Grumpy old man (The things I hate)

[Bper]

I'm not sure if I'm turning into a grumpy old man, but there are so many things I hate about the way the world is today. When I was younger, I used to listen to my parents and grandparents complain about how things had changed, like the price of bread going up by a penny or the music of the day being too loud. I used to think, "I'm never going to be like that." And here we are today, where most things give me the hump. For example: politics, petrol prices, the NHS, food prices, non-existent customer service, etc. But what's really got me is booking a holiday.After feeling like I’ve climbed Mount Everest, I finally managed to book a holiday today. But why has it become so difficult? By the time you're done, you need another holiday just to recover from the stress! While the internet has given us direct access to hotels and airlines worldwide, in many ways, it has made the process more complicated than simply popping into a local travel agent. Am I really turning into a grumpy old man, or are things really as bad as I think they are?Now, where's that bottle of brandy?😠

[Haliotis]

Bob, it is the business world that changes things.  And the people who generally respond to advertising ploy are the younger generation.  These ploys are set to appeal to the younger ones - they would not tempt us older folk by their brash commercialism - so we older ones who are forced into following the “new” ways get moulded into grumpy old men.  Once caught in the trap, I don’t know how you can escape.

[dannyboy413]

51 minutes ago, Bper said:

Am I really turning into a grumpy old man, 

Yes

52 minutes ago, Bper said:

or are things really as bad as I think they are? Now, where's that bottle of brandy?

Yes

I am with you on both counts Bob. My wife has mentioned the phrase 'grumpy old man' a few times in the last couple of years. However, I feel that it is sometimes justified. My main gripe is customer service, (or lack of). Just one example - I ordered something from the UK last week. It arrived in Ireland on Monday. Tuesday, I received an email from the Irish Customs telling me I have to pay Irish VAT. Okay, I paid it on line within an hour. I received an acknowledgement shortly after. It took two days for it to get from Customs to the Irish postal service. On checking today, I find that it has arrived at the sorting office today, five days after arriving in Ireland. Now I realise in the grand scheme of things, five days is not  a long time, but with todays technology, why has it taken five days? If I am lucky, it will be delivered Monday ..... or maybe Tuesday.

I'm off to look for the whiskey bottle! 😉

[AndyN01]

I'm sure I'm a member also.

Are "we" just grumpy because with age comes knowledge and experience and so much that is just blindingly obvious or simple and straightforward to "us" seems to be impossible or incredibly complicated for no apparently good reason.

[Bper]

15 hours ago, Haliotis said:

Bob, it is the business world that changes things.  And the people who generally respond to advertising ploy are the younger generation.  These ploys are set to appeal to the younger ones - they would not tempt us older folk by their brash commercialism - so we older ones who are forced into following the “new” ways get moulded into grumpy old men.  Once caught in the trap, I don’t know how you can escape.

Absolutely Albert, you’ve hit the nail on the head! The young’uns are like magpies, always chasing after the next shiny thing, while we’re dragged along like grumpy passengers on a never ending journey to 'trendy' town. No wonder we’ve turned into grumpy old men,every time you blink, there’s some newfangled craze that makes you yearn for the days of a decent cuppa and a quiet sit down.😂 Trying to escape the grumpiness is like trying to avoid the rain in a British summer it’s inevitable! Might as well embrace it and start perfecting our 'back in my day' rants but doesn't mean to say we like it.☹️

[Haliotis]

I have recently become a Great-Great-Grandad, so I must be well into the “Grumpy old man” bracket!

[Bper]

15 hours ago, AndyN01 said:

I'm sure I'm a member also.

Are "we" just grumpy because with age comes knowledge and experience and so much that is just blindingly obvious or simple and straightforward to "us" seems to be impossible or incredibly complicated for no apparently good reason.

Hi Andy,Welcome to the club! I reckon you’ve nailed it.we’re grumpy because we’ve been around the block a few times, and what’s supposed to be 'groundbreaking' now is just old news to us. What we see as plain common sense, they treat like it’s some sort of secret code hidden in a manual nobody bothers to read. It’s like watching someone try to reinvent the wheel, but with 27 extra steps and an app to go with it. No wonder we’re grumpy we’re just miles ahead of the game!"☹️

[Bper]

6 minutes ago, Haliotis said:

I have recently become a Great-Great-Grandad, so I must be well into the “Grumpy old man” bracket!

