am I doing so far?

 

[W2R]

Now who are you to tell me what to do? Get [-]off my lawn[/-] out of my face!

How am I doing so far?

You are making great progress, grasshopper.

 

[Alan]

I am not a curmudgeon. I am usually the person in the grocery store cornered by the old guys who want to tell me about their bowel habits and how to tell if the cantaloupe is ripe .

That is me also. e.g. 20 years ago shortly after moving to Louisiana I was talking with my neighbor on the front lawn and he told me about one of his 2 drop dead gorgeous daughters (aged about 20). She was having trouble with a polyp on her anus and he was describing the treatment in detail (rubber band around to cut off the blood flow to make it shrivel up and drop off ). After that, every time I was talking to her I had to fight back the urge to ask her how her polyp was doing.

 

[unclemick]

One of the local towns bordering Kansas City passed a leash law for dogs.

I was going by the Police Station last summer - there was a guy(curmudgeon??) walking his dog out front - maybe two foot leash draging on the ground while he was giving commands - stop/go/sit/roll over - any thing but pick up the leash. I pulled over and watched for while but nobody came out to give him a ticket.

Looked over 50 - obviously a protester/lawyer/or curmudgeon in training.

heh heh heh -

 

[Khan]

In some ways I've 'lightened up', in others...

Really wanted to go over and smack the neighbor's yappy little dog.

 

[Notmuchlonger]

In some ways I've 'lightened up', in others...

Really wanted to go over and smack the neighbor's yappy little dog.

Ya yappy little dogs bring out the grump in me.

 

[freebird5825]

In some ways I've 'lightened up', in others...

Really wanted to go over and smack the neighbor's yappy little dog.

Some Beethoven or Wagner or opera, played at high volume with the external speaker (in the screened porch), strategically pointed in the direction of the noisy neighbors, has done wonders for me in the past.

 

[RonBoyd]

I was a "dyed in the wool" curmudgeon in my younger days -- one of those who do not "suffer fools gladly." I spent my working life in "customer service" type jobs -- mostly, but nor exclusively, retail. Consequently, I was particularly hard on front line folks -- pity the poor teenage cashier/clerk who provided less than adequate service.

I have since "grown" up and now find tremendous humor in such situations... much to the chagrin of my curmugeonly grandchildren.

In the other areas, my hair has always been much too long and my music played much too loud and I burned all of my Ties twenty years before retiring much too early by conventional thinking.

 

[Meadbh]

I am not a curmudgeon. I am usually the person in the grocery store cornered by the old guys who want to tell me about their bowel habits and how to tell if the cantaloupe is ripe .

I sure hope they wash their hands between the two activities!!!!

 

[calmloki]

Yah, I'm a mean evil b*stard. Just today walked back into a restaurant kitchen and demanded to know where the cook was. Wanted to thank him for making fries just right. Hot, not greasy, fully cooked, crisp, not limp - perfect. Dunno why that's so difficult for restaurants to achieve. Took me several sentences to loosen him up and be sure i wasn't gonna rank on him. Never really seemed to work out for me when I put bad energy out there. OTOH, it's pretty fun to thank or compliment someone who isn't expecting it. I tip ok in restaurants - 20% is a norm, but rarely tip anyone else. Tend to feel that sincere eye-to-eye real contact words are better - handing someone $$ if they are in a service position seems demeaning. Hmm. Maybe that is curmudgeonly - reminds me of my telling tenants that "mouth full of sorry and hand full of nothing at all don't pay no bills".

 

[Nords]

I'm not a curmudgeon, I'm the parent of a teenager.

But in just 333 more days I'll be a full-time professional hermit!

I am becoming more and more like that, the closer I get to ER! Today I growled at a couple of older gentlemen at the grocery store who were blocking the ENTIRE aisle with their carts, when they were the only two people in the whole aisle. They growled back so it was a truce. And they did move (a minimum amount) when I said "PARDON ME!!!!" before growling.
Later, I felt a little guilty about it.

So, your feelings are important too, but how does Frank feel about this public flirting?

 

[FIREd]

I am a bit too young to be a full-fledged curmudgeon, but I am well on my way to become one...

DW just confirmed my suspicions. She too thinks I will be one hell of a grumpy old man...

 

[W2R]

I'm not a curmudgeon, I'm the parent of a teenager.

But in just 333 more days I'll be a full-time professional hermit!

You'll miss her but I suspect you won't be a hermit! You'll be too busy having fun, which is as it should be.

So, your feelings are important too, but how does Frank feel about this public flirting?

