Lakeside Joe boils it all down for us, so I’ll just swipe his version as is.
A variation on a theme we talked about a couple of days ago. Vegout.com has a cute little argument for how – and why – you became the grumpy old fuck you are. They explain how the transformation sneaks up on you. One day you’re the cool elder who gets it, the next you’re lecturing a barista about work ethic while the entire coffee shop pretends not to notice. The scary part isn’t getting older; it’s becoming the specific type of older person who makes younger people suddenly remember urgent texts they need to send.
- You’ve started sentences with “Back in my day” unironically
- Technology has become your personal villain
- Your default public mood is irritation
- Change has become your enemy
- You’ve weaponized small talk
- You judge younger generations for crimes you definitely committed
- Your patience has completely expired
- You’ve stopped trying to understand anything new
- Your social circle has become an echo chamber
The funny thing about recognizing these signs in yourself is the immediate urge to explain why your crankiness is different, justified, and based on your own legitimate observations about genuine decline. That’s exactly what that grumpy old fuck uncle you avoided at Thanksgiving used to say.
Ouch! ‘Nuff said.
Another new category for this sort of thing has been created, which I fear will see a lot of use going forward. At least some of you CF Lifers are bound to be old enough to remember whence comes the category’s name: a dear departed blog-bud of mind name of Andrew Ian Dodge had a hard-rock/metal combo by that same name, not long before the cancer took him.
- Entries
I think I hit a few of those in this – https://open.substack.com/pub/streamfortyseven/p/my-thoughts-on-my-50th-high-school – what do you think?