Congratulations it sounds like you’re officially a card carrying member of the 'Grampy Grumpy Old Men' club! At this rate, we might need to start handing out badges. Don’t worry, it’s a prestigious position,full of wisdom, a deep appreciation for the simple things, and a special knack for grumbling about the latest fads. Welcome aboard grampy.🙁

[Bper]

15 hours ago, dannyboy413 said:

Yes

Yes

I am with you on both counts Bob. My wife has mentioned the phrase 'grumpy old man' a few times in the last couple of years. However, I feel that it is sometimes justified. My main gripe is customer service, (or lack of). Just one example - I ordered something from the UK last week. It arrived in Ireland on Monday. Tuesday, I received an email from the Irish Customs telling me I have to pay Irish VAT. Okay, I paid it on line within an hour. I received an acknowledgement shortly after. It took two days for it to get from Customs to the Irish postal service. On checking today, I find that it has arrived at the sorting office today, five days after arriving in Ireland. Now I realise in the grand scheme of things, five days is not  a long time, but with todays technology, why has it taken five days? If I am lucky, it will be delivered Monday ..... or maybe Tuesday.

I'm off to look for the whiskey bottle! 😉

Hi David,Blimey, that’s a right old palaver, If I didn’t know better, I’d say the postal system’s been on a leisurely holiday. Five days just to get from Customs to the sorting office? At this rate, you might need that whiskey just to cope with the snail’s pace of modern service. Here’s to hoping your parcel makes it before you run out of drinks. I take it's Irish whiskey.☹️

[First_Toyota]

Sign me up! 

To add to the list, why does everything now have to be done via an ‘app.’ Car parking for instance, just let me put a £1 coin in a machine for the love of God!

Part of the problem may be that technology has changed the world so much in the last thirty years. As somebody brought up in a ‘pre-internet’ and ‘pre-mobile’ age, I reflect that my upbringing in the 1970s wasn’t that different to my Father in the 1930s. Equally his world wasn’t THAT different to his Father and so on. Yes, aeroplanes, cars, telephones…but the structure of society wasn’t so different.

Compare 1990 with today and the same cannot be said imho. I increasingly feel like a dinosaur 🦖 waiting for the asteroid! 

[flash22]

That's life go with the flow or get swept under - the world is a different place to what it was even 5 years ago, Common sense and courtesy are not that common anymore, 90% of people are just out for them selfs

[Haliotis]

In our day, advances in technology happened slowly.  Now, technology is advancing rapidly on so many fronts that even the youngsters haven to abandon many hours of natural relaxation to keep up in the race.  But they are paying the price - they have no time to be normal human beings.

Compared to today, when we were youngsters we had none of the “luxuries” that modern kids have, but I would not  swap my youth for what today’s kids see as normal relaxation.

[Cyker]

I dunno, I thought that too but when I've actually looked at the time frame of things, esp. in the computing sector, the pace isn't that different (If anything with EV's it's been slower  ) but I've definitely noticed I perceive things happening faster.

I still remember a year felt like ages, but now it's like the blink of an eye - I can't believe I've had my Mk4 over 3 years already - It doesn't feel like I've had it that long at all!!!  

 

I do think life is more stressful - Every couple I know, both work and have barely any time to spend with their kids when they're home, with their parents often being drafted in to look after them, pick them up from school etc. or taking it in turns with other parents at the school.

A big contrast to when I was a kid, where usually only one worked full time and the other could take more time with the kids.

Even kids have more work now - Homework was an unusual thing that only happened now and then at primary level, but nowadays it seems to be the norm, even starting as low as year 1 or occasionally even reception level! Not so much time to be kids, and then they go home and are glued to TV or tablets.

 

Buying a house is my current stress point, although maybe this is more of a London problem - When I hear people used to buy the houses in areas I'd like to be for £17,000 and now they're over a million I just can't get my head around it!

And these are just normal-looking 2 or 3-bed houses!

I don't know how people are able to afford that kind of money, or even why - If I was going to sped a million quid on a house I wouldn't want one of those grotty looking houses if I had the choice!! But apparently people are paying that!? Madness!

 

[First_Toyota]

51 minutes ago, Cyker said:

time and the other could take more time with the kids.

Even kids have more work now - Homework was an unusual thing that only happened now and then at primary level, but nowadays it seems to be the norm, even starting as low as year 1 or occasionally even reception level! Not so much time to be kids, and then they go home and are glued to TV or tablets.

It seems to me that education used to be for the sake of learning - for those that wanted it - whereas now we’ve become obsessed with training our children rather than educating them.

What baffles me are the contradictions I see everywhere. Youngsters are, in many ways, far more accepting and far more tolerant than we were. They have a broader view of the world than just their own school friends, families and local area. Their world has become a lot smaller. But…God forbid you hold an opinion different from their ‘accepted’ narrative! Then you’ll find they aren’t actually tolerant at all 🤣.

The other one that springs to mind is the environment. Most younger people I come across are - quite rightly - concerned about climate (as, I might add, are most people of my generation). However, their concern doesn’t usually translate into behaviour change. They buy consumer goods from (mainly) China, fast fashion, the latest gadget etc. and see no contradiction that their behaviour could possibly be at odds with their wider concerns and beliefs.

