I see myself turning into "grumpy old man" more and more as the years pass by. I am not even that old yet although I am "past the hump" as far as life is concerned. If we are lucky and take care of ourselves, we are all fortunate to see the years past 80 and I am more than halfway to 80 already. I'm not really that old, and I live a youthful existence, but I have found that certain things annoy me a tremendous amount as I get older that I probably would have just shrugged off in my earlier years.
I am not going to do anything to try to change these things either because I don't think I should have to but here are a few of the things that I really can't tolerate a great deal and am willing to tolerate them even less the more the years go by.
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Using your phone for everything
I don't know how many people this applies to, but I think the world in general is just getting dumber and dumber the more we involve technology in our daily lives. Out of most of the people I know, when a question comes up between us, there is always around 50% of the people in my life that will immediately reach for their phone when a question comes up about anything. Is it just me but was life more interesting when we would talk about something and attempt to come to a solution without referencing the internet to get an answer? I'm not saying that we should accept bad information but would it be so hard to just talk about it first and then, if there is a dispute and the subject matter is important - and it isn't, normally it's some insignificant shit like who starred in a film - then you refer to the internet.
So many of the people in my life also depend on their phones to be able to do almost anything. Out of almost everyone I know, they can't get to anywhere in this city without GPS assistance. This is even true of a majority of the Vietnamese taxi drivers that I encounter. When I get in a taxi and am heading to one of the largest shopping malls in the entire city and they need the turn-by-turn directions from their phones in order to get there, I am disappointed in humanity.
There was a time when we had to use our brains to get things done and honestly, there isn't a lot of that going on anymore. I get upset with my friends when we are hanging out and any of them are constantly looking at their phones. I sometimes become unreasonably angry with them when they do so.
Not following through on your promises
This might just be the drunken nature of expat life that is the culprit here, but a lot of the people in my life make promises and then never follow through on them. These aren't usually something that is very important but one of them is when I invite people to go bowling with us on Thursdays and then they simply don't turn up. When I see them again at some other time they will have certain excuses but for the most part I know that it is just because people are irresponsible drunks that can't manage to get out of bed before noon. If you are an adult and are not in college anymore, I find it exceptionally stupid and irresponsible for one to not be capable of doing anything in the morning. You are a useless shit if you allow alcohol to ruin every morning of your life and you are destined for failure.
But I digress: It isn't just about bowling or just about mornings, it is a question of HONOR and being a person who when they make a promise, regardless of how small it is, that you actually do what you said you will do. This might not be true globally, but I would rather a person just say that they are not sure if they can do (insert whatever thing here) than to say that they are going to do it and then have some bullshit excuse about why they didn't do it afterwards.
I have found that I tend to completely write people off as far as being my friend is concerned if they don't keep their promises. I let this slide when i was younger but nowadays I feel as though so few people pay any attention to this.
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I feel that honor and dependability is one of the most important character traits that a person can possibly have, especially if you are a man. Once you lose that honor, you can't get it back, and I will never let you have it back. And yes, it can be something as totally minor as not turning up for bowling when you say you are going to.
Noise bothers me a great deal
I can't believe that I actually used to pursue noisy environments when I was in my teens and 20s. These days I become irritated if I go somewhere and it is noisy and in the places where I am a regular, I will politely yet sternly tell the people working at a bar or restaurant to turn the fucking music down when we are in there. I do not see the point in having a social environment that you create for people then making it so friggin loud that nobody can talk to one another. How is this enjoyable? There are also certain clubs that I refuse to go to because I already know that they have a reputation for being extremely noisy. Popular discos can kiss my ass. You will never see me in that sort of place.
This is something that started to be important to me only once I got older. Quiet is a rare thing in the city that I live in and I find myself getting upset at the Vietnamese culture at times because they seem to gravitate towards excessive noise whenever they possibly can. Somewhere like the beach shouldn't have giant speakers blasting music out of them yet, here we are. Not long ago I was staying at a "resort" and the noise coming from the restaurant was so loud that I threatened to check out if they didn't stop it. The did turn it down because of my complaint but why should I even have to say something like this? It is a resort... people are here to relax are they not? Why are you blasting music all day long?
People who don't take care of themselves annoy me
Are you a fat ass? Well if so, chances are this is largely or entirely your own fault. I get that there are some genetics involved in something like this but there are also solutions for this as well.
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I know that it isn't nice but I no longer care if I hurt people's feeling about this. When I encounter someone that is awesomely fat yet they smoke, are constantly eating, never exercise and drink alcohol all the time, I get pre-annoyed by them. Have a little self-respect why don't you? I'm not saying everyone needs to be able to do triathlons but I simply cannot understand the mindset of someone that doesn't look after themselves. If you are a smoker in this day and age I think you are partially retarded. We have conclusively proven that this terrible habit basically assures that you are going to have serious health issues at some point in your life but yet you STILL do it?
I once was talking to someone about how I walk or run 5k almost every day and they were just blown away about how this is even possible. Of course this was a giant fat ass at a bar in the middle of the day who is also a smoker.
I shouldn't allow other people's behavior to bother me so much but the alternative is for me to cut out 50% of the people I know from my life. These things didn't bother me nearly as much in the past but these days I find that I am less and less willing to simply endure these things. If that makes me a grumpy old man then so be it. I don't need additional stress in my life and if your friends are the ones that are causing these things then I am of the mindset that new friends are necessary. Or even better, dogs.
Dogs are awesome... especially my dog