Is it a grumpy world?

[Rico]

It seems for awhile, people seem to be increasingly grumpy and angry in the world.  They seem to have no patience and only seem to dwell on the bad.  I try to maintain a positive attitude but lately it is becoming more difficult when confronted with all I can say are a bunch of sour pusses out there.  I see this in public places, at work, on the road, in stores, etc.  Am I just going a bit crazy?  Does anyone else notice an increasing unhappy state out there?

P.S.  I'm going to record an Attic of my Mind soon about this.

[billybob476]

I think it goes through cycles. At times it seems everything is going badly and other times all is well. We're starting to get into winter, days are shorter, it's getting colder. That doesn't help people feel generally happy. Also it seems that times are not going very well in the US at the moment. Economy is slow, markets are down etc. If people keep hearing bad things on the news, it makes them feel bad.

So overall maybe you're right, but things will turn positive soon enough. They always do.

[Duffster]

In my opinion that answer to your question is ....YES!!! I also am a very positive person. I think we all bitch and moan some, it's just the way things are. But it amazes me how rude and grumpy society as a whole is becoming.

I sit across the row from a guy who seems to be angry every day he comes in. He is always upset by drivers on the road, blah, blah, blah. Now I drive almost as far as this guy every day, and I rarely have any problems. Of course I take my time, don't really speed, and enjoy my drive listening to fun things like Treks in Sci-fi.

And don't get me started on the rampant rudeness on the internet...sheesh.

Life is sooooo much better if you just calm down, worry about yourself instead of finding faults with others, and just enjoy yourself.

Ok I feel like an old man now.... GET OFF MY YARD!!!


Duffster

[Rico]

I've been meaning to bring this topic up for awhile.  Hopefully to come to some answers.  I guess it's just hard sometimes when you feel like you are being nice and kind to someone only to have them chew your head off.  LOL! 

Sometimes I really don't think people appreciate how good some of them have it.  They always seem to whine about someone who has "more."  I say if you want more out of life, then go get it!

[billybob476]

Ha, talk to my wife. She works in human resources at a meat processing plant. Sometimes she goes up to people working on the line to ask them question and they won't even tell her their name! Their response is "I don't need to tell you my name! I know my rights!" or "I don't remember today..."

Some nights she comes home a little worse for the wear.

[Rico]

So let me share a related thing.  My wife Lynn is a high school language teacher.  Yesterday, some idiot kid tossed a plastic water bottle (with water in it still) in her door from the hallway during passing classes and it hit her in the head!  She's ok but not very happy today to go back.  Generally the school she is at has been good, but little things like this, kids getting in fights, etc. seem to be cropping up more and more lately.  It's pretty sad when you are trying to teach the future generation and they do crap like this.  I told her to remember that most of the kids are really good, it's just unfortunate that a few bad eggs mess things up for the rest.

[Jen]

I used to regularly visit design forums but the jerks there liked to pick at each other and it annoyed me so I stopped visiting.

People here in Texas are generally jovial, but we're also pretty good at faking smiles, so who knows.

You may have something there Billybob. We have a few people who work for us who moved from up north (Ohio NJ NY). They've mentioned many times that they were shocked at how nice people are here. They think it's because the sun shines more and it's not as crowded.

I have to admit it has become increasingly harder to get people to look me in the eye, acknowledge my existence, smile at or use the commonly accepted courtesies.

My home town is more friendly/polite than the town I live in now. I think the "attitude" you guys are referring to may also have to do with the size of a city. In my hometown, a man would offer his seat to a lady...open the door for her...take off his hat when he entered the room or when a procession of cars going to a funeral would pass. People say "yes ma'am/sir, no ma'am/sir", "please" and "thank you".... Oh and "hello." In some of the bigger towns you may be lucky if you get the finger.

The town I live in now is a college town. Lots of people come here from other cities and states. So I guess that may have something to do with it. Once, a guy offered me his umbrella as we waited for the bus. Another guy gave me his seat on a crowded bus...I was shocked but thanked him and suggested he keep it for being so thoughtful. Unfortunately, those types of events didn't happen very often.

Aside from the current political climate...I think that people aren't teaching their kids to be courtious anymore.  There seems to be a general lack of respect and gratitude these days. They think they're owed everything...they need to go visit a poor community where people barely scrape by.

