Yes I’m cranky sometimes but it’s not my fault!

I acknowledge being an aging baby boomer that at times I get a little cranky and frustrated with the whatever attitude I see too often around me. I know that I too was once young and somewhat impulsive when it came to living for the moment and throwing caution to the wind. Yes I wake up in the morning with a sense of get up and go but am surprised when the teen or 20 something living with us has this look of what in the world are you doing at 5am or even 10am.

My mom was the one who taught me the advantages of being a person that got up and started going early regardless of how I felt understanding that to make my life count I needed to do the little things in life well. I understood from a young age that the big things in life wouldn’t happen if I didn’t do the normal routine well. So it shouldn’t be any surprise that the cranky side of most aging baby boomers or older seniors is from seeing a younger generation waiting for life to happen.  It doesn’t take too long to figure out that there isn’t any silver platter I’m going to get or if I found the end of the rainbow there definitely isn’t a pot of gold!

So here’s the rub that usually makes me cranky or a little touchy. I will often ask someone that is living with us to just clean up after themselves so that after they finish cooking I can walk through the kitchen in a short of period of time and not see any trace of them having been there. The difficulty is when someone truly believes that coming back the next day to clean is the norm. I can remember when my son first considered moving out to live with some friends and discovered that they too believed that there was a fairy godmother that came each day to do dishes, clean the bathroom and do the laundry.

I confess to the fact that I have made many ‘stupid’ decisions in my life. I have to admit up front that my wife the English Professor makes me feel guilty if I ever use the word stupid or hate directed towards anyone. I get this but I still at times want to either scream or just ruff someone up when they assume or make the lame excuse I was never taught how to do dishes or clean up the bathroom.  My response which can seem somewhat cranky is can’t you learn from just opening your eyes to see how the rest of us do it? Do you have to be told what to do when you are 25?

I know that being too serious or not having a humorous flair can catch someone off guard and make them think that they have landed in ‘Boot Camp’ with me being the Drill Sargent. My dad was the Air Force Officer who taught me that respect and listening go a long ways. The reality today is that too many have never been shown what it means to respect their elders and then listening is a lost art gone by the wayside through our social media addiction.

Here’s my advice for others and myself. I will meet you halfway if you will choose to respect a little bit more and attempt to listen so then I won’t be as cranky and more likely to clean up your mess one more time with the hope that you will learn this timely lesson. Otherwise I will be cranky and have a violent reaction to ‘stupid’ people that don’t show respect and ignore the advice of their elders. (Anne please forgive me for saying stupid.)