Adulthood has turned me into a cynical, miserable hag

Granted, some of the toughest, bravest and wisest people I've met have been old enough to be my parent, some of the most bitter, hateful, and narrow-minded people have also been individuals who, with all their years to explore the world, have a personal history that leaves much to be desired.

The economy's shit. Kids spend a lot of time on cell phones. All of the LGBT activism, nose piercings and tweeting can be really intimidating. I get it. But it strikes me as a bit short-sighted to metaphorically tell people to get off your lawn or to lament the relative lack of firm handshakes and "yes ma'am" when you were high as a kite in your 1975 Chevy Camaro Super Sport (fully loaded, fully paid off), having wildly unprotected sex and basically coasting through a bank note on a house while your textbooks would only cost you a single paycheck, if that.

When I see kids cutting me off in traffic, giving me a limp handshake or loudly entering class late, I don't really think "kids these days." I think "what did your parents teach you?" Bad manners and poor work ethic don't come out of nowhere, and it's not fair to assume that younger people are intrinsically lazy.

EDIT: I remmeber having this conversation with a grizzled old military veteran at a party. He said "shit, man. Life's too short to be pissed off all the damn time. I'm broke and my knees are shot, but I'm old as shit and I love every second of it."

I'm confident he was pretty baked when he said that, but it was a thoughtful observation nonetheless. It puts a smile on my face when I think about it. I see some people both close to my age and much older than me who are just so unnecessarily hateful. I get customers like that, and I just want to ask them if they're trying to hasten their trip the grave.

edited 1st Sep '15 12:37:07 AM by Aprilla

Also, regarding the other things... I guess part of it is that old people have grown up in a value system that was very different from ours, and keep judging things and people with that value system while not acknowledging it means nothing now.

For example, I'm a programmer and now that's a very requested and appreciated job, but just a decade ago I would have been looked with suspicious by old people wondering why I don't find a "real" job instead of "messing around with computers".

Or, which is a more sad and toxic topic, a lot of my friends are struggling to get a decent and stable job and several jerkass relatives are telling them that it's somehow their fault and refusing to acknowlegde how the economy and job market have completely changed since they found their jobs.

edited 1st Sep '15 12:59:05 AM by Cozzer

Was that Mark, or Teufel?

That’s the epitome of privilege right there, not considering armed nazis a threat to your life. - Silasw

@Cozzer and Aprilla

Seeing those posts made realized that I have no time to be cynical. I am somewhat of a cynical person but it actually has more to with realizing that the world isn't as rainbows and sunshine as I thought. I also realize that see that attitude in my self as I sometimes I wonder why I even bothered at all. I am not as idealistic as I sue to be but I am not as cynical as I thought. I want to be a realist.

"We are just like Irregular Data. And that applies to you too, Ri CO. And as for you, Player... your job is to correct Irregular Data."

I consider myself an optimistic realist.

I'm not blind to what sort of shithole my life and surroundings can be but I am always trying to have a productive game plan on how to deal with it or what I need to do to at least in my control and end, do to make it the best possible.

"Psssh. Even if you could catch a miracle on a picture any person would probably delete it to make space for more porn." - Aszur

Blue: nah, that sounds far too optimistic for something I'd say.

These days, my outlook is less cynical, more slowly consuming nihilistic despair. Ah well. Life goes on, long after the thrill of living has gone. May be a line from a John Mellancamp song, but it fits my outlook at the moment.

edited 1st Sep '15 7:08:46 PM by MarkVonLewis

Does the quote 'expect the worse but hope for the best' apply here in this case?

"We are just like Irregular Data. And that applies to you too, Ri CO. And as for you, Player... your job is to correct Irregular Data."

I used to be idealistic myself. And then shit happened. And now I am already pretty cynical and I am not even close to old yet. Still there is somethings that make me look past the negativity.

edited 1st Sep '15 7:10:29 PM by Bleddyn

GAP: More or less. Though the hope part has a poor record of showing up for work, lol.

edited 1st Sep '15 7:10:28 PM by MarkVonLewis

My best friend was a nihilist. I think he rubbed off on me

Hey, nihilism is not sad or pessimist! There's the whole "the world makes no sense, now go play in it" version of it. :P

To GAP: How I see it is that being optimist/pessimist has little to do with realism. Let's put it this way: realism is the ability to assess with precision that the glass contains exactly 50% water. After you've done that, you decide if it's half-full or half-empty, and that's optimism or pessimism.

A non-realist optimist person sees an half-full glass and decides it's 90% full because it seems full in his eyes, while a non-realist pessimist person sees an half-empty glass and decides since it's not full, it might as well be empty so it's 0%. These are both unhealthy habits.

I don't know if it makes sense, but the important thing is not letting your emotional perception of the half-full or half-empty glass influence too much your view of how much liquid is in the glass.

Oh no I have no problems with nihilists. My best was probably one of the best people I have ever met. I met him during a really dark time in my life. I was so far down in the dumps that I nearly resorted to self harming and worse. He was one of the few people that approached me then (the rest of my peers didn't give a shit) and stuck with me after he broke through my shell rather easily. He pulled me out of that nasty hole I was in.

I didn't even know he was a nihilist until much later on. Turns out he was a fellow Stepford Smiler and he wanted to prevent me from becoming a clinically depressed one. Poor guy had a Dark and Troubled Past himself that broke him down. He found me a good guy so he wanted to make sure I didn't become as apathetic as he was towards people in general. I ended up brightening him up as well so he up became a Knight in Sour Armour along with me.

Nowadays he is perusing the job market and taking some college classes. I am full-time college myself (Just started, I am enjoying it a whole lot more then High School so far)

edited 2nd Sep '15 1:43:17 AM by Bleddyn

Well, that's a pretty nice Heartwarming Moment. I heartily approve it.