I’ve Come To Realise I’m A Grumpy Old Man

But I think I understand why

Photo by Artem Beliaikin on Unsplash

Do you have any intolerances, sir?

The waitress asked at the restaurant.

I hesitated. I wanted to say

“How long have you got? None of them are food-related, though.”

As I’ve gotten older, more and more little, inconsequential things annoy me.

• Slow drivers
• Fast drivers
• Traffic lights that take too long to change
• Pedestrians who cross the road when there is a crossing only a few feet away
• People who don’t say thank you
• People in shops or on the phone who call me ‘buddy’ or ‘mate’
• People who spell my name incorrectly when I’ve told them what it is.
• Men wearing ties with the skinny end longer than the fat end
• Men who have belt loops but don’t wear a belt
• Shops asking if I want to donate to charity
• Every business asking me to give feedback on how they did
• Sneakers with suits

The list goes on and on.

I don’t recall ever being this cranky when I was younger. Things just didn’t…