I think I'm turning into a crochety old person

[muttmeister]

I've noticed a lot of things getting to me lately that never did before. I've always been pretty much a bleeding heart liberal, politically correct, and believed that you should be able to do whatever you darned well pleased as long as it doesn't hurt somebody else and that you should be able to believe whatever you darned well pleased no matter how crazy it sounds. Lately I'm not so sure.
I'm not going to go into details here because I don't mean this to offend anybody but I see so many people doing so many crazy things and my patience has just completely run out.
I'm an equal opportunity crab; I consider myself a Christian but I find some Christians to be absolutely insane. I have Jewish relatives and even considered converting but I know some Jews that are completely nuts. I have Muslim friends but when I read in the paper some of the things the far right people have said, I understand why a lot of the world has no patience with them.
I am sick of the Republicans and the Democrats. I'm an American first and a member of my party much later. If we can't work together we're sunk. I'm tired of people using their religion, their ethnicity, their parents, their money or lack thereof, their education or lack thereof, their geographical location, etc., etc. as excuses as to why they have failed and the rest of us should pay to help them out. I am tired of everybody I hear on TV thinking they are ENTITLED to everything they want immediately without working for it - and my one son definitely fits in that category. I'm tired of people who can't afford to have kids having them anyway and expecting the rest of us to support them. I'm tired of living in a country where we let a poor old man freeze to death in his house because he couldn't pay his electric bill but yet we can give billions to the richest among us who then take it and waste it
Is it my age? Is it the general situation of the world? Does anybody else feel like a lot of people are getting what they deserve?
I know that we are lucky to live in a country where we are all spoiled rotten. People in the developing parts of the world would be happy as clams to trade places with the poor and even the homeless in this country. My parents generation got through the Great Depression and World War II by working together and sacrificing and helping each other out. My generation (the baby boomers) have been pretty selfish and self centered and our kids are even worse. I wonder if we're going to be able to come together in a spirit of cooperation and solve our problems or if we're going to just continue to go downhill, sell our country to the Chinese, and go out of existence.
Am I the only one who's getting fed up in general? Maybe it is my age.

 

[Hound dog]

I've got to say that I agree with you 100 percent.

Maybe I'm getting crochety too.

I guess at least you know you're not alone.

Hugs

 

[Numina]

I consider myself a Christian but I find some Christians to be absolutely insane.

I'm an American first and a member of my party much later. If we can't work together we're sunk. I'm tired of people using their religion, their ethnicity, their parents, their money or lack thereof, their education or lack thereof, their geographical location, etc., etc. as excuses as to why they have failed and the rest of us should pay to help them out. I am tired of everybody I hear on TV thinking they are ENTITLED to everything they want immediately without working for it [snip]. I'm tired of people who can't afford to have kids having them anyway and expecting the rest of us to support them. I'm tired of living in a country where we let a poor old man freeze to death in his house because he couldn't pay his electric bill but yet we can give billions to the richest among us who then take it and waste it

If this is the definition of a crochety old person then I'm one too.

 

[timer lady]

Mutt,

I don't see this as crochety .... I see more common sense that is very uncommon in our country today. A lack of accountability, a serious lack of empathy.

I'd like to believe there are more good people in this country/world.

 

[donna723]

Mutt, I agree with you completely! I guess that makes me 'crotchety' too. Maybe we can start a club!

If you listen to the news or read a newspaper lately, you can't help feeling this way. Nothing seems to make sense any more. You just summed up perfectly everything that I've been thinking for the last several years.

 

[hearts and roses]

I recently went a week without reading or watching any news (this really bugged H) and I have to tell you that I felt calmer. I am already having a difficult time coping, I don't need to read about it in the papers every day...the constant reminder. The other day easy child told me that my optimism is really starting to bug her. Haha - meanwhile, there I was thinking, "what optimism - I don't feel all that upbeat".

You're not crochety. It's just as Linda said - "A lack of accountability, a serious lack of empathy".

However, I too choose to believe that there are more people that there are more good people in this world than bad.

