Occasionally, I hear myself sounding feel like a grumpy old man, and this got me thinking how you become a grumpy old man. I like to think that I'm quite an open minded cup half full type of person who embraces change as much as the next 30 year old so I reckon the key word is the 'old'.
By old, I'm talking experienced. 'Grumpy experienced man' sounds much better but I can't imagine it will catch on. The 'old' conjures up thoughts of senility, past his best, over the hill and a general impression of being not much use to society so can be tolerated - but ignored. An old man with little experience of life, (and by this I mean the couch potato types who possibly have had a relatively small number of jobs, lived in discreet areas for all their lives etc.) would probably not be known as the grumpy old mad because they don't feel as aggrieved as others who might have had a much more varied lifestyle and who, in later years, lament the passing of these times as they sink into a more passive way of life and let anyone know how good it was in the old days if they care to listen.
It's just a theory though.
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