You all know the image of the cantakerous old fart who is annoyed by everything - how much is it based on reality?
For me it definitely is; more and more things annoy me that wouldn’t have even registered on the pissed-off-ometer of my younger self. Maybe I should find this ‘chill pill’ everyone keeps telling me to take.
Anyway, that’s just me. How 'bout you?
My father was like that. The older he got the angrier he became at nothing, but myself at 68 I believe I am a lot more mellow than 25 years ago. Of course I live presently on a tropical island and get my social security check without having to work and argue with employees any more.
It’s weird – at the same time that I realize we all have our struggles and are just trying the best we can, I have a more hair-trigger temper than I used to. My mom said when she turned 40 she realized she didn’t have to take people’s shit anymore; maybe that’s what’s happening.
In some ways I am more mellow and understanding of weakness. At the same time I have a clearer picture of what I don’t like and more comfort in speaking my mind.
I see it happening to a couple of friends, both men, that I know!
I hate bloody internet polls. Haven’t you people anything better to do??
I’m much mellower now than I was as a young man.
Of course, the medication has helped greatly.
For the most part, I’ve moved past worrying about changing the world, so my ire in general has decreased. Now, I’m only concerned with keeping my stress as low as possible and being (and making others) happy.
On the other hand, I have less tolerance for obvious bullshit, like the trolls who populate the comment sections of certain websites. Life’s too short to be sucked into drama just for the hell of it.
You missed “No, but I’m less inhibited about showing it.”
ETA: Or “Yes, and I’m less inhibited about showing it.”
Fuck no! Same ole asshole I always was. 
What (some of them) said. I’m overall less prone to get angry, but when I do get angry, I’m more inclined to express it. It’s something of a work in progress; I came from a home where you didn’t display anger, ever. It was the prime sin. Literally the only time my parents expressed anger with each other was a few days before they announced their divorce. I’m still learning that I can express anger without losing people over it, but it’s a really hard lesson for me. Of course, I’m only 39 and 11/12ths, so there’s still plenty of learning to do.
I am waaaay more mellow now. I never was too crazy angry but I definitely let everything go now. I only seem to get angry at other people getting angry for no reason.
But I’m only in my mid-30s. I’ve still got a ways to go to become cantankerous. Maybe it’ll happen.
That’s pretty much my thoughts- I’m a lot more tolerant of weakness and inability, but I’m doubly (at least) intolerant of rinky-dink bullshit, toadying and pointless bureaucracy.
Yes, but mainly because there is a general increase in things to be angry about. At the same time, I’ve gotten more stoic, and learned to live with things that make one angry, or minimize my lifestyle to reduce my exposure to things that might make me angry.
Friggin kids with their friggin intertubes.
I get a bit more grumpy now, but not angry. Less surprises me but usually not in a good way. On the other hand, I’m a bit more sentimental about things I was indifferent about before.
My grumpiness is mainly due to physical and mental deterioration. When I was in my 20s, I called in to work sick if I felt as lousy as I now do every day. I can neither see nor hear very well which is frustrating, I’m sore and stiff a lot, and my mental ability to cope with stress and complexity is diminishing. Essentially, I feel like just getting out of bed every day is difficult enough that I’m having progressively less patience with any additional burdens.
I grew up with a father who seemed to have one strong emotion - anger, and a mother who didn’t know how to deal with or express her frustrations, so sometimes she would take it out on us kids.
In later years I saw them both mellow, my father especially, as he got old enough and realized he would never be poor or hungry again (carryovers from spending his teen years in the Depression).
So I think I have learned from this. I used to be pretty angry myself, but when I realized I was channeling my father, I fought it, and have made big improvements. Then, over time, I have realized that many of the things that I used to get mad about just aren’t important enough to get worked up about.
So, short answer, I have become softer and more mellow as I have gotten older.
I’ve probably begun to understand the things that used to upset me in the past and therefore don’t get as angry as I used to. I can also avoid or deflect certain things that upset me.
That’s not to say I don’t think things are sometimes wrong and that I don’t get upset about them, just that I pick battles more carefully and have a more subtle and careful way of dealing with them rather than blowing my top.
When I was young things were so very black and white, now that I am old gray is more than just my hair. Nothing is cut and dried any more , and not much deserves my anger either.