 

[muttmeister]

I, too, believe there a lot more good people than bad ones. It just seems that the good ones have been quiet lately and let the bad ones run amok among us. I did have some hope when the new administration took over; whether you agree with them or not, it seemed that there was more of a spirit of cooperation and optimism. However, that seems to be going down the drain fast.

 

[everywoman]

I am now officially a crochety old person.

 

[eekysign]

Naw, you're just sensible.

I do worry 'bout the future even more for my generation---sandwiched directly between the 'boomers and our difficult children. We've entered adult life into a world where upper management is working until they drop, so we've got no upward mobility. We also are the first generation absolutely REQUIRED (no ifs, ands, or buts!) to have a college degree for any of the "American Dream" sorts of jobs.....that only pay enough to help pay back our MASSIVE student loan debt.

In short, we're screwed. I worked through college and grad school, I've got a smaller debt load (only grad school!) than most kids my age. But I've been out of school for 3 years, and I'm just making enough to pay my loans/rent/bills every month, not much left over for savings/retirement. Not to mention we won't own homes anytime soon, with the mortgage market crash---none of us qualify, or can afford those kinda credit restrictions or down-payment demands. I just worry that with our generation's "prime working years" getting pushed back, I'll never be able to "catch up".

I'm not complaining, I live a happy life. But I really do worry that America is wasting a whole generation.

 

[Star*]

Not crotchety here - TOTALLY P.O'd -

This morning - I hear that the same executives that got BAILED out (by us as in me and you) took BONUSES - OUT OF THE MONEY THAT THEY RECEIVED IN BAILOUTS!!!!!!!!!

and as if that wasn't bad enough -

THE SAME IDIOTIC GOVERNMENTAL PEOPLE THAT GAVE THEM THE BAILOUT DIDN'T WRITE IN A CLAUSE THAT SPECIFIED THAT MONEY HAD TO GO FOR BILLS - NOT BILLIONAIRES....

THAT lit a fire under me this morning......

So then you hear on the news - "Well with this bail out we're (our govt) going to make sure there are those clauses in place.

FREAKING DUHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH - I can't even get a payday loan without promising the keys to my car, my first born, any gold teeth and my car - and these guys get a BILLIONS OF DOLLARS and NO ONE made sure they couldn't use it for a BONUS?????

Not crotchety Mutt - NOT AT ALL!

 

[DDD]

The experts attest to the fact that the majority of Americans receive all their news via television. It is not possible to understand what is going on correctly if you listen to pundits with agendas and "think" that is "news".
Selective snipets are used to influence public opinion. I have a sister and brother in law with post graduate degrees who are "foaming at the mouth" conservatives determined to make sure that husband and I "learn the truth" and "really understand" current issues. Neither one of them have read a blankin' book in years......her husband the big expert hasn't read a book since the l950's but he has 205 channels so "he knows".

I felt encouraged with the recent inauguration by the number of people who seemed to embrace the idea of "Change". A couple of newscasters commented that they were glad the Presidents speech didn't include any blatant rhetoric like JFK's "ask not was your Country can do for you..." As I looked at the young people I thought to myself now is the time to get this generation thinking about service to others. Service to others brings awareness and growth. My husband and I believe that Israel has a great idea with mandatory service. Remember...Esther's son has special needs but the Israeli army found a niche for him and he gave to his country. The Peace Corp of the '60's/'70's gave a way to participate for the USA.

I'm old as dirt. I hang on to faith in my fellow Americans even though it gets more difficult each decade. The future can not be determined by kids who are absorbed by a sense of self. Someone has to widen the scope beyond the immediate neighborhood, the immediate family. We can Change the future. I believe it. DDD

 

[donna723]

"I hear that the same executives that got BAILED out (by us as in me and you) took BONUSES - OUT OF THE MONEY THAT THEY RECEIVED IN BAILOUTS!!!!!!!!!"

Now Star, to be perfectly honest, not all of these were "bonuses" ... some of companies are referring to them as "retention incentives" now or whatever the heck they're calling them! What a lot of nerve! I guess they figure that nobody else is smart enough to figure out that these are really bonuses ... sneaky little devils!

