The Older I Get The...Hey You Damn Kids, Get Off My Lawn

As you get older, you don’t get wiser. You get irritable. My CliffNotes summary to this prompt is: Yup. The expanded version for those who want to be able to answer the extra credit questions is as follows.

Packing on the years guarantees you’ll be wiser. Aging means you’ll be exposed to a variety of topics and opinions. Many are profound enough to alter your thinking by unveiling different perspectives while some comprise the “SMH” category, i.e. Flat Earthers (who, ironically, have believers all across the globe). Maturing presents opportunities to shrink the expanse of your ignorance. That’s what growth is all about.

Over time, you’ll gain a better grasp of life’s intricacies which can be used to your advantage. That garners empowerment. The downside to this is that with great power comes great responsibility. And with great responsibility comes a diminishing tolerance for stupidity. Accept that this is part of the process. Opting out isn’t feasible.

A waning tolerance bridges old age “wiser” with old age “irritated.” I found the phrase: “I can explain it to you, but I can’t make you understand it,” helps lower my blood pressure when interacting with those who skipped the seminar on life’s intricacies to focus on the latest TikTok challenges posted by social media influencers.

Besides the formerly non-existent aches resulting from standing up (or sitting down or kneeling, walking, lifting, bending, opening jars, brushing my teeth, buttering toast) that causes irritability, there’s the frustration of watching adolescents make mistakes that could be averted if they asked for advice first. Especially when these mistakes are ones I made when I didn’t seek or listen to opinions from adults who cared about me when my brain was as malleable as Silly Putty.

Irritability also rises from the perspective that we had it easier or harder than the current generation. It was better back in our day. It was worse back in our day. That’s a source of irritation we can eliminate though. It’s a wrong comparison to make because without time travel, you’ll never see how a kid from 2025 would do back then or how we would do as a kid now. Still, it’s annoying listening to the plight of a teenager anguishing over the fact the internet connection is slow.

There is an obvious, unifying topic we can all agree on - The music from now can’t hold a candle to the music from the 70’s. Would you rather listen to Cardi B’s “W.A.P.” or Linda Ronstadt’s “Long, Long Time?” Bad Bunny or Bad Company? I know, these are real Sophie’s choices. Don’t rush, take as long as you need to think about your answer.

So, with pride I wear wisdom on one sleeve, irritability on the other. I appreciate the impact time has made on me to earn these distinctions. My hope for the youth of today is that they’ll live long enough to join me in the Old Farts Club. It’ll be nice to compare notes.