After all these years playing the enthusiastic employee and property renter, then gradually changing into a husband, father, business owner and proud possessor of a mortgage, many bills and other commitments, I decided it wasn’t enough for me to say that I had “a life well-lived”.
Maybe it’s my age, but I can certainly understand why cranky old men get to be cranky.
There are several reasons.
First, it’s harder to get the body moving around. Sudden aches and pains appear where before there were none. Knees give way while walking downstairs with no prior warning. So you end up moving more slowly, being more careful, and always on the alert for the next potential body part failure.
But while these things are unwelcome and can make me “grumpy”, it’s other things that make me “Cranky”.
Why am I cranky?
Seeing society not change for the better, despite all intentions otherwise. When I was 17, I was going to change the world and make it a better place. And then life happened. Over the years, we all get ground down by the mere act of putting bread on the table. More pressing commitments – like eating and living indoors – take precedence. I have watched many politicians come and go. The same promises, the same lies. I have seen history repeat itself, over and over. The more things have changed, the more they have stayed the same on a more basic human level.
We still live in a world of massive contradictions. There are still the most flagrant and overt violations of human rights and just common decency all over the world. Fairness and justice are nice in theory, but it doesn’t always seem to work out that way in real life. The nicest people are victimised by circumstances, not of their own making or choosing.
No one ever became a refugee by choice. No one ever asked to be murdered just because of the colour of their skin or their personal religious belief. No one ever woke up in the morning and said to themselves, “Hey, today is a good day to be counted as collateral damage in a conflict I didn’t start when all I am trying to do is to look after my wife and kids.”
So I decided that instead of just moaning about the state of the world to my ever-supportive wife, I would start a blog where I can rant and muse and make brilliant and cutting observations about the world.
I don’t believe in the “good old days”. The range of choices of what to do with our time these days given to us by modern-day technology is a splendid thing indeed, and I plan to continue to enjoy them for quite some time yet. But my life experience makes my opinions just as good as anyone else’s. And (in my humble opinion, of course) probably better.
So, for better or worse, here they are. And the first one is – There is no such thing as a humble opinion.