He knows that one man is enough for me to keep up with. Two (or heaven forbid, three) would probably do me in.

 

[haha]

One thing to say about this curmudgeon stuff. It may be fun, but one had better be and stay married or s/he could get awfully lonesome.

Ha

 

[W2R]

One thing to say about this curmudgeon stuff. It may be fun, but one had better be and stay married or s/he could get awfully lonesome.

I'm not so sure about that. The majority of us have voted that we feel we are curmudgeons. Quite a few of us, perhaps even the majority of us, are single. But are we all such poor, lonely, pitiful folks? It seems that most of us are quite happy with who we are, and happy with our relationships. Perhaps being a curmudgeon has less to do with snarling at those who you love, and more with speaking up when people you happen to encounter are rude and inconsiderate, as Goonie so beautifully describes:

Well, gee...lemme see.....Yup, "I have become more of a curmudgeon and I don't care". Used to be that stupid, inconsiderate, or disrespectful people (regardless of age) [-]pissed me off[/-] irritated me. But things have changed! They still irritate me, but now I let 'em know about it! I don't try to appease folks any more....I speak my piece, anytime, anywhere....and I just don't really give a rip about what they think about it either!!!

Curmudgeon? Eh, whatever! Folks can call me whatever they like....but they best get the h*ll of my lawn first!

I think that those who do speak up might get it out of their systems. Having vented, there would be more love and affection left within to give to those they care for, in the long run.

 

[Moemg]

I'm not so sure about that. The majority of us have voted that we feel we are curmudgeons. Quite a few of us, perhaps even the majority of us, are single. But are we all such poor, lonely, pitiful folks? It seems that most of us are quite happy with who we are, and happy with our relationships.

Yes but are our partners happy with us as curmudgeons ? If we are not curmudgeons around them won't they be in for a rude awakening when it slips into the relationship . Maybe we need to poll our SO's and DH's & DF's to see what there reaction is to cranky behavior ?

 

[Sarah in SC]

Both of us are curmudgeons, so that makes it easy, Moe.

After as many years as I've been with DH, I suspect it is unlikely that I have been remiss in sharing my curmudgeonliness with him.

Want2 has got it right--single, married, what-have-you--curmudgeons don't have to apologize for being curmudgeons, though they might have to pipe down about the kids on the lawn if they are relatives.

 

[ziggy29]

Yes but are our partners happy with us as curmudgeons ? If we are not curmudgeons around them won't they be in for a rude awakening when it slips into the relationship . Maybe we need to poll our SO's and DH's & DF's to see what there reaction is to cranky behavior ?

People aren't necessarily "curmudgeonly" in all aspects of their lives. And they aren't necessarily a curmudgeon around their SO.

 

[W2R]

People aren't necessarily "curmudgeonly" in all aspects of their lives. And they aren't necessarily a curmudgeon around their SO.

After all, why WOULD one be curmudgeonly around one's SO, the love of one's life in all probability? It's more reasonable to express one's irritation towards the "stupid, inconsiderate, or disrespectful people (regardless of age)" in an appropriate direction rather than towards one's SO. If someone behaves in a nasty way towards their SO, maybe there is some problem other than curmudgeonry that they need to talk through.

 

[Moemg]

People aren't necessarily "curmudgeonly" in all aspects of their lives. And they aren't necessarily a curmudgeon around their SO.

So maybe the poll should have a option for occasional curmudgeon behavior ? I think Ha's comment was in reference to a full time curmudgeon like Clint played in Grand Torino .

 

[Sarah in SC]

Not being a film buff, I didn't see Clint, but I think that "full-time" curmudgeons are probably rare as hen's teeth. All of us have our moments of non-curmdugeon-ness, and I know I save mine mostly for DH--unless he doesn't bring me his gas receipts!

However, I'm pretty sure that my tact supply only lasts until about 9am each day before being exhausted.

 

[shoe]

How about I'm over 50, not a curmudgeon, but I am married to one".

 

[freebird5825]

Yes but are our partners happy with us as curmudgeons ? If we are not curmudgeons around them won't they be in for a rude awakening when it slips into the relationship . Maybe we need to poll our SO's and DH's & DF's to see what there reaction is to cranky behavior ?

I warned dh2b about 2 things before he jumped in head first.
One thing I can't post here and the other was that I was very blunt, i.e. no grey areas and I tell it like it is. And I tend to be cynical.
His response was something along the lines of "Oh, TG" and there's no mysterious head game playing to expect, right?
So maybe mild curmudgeon-itis is a good thing.