I looked up the definition of the word "curmudgeon" and low and behold it had a picture of Husband and The Man. In fact all the pictures of persons that could be describes as curmudgeons were pictures of men. No big surprise there folks !
What is it about men as they age? They get more and more set in their ways and they tend to find fault with EVERYTHING !!!!!!!
This morning as I was making breakfast for The Man and myself we were discussing what the day had in store for us. We had a young woman driving and hour and a half from a small MI town just north of here. She responded to the pottery items that we had posted on Marketplace just this past weekend. She said she was very interested and would like to drive down to see what we had for sale. When we posted the items, of which there were MANY, The Man asked $50 for the entire mess. It was a steal for whom ever bought it but the idea is to get rid of this stuff so price it to sell!
Our morning discussion continued along talking about where the woman should park her car when she got here, (NOT near the septic tank!), how she was going to get all the stuff out of the basement, (pottery stuff is HEAVY with a capital "H"), whom she might bring with her, (she told me she had kids so I told her to bring them with her. As a mom I knew it was easier to bring the kids than to have to get a babysitter). I was told " DO NOT let her look around the basement at anything else that is there", (there is NOTHING else left down there. We cleaned it all out earlier this summer, unless of course she is interested in some piles of trash or a couple of dead mice), and the most important thing in the mind of The Man . . . she should realize what a good deal she was getting and that she APPRECIATE and properly care for all that she was getting.
Instead of just keeping my mouth shut I had to comment on all these concerns. There are just some days that I can NOT let things go and this was one of those mornings. I looked at The Man and asked him if he knew what a curmudgeon was. He did not know so I gave him the definition. "A cranky old person who finds fault with everything". In stead of being delighted that we had someone interested in taking all this crap he was going to micromanage the entire exchange. I pointed out that I would;
A. Show the woman where to park,
B. She will manage to get the stuff from the basement to the car because she was a YOUNG woman and that this REALLY wasn't his problem. If she wanted the stuff she would figure out a way or even bring someone with her to help.
C. There is NOTHING else in the basement for her to look at. And
D. Of course she will appreciate what she is getting. She wouldn't be traveling an hour and a half if she wasn't serious about pottery. And more importantly than all that, if he wants to get rid of this stuff none of those thoughts are of his concern. Either you are selling this crap or not. Simple as that. Keep it OR get rid of it, his choice but he can NOT pick and choose who he thinks is worthy of obtaining this stuff or micro manage what they do with it. If you sell it, it's not yours to manage..
This issue seems to be a major problem for The Man. He does this ALL the time with his daughter and grand daughter. He is always telling them what to do and how to do it. I think that at 41 and 20 years old these two woman are old enough to make their own decisions. You may not agree with their decisions but it is theirs to make so SHUT THE "F" UP and let them live their lives.
Oops . . . . sorry, just got off on one of my pet peeves. Parents can be in charge until the kid leaves the house, whether at 16 or 47. Once they move out you have no say in their lives. I know I don't like people telling me what to do or how to do it so why would anyone else feel any differently. (I do hope my kids hear that loud and clear when they 're trying to put me into the nursing home!)
But back to the curmudgeon . . . When I told the man he was a curmudgeon he didn't have anything to say in his defense. He is getting worse and worse by the day. Part of that I think stems from the fact that we are quite used to each other and no longer have to be on our best behavior. That and his frustration in not being able to do all that he used to do without help.makes him cranky at times. Yesterday was a perfect example of that . . . The Man can no longer take care of this huge piece of property by himself. Just sitting on his lawn mower an riding up and down for 10 minutes is exhausting to him. (He is on oxygen the whole time but it stdill tires him out.) Because he has realized his limitations he has "hired" some neighbor boys to come over every so often to mow. I have tried to explain that the boys will show up when it is convenient for THEM. They have parents who need their sons to do chores around their own homes so unlike a landscaping company you can not have them on a schedule for 2;00 every other Thursday. They will show up when they can and if you don't like it then find someone else, other than me, to do the job.
The sound of the kids mowers coming up the driveway is like tossing gasoline on a fire. The Man hears the mower and immediately starts ranting about how he wanted the lawn cut on Thursday NOT Monday. (What the "H" difference will 3 days make. It might be raining on Thursday so let them cut it now if this works for them.) The kids can cut the lawn if we are here or not so any day of the week is fine.
As he is ranting about the day of the week The Man is making a mad dash to the window at the top of the entry way stairs. From there he can watch what the boys are doing and get excited over the direction they are cutting, the speed they are cutting, where they start and where they finish. My though is WHO CARES ! If the lawn is getting mowed and I am not the one having to spend 2 hours on a ride on mower I don't give a rats patootie about anything else. I just can't get The Man to see it that way.
And so the curmudgeon lives on . . . blood pressure rising by the day. I wonder if he will try to micro manage the doctors in the ER when he finally has a stroke or heart attack?
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