[billybob476]

I saw the same thing Jen. I just moved from Ottawa (our nation's capital, a small city of less then 1 million people) to Toronto (biggest city in Canada). Ottawa definitely had a "small town" feel to it. Because most of the employment is from the federal government, most people had things in common, knew a lot oft he same people etc. In Toronto I am one of the masses.

It's not that bad here, I've seen people give up their seats on the subway, say excuse me etc but it is defintiely a bit grumpier and in a rush then Ottawa was.

[jedijeff]

I have found people are more grumpier as well, and it seems to get more and more each year. I think it is western society that is pushing people a lot harder. The company I work for seem to push people hard, and has a really high overtime expectation, which leaves little time to enjoy life, I suspect other companies are the same. I think as people get more and more grumpy they just make each other more miserable, and problems people have at the office spill out to the outside world.  Last weekend, my wife who comes from China had some of her classmates over for lunch. I was amazed how happy they were, laughing and having a good time, and everyone a smile on their face. They are all new to Canada, and do not have much yet. I think the cost of living plays into it as well, things are so much more expensive these days, people buy much more on credit, and more at stake if they lose their jobs. I think a lot of bad moods come from that, as they are dealing with a lot more stress from having to maintain what they have accrued over life in terms of material possesions. I am one to talk as I own a lot of stuff, but I can see where living a more simple life would change ones mood as they do not have the burden of maintaining their life.

[Geekyfanboy]

I too am a positive person, I am one of those "nice" guys who always seems to finish last. I agree 100% that the world is getting grumpier and more rude. I don't have a reason why this is happening. Could be what others have said, weather, politics, religion, war, or just plain old human nature.

Back in 2001 I did the California AIDS Ride from San Fransisco to Los Angeles. It was a seven day ride and at the end of every day we would camp in tents along with path. Those were the best seven days of my life. The riding was tough and tiring, but the camps were magical. Everyone was there because they wanted to help raise money or ride in the memory of lost loved ones. There was so much love and respect for everyone, it was a Utopia. Strangers helping strangers, it didn't matter what you looked like, sexual orientation, who your worshiped, nothing, we were all human being doing this good deed together. When the ride was over I went back to my normal life but I was a changed man. I had tasted what the world 'could' be like and I had a hard time adjusting back to the "rude" world that we live in. I remember being in a Walmart three days after the ride and I was walking around and there were people grumpy, upset, yelling at there kids, bumping into me and just being rude and I felt my self start to shake. I turned to my friend and said I have to get out here and quickly did so.

Ever since then I have noticed how unhappy this world is. I think this is why I enjoy escaping into movies and TV. I enjoy those few hours of pure entertainment before coming back to reality. I try and live my life as positive as I can. I always looking on the bright side of thing, but sometimes it's tough to do with so much hatred and unhappiness.

Maybe one day this world will change but for right now all I can do is enjoy the life that was given to me to it's fullest.

[Jen]

As an aside, Wal-mart has that effect on me too Kenny! I think it's universal.  :D

[billybob476]

Wal-mart, you will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy.

[jedijeff]

Yes, the Walmarts up here in Canada are the same way, crowded and people yelling and all over the place. A few weeks back I was at one and had to leave, as it was to much for me. The self serve checkout has helped a little bit, but I pretty much limit myself to either really early in the morning or about an hour before it closes.

[Rico]

Wal-mart, you will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy.

Well said.  I agree completely.  What a yucky place.

Oh, get this everyone.  Lynn just called me.  A kid tried to toss another water bottle in from the hall again today but got caught this time.  More than one kid seems to be doing it but they caught one of them.  The kid isn't even one of her students.  Which I thought would be the case.  They were just screwing around and being idiots.  They suspended the kid they caught for 10 days for assault.  Woo-hoo!  These schools don't mess around with bad kids anymore.  Personally I'd rather see him scrubbing every floor every night after school but being gone is ok for now.  They are still trying to find his buddy.  But I have a feeling the water bottle tossing is over.

[billybob476]

Before I left Ottawa, there was a rash of kids calling in fake reports of people with guns at various area high schools. The police can't ignore any call and every time it happens a school gets closed for the day. They've caught 2 or 3 of the kids responsible but it keeps happening.

Not sure what the consequences are but I know they are treating the bogus reports as criminal acts.