Are We More Irritable as We Age?
November 15, 2015
Our good friend Frank asked this question over dinner recently. He was responding to the exasperation I had expressed in two recent blog posts about a couple of non-life-threatening annoyances.
Here’s my take about why we might be more irritable:
1. Our time is more precious since we have less of it left.
2. We remember when "service" meant service.
3. We (or at least I) have less patience with incompetence and false claims of service. For example, the company that mucked up our heating system answers the phone with a message that says something like, "We exist to give you exemplary service."
4. Finally, there is Jenny Joseph’s poem that says, "When I am old, I shall wear purple. With a red hat that doesn’t go and doesn’t suit me" that gives us older folks license to be outrageous in many ways, not all of which are polite.
Frank may have nailed it with this response:
“Yes, and there is something more visceral that arises from your analysis, or from another source. Could it be, unconsciously, the resistance to death that is somewhere in us? And its ultimate finality pisses us off.”
Also, pain makes us less congenial and less willing to tolerate life's inevitable annoyances.
Posted by: Florence | November 15, 2015 at 07:31 AM
Insightful comment made by your friend Frank. Unconsciously, we may be all ticked off that time is closing in on us.Just speaking for myself, I have so little of it, in spite of all of the promises of a restful, luxurious retirement!
Posted by: Still the Lucky Few | November 16, 2015 at 07:58 AM
I've returned to this post, because it's kept coming back into my mind, in particular your friend Frank's remark. I think it's very insightful.
Thank you for your blog; it is always very readable and leaves me thinking, as well as touching me in unexpected ways.
Posted by: Juliet | November 27, 2015 at 02:55 AM