So they're spending your hard-earned tax $$$ to "retain" the same greedy millionaire executives that ran these companies into the ground in the first place! Sure wouldn't want to lose them!

 

[Star*]

Donna -

THAT doesn't bother me as much as HOW IN THE BLUE FROSTED CHEERIO MOON PIE did our EXPERT CPA's that went OVER this "loan" with a fine tooth comb FORGET to include - NO BONUS clause or....er....RETENTION clause.

Yes - I get it - I'm a billionaire, so all the focus at that time was ON my jet. Don't take the jet to the meeting when you're asking for a bailout. But DO make sure that your greedy little fingers are still in the pie and hold your thumb over the line that says WE GET A BONUS -

What was the sense in making such a BIG deal about taking a jet to a meeting when you're going to be able to BUY another one with your RETENTION EARNINGS?
UGH

Has anyone seen the commercials for the USA channel ? They are about change and I LOVE THEM........

 

[TerryJ2]

LOL! I love the subject heading. If I didn't know you already, I'd think, "Hey, I like this person!"
I'm signing up for the Crochety Old Person Club.

by the way, in regard to politics, religion, et al, the answer isn't in either of those. It's in the idea of entitlement, and the lack of maturity. You are assuming, as I have for a long time, that people are capable and intelligent and should be able to run their own lives. Alas, that assumption no longer holds true.
by the way, your definition of a liberal matches my philosophy and I consider myself Libertarian, LOL! That's where labels will get you.

Like I said, sign me up.

 

[Shari]

Add me to the crochety club. If this is crochety, I'm right there with ya.

 

[rejectedmom]

OH YEAH I'm in the club. Just today I was asking husband why it is that I am encountering more and more people who are not using their brain. Are they trying to keep it pristine and unused? If so, for what? so at the end of their life it can be put into a box and buried? I am officially a crotchety old person. I have a hard time tolerating stupid people anymore.

 

[TerryJ2]

I am encountering more and more people who are not using their brain. Are they trying to keep it pristine and unused?

LOL! That's a good one.

I once had a horrid encounter with-a sales clerk and sarcastically blurted out, "Have you ever heard of customer service?"

She said, "No, why?"

"I thought not."

She genuinely looked confused.

LOL,

 

[skeeter]

Oh, I'm in too!

I don't watch the news, and I only listen to radio for the weather report (which usually is wrong) and the traffic report (which usually says there's a back up when I'm already stuck in it).

I try to keep up on news - I mean real information, not the 30 second entertainment soundbites that pass for news - on the internet from various sources including those not in the US. But I also tend to focus more on local than national and international. I try to make a change in my own little world, and hope that it will then move outwards to the rest.

But I agree with many of you - the whole entitlement issue really leaves me shaking my head. I was raised with the following:

Life is not fair. Get used to it.
If you want something in life, find some way to work for it.

So far, it's gotten me through the good times and the bad times. I am owed nothing in this life.

 

[KTMom91]

I guess I'm in the club as well.

I agree with Linda...that the lack of accountability and empathy is the underlying problem. I was talking to a friend about this recently, and I have some ideas on the subject.

Now, I'm generalizing here, so please, no one take offense. My generation was raised by parents who were schooled to "do their own thing." We were encouraged to be individuals and stand out, and conformity was seen as a negative. We had no unifying tragedy to bring our age group together; I was a year old when JFK was assassinated. Vietnam wasn't even on our radar; we were in elementary school. Programs came into our schools to build our self-esteem and tell us how great we were. Things like bad grades or misbehavior were glossed over, so we wouldn't feel badly about ourselves.

We had no one to be accountable to; we were individuals glorying in our individuality. We had no reason to learn empathy; there was nothing bad happening. Some of us learned these skills through tragedies in our lives; others continued through their lives thinking they were above all that, and their children learned the lack of accountability and empathy from their parents.

I think I'm done now.

Anyway, just my two cents.

 

[Star*]

Can we have Maxine as our club logo?