 

[Mjolinor]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4gvkvlp208o

That is what modern customer service gets you. Absolutely tragic.

 

[Bper]

3 hours ago, Mjolinor said:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4gvkvlp208o

That is what modern customer service gets you. Absolutely tragic.

 

Hi John,This is truly tragic, and our hearts go out to the mother, who looked completely drained. However, I don't understand why, if you have such a serious allergic reaction to something like cow's milk, you would go anywhere where you couldn't see exactly what was being put in your drink or food. These stories come up from time to time, and it always ends with promises that lessons will be learned and assurances that steps will be taken to prevent it from happening again. I'm sorry, but I wouldn't trust any of these places, especially when the consequences could be fatal.

[Bper]

6 hours ago, First_Toyota said:

Sign me up! 

To add to the list, why does everything now have to be done via an ‘app.’ Car parking for instance, just let me put a £1 coin in a machine for the love of God!

Part of the problem may be that technology has changed the world so much in the last thirty years. As somebody brought up in a ‘pre-internet’ and ‘pre-mobile’ age, I reflect that my upbringing in the 1970s wasn’t that different to my Father in the 1930s. Equally his world wasn’t THAT different to his Father and so on. Yes, aeroplanes, cars, telephones…but the structure of society wasn’t so different.

Compare 1990 with today and the same cannot be said imho. I increasingly feel like a dinosaur 🦖 waiting for the asteroid! 

1970s upbringing,Action Man, Scalextric,Chopper Bike, Spirograph, Space Hoppers,Clackers Raleigh Grifter,super ball,I remember them well.😃

[First_Toyota]

22 minutes ago, Bper said:

1970s upbringing,Action Man, Scalextric,Chopper Bike, Spirograph, Space Hoppers,Clackers Raleigh Grifter,super ball,I remember them well.😃

Action Man, where all the references were WW2! #differenttimes 😂

I had a ‘chopper’ bike but it was a Puch rather than a Raleigh. 

Whilst we’re in the 1970s…

- Angel Delight

- Black Forest Gateaux

- The three day week (candles everywhere,  all the time!)

- The Imperial measurement system (still don’t really understand metric)

- The epic Summer of 1976

- Bright colours and patterns everywhere 

- Hair ‘sideboards’

- Slade…brilliant then, brilliant now!

 

[Haliotis]

7 minutes ago, Bper said:

1970s upbringing,Action Man, Scalextric,Chopper Bike, Spirograph, Space Hoppers,Clackers Raleigh Grifter,super ball,I remember them well.😃

1940s upbringing:  Meccano set, Hornby train set (All secondhand of course). Making model boats and airplanes out of scrap wood and other materials.  Books from junior library - Biggles a favourite.  Marbles, Skill of winning tobacco playing cards, Rounders on the park, Gathering and playing conkers.  We all had to devise our own forms of recreation and, generally, we were a happy lot who never claimed to be bored.

[Primus1]

My dad gave me an empty box for my birthday….he told me it was an action man deserter..

[Bper]

1 hour ago, Haliotis said:

1940s upbringing:  Meccano set, Hornby train set (All secondhand of course). Making model boats and airplanes out of scrap wood and other materials.  Books from junior library - Biggles a favourite.  Marbles, Skill of winning tobacco playing cards, Rounders on the park, Gathering and playing conkers.  We all had to devise our own forms of recreation and, generally, we were a happy lot who never claimed to be bored.

1960s upbringing,Action Man, Scalextric,Tri-ang Railways Meccano,Corgi Toys, Dinky Toys,Britains Toy Soldiers,Spirograph,Fuzzy Felt, Space Hoppers,Thunderbirds, Chad Valley toys, Subbuteo,Ker-Plunk,Monopoly,Tri-ang Pedal Cars,Magic Roundabout, Johnny Seven O.M.A. (One Man Army). Simple times.😃

[Primus1]

All these toys were wonderful…then we discovered girls…and it went downhill from there 

[Bper]

21 minutes ago, Primus1 said:

All these toys were wonderful…then we discovered girls…and it went downhill from there 

How true and I always thought Sindy was a doll😭

[Primus1]

2 minutes ago, Bper said:

How true and I always thought Sindy was a doll😭

You can buy them…complete with puncture repair kit..

[Cyker]

Hmm, my era was Meccano, Construx, Lego, HotWheels, MicroMachines, Transformers, Thundercats, Fighting Fantasy and Choose Your Own Adventure, Skateboards, BMX Bikes, then my parents bought a Commodore 64 and that became a whole 'nother world  

The music from that scene alone was a revelation for me, with people like Chris Huelsbeck, Ben Daglish, Rob Hubbard, Matt Grey, Jeroen Tel, Martin Galway, Tim Folin and who knows how many others that are virtually unknown to the mainstream but created some incredible music on such primitive machines that are still stuck in my brain!