Has Bitterness Ever Overwhelmed You?

[avant-garde]

For instance, did you ever want certain things in the world, or people in general, to change? Did you ever want bad things to happen to certain kinds of people just to "show them?" How old were you when you finally decided to give up on thinking about it?

A-G

 

[humanino]

Giving up on thinking how to change the world ? I hope I die before.

I never thought of it that way, but indeed, I even like bitter taste.

 

[CRGreathouse]

I've gone just the opposite direction. I never had been bitter, but I've become so recently (1-2 years).

 

[avant-garde]

Haha, well for those who have become bitter...
what made you feel that way, and what are the causes of it?

Mine, is the fact that people who don't do much with their lives want "free" medical insurance. They blame the hard workers for being "greedy." But of course, it is hard to be completely bitter about this, since there are many exceptions. One of them is the fact that a lot of preppy kids of rich parents don't do much sh*t either.

However, I hope my thread doesn't become a healthcare ideology battle.

 

[humanino]

The person I am the most bitter towards is myself. I never perform as good as I expect.

 

[Cyrus]

Haha, well for those who have become bitter...
what made you feel that way, and what are the causes of it?

Mine, is the fact that people who don't do much with their lives want "free" medical insurance. They blame the hard workers for being "greedy." But of course, it is hard to be completely bitter about this, since there are many exceptions. One of them is the fact that a lot of preppy kids of rich parents don't do much sh*t either.

However, I hope my thread doesn't become a healthcare ideology battle.

You sure do like to generalize about entire swaths of people using only hypothetical evidence.

How many people have you even talked to to come to this conclusion?...

 

[KingOfChaos]

For instance, did you ever want certain things in the world, or people in general, to change? How old were you when you finally decided to give up on thinking about it?

A-G

Bro, I am still a bitter person at age 30.

 

[Pengwuino]

Wait, being bitter isn't the same as being someone who wants the world to change. Someone can be one and not the other easily.

Where's Cyrus, we need his input on this.

 

[Pythagorean]

I'm a tangled mixture of bittersweet, like yin and yang. I still hold out hope, but in the meantime I'm more interested in supporting my family's needs than trying to convince a bunch of barbarians to be peaceful.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

For instance, did you ever want certain things in the world, or people in general, to change? How old were you when you finally decided to give up on thinking about it?

A-G

Talk about a loaded question! Your premise is false so the question is meaningless. If anything, people tend to become bitter as they get older, not the other way around.

Hope is the antidote for bitterness. Imo, many young people today are bitter because no one taught them how to have a little faith - the substance of things hoped for.

I became bitter when George Bush was reelected because I lost faith in my country, but I'm MUUUUUUUUCH better now.

 

[avant-garde]

^ could you elaborate on that, ivan seeking? why do ppl get bitter as they get older?
I thought people would become more capable of dealing with their moods as they get older. There's also a stat that says older people are happier on average.

 

[Pythagorean]

^ could you elaborate on that, ivan seeking? why do ppl get bitter as they get older?
I thought people would become more capable of dealing with their moods as they get older. There's also a stat that says older people are happier on average.

maybe they're happier because they gave up on most everyone else as part of being bitter. I mean... you don't have to be unhappy just because you're bitter.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

^ could you elaborate on that, ivan seeking? why do ppl get bitter as they get older?
I thought people would become more capable of dealing with their moods as they get older. There's also a stat that says older people are happier on average.

Obviously there is no single or simple answer, but in my experience, with age usually comes the loss of friends, places, social norms, and belief systems that helped to mold a person's life - the things that were important to them. For example, my best friend in life died a couple of years ago at ~ age 75 [he was much older than I am]. He outlived all of his old friends, except me. Another example would be my father-in-law. I would say he is somewhat bitter because the world has passed him by. He doesn't understand the computer age; he doesn't understand commercials or the humor of the day; he gets angry because, for example, his newspaper is only a few pages thick now. He has probably read the newspaper almost every day of his entire life. And he's not going to read the news on the internet - it will never happen! It may not seem like a big thing to some of us, but to him, in its own way, it is the end of a way of life. There is also the issue of social standards. What many young people consider normal today is shocking to many older people, and that has ALWAYS been true. The older folks loften have a hard time accepting that in some ways their value system is a thing of the past.

Also, as one gets older, there is less and less to look forward to. The number of years left on this planet begin to dwindle; the major achievements of life are in the past; income is often limited; the kids are gone, family relationships often become strained, and perhaps most of all, it is my belief that some people have a very hard time accepting that the world will go on without them. So they begin to see the problems with the world - the reasons why it won't go on without them. I was struck by the fact that people who were once very optimistic, like my old friend, became bitter near the end and expected only the worst from everything. Eventually I realized that this was his new hope - that there is no hope and the world is going to hell - so he won't be missing much. It's not that he wished bad things for people living today, it was just his way of coping with the fact that he would be gone.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Oh jeez, and then there is the issue of health. I remember one older gentleman who once told that he would give everything he owns just have one day without pain. With age often comes the decline of health, endless trips to the doctor's office, and expensive medications that come with their own list of complications. My mother just went through several years of hell; and I mean HELL! She was in terrible pain continously for over two years. She was taking as much morphine as she could without it killing her. She survived, but she isn't the same person that she was three years ago. In some ways I hardly know her anymore. Last Christmas she cried on the phone while saying that Christmas just isn't Christmas anymore.

Also common: Can't hear a damned thing; can't see a damned thing; can't remember where I put my glasses.

There is an old saying that "getting old ain't for sissies".

If someone asked my father is he is happy, he may well say yes, but he is only a shell of the man I once knew.

 

[Pengwuino]

As I get younger, I do become more bitter because I'm going to lose my license for ULTRA PORN soon.

Oddly enough my family and parents are seemingly going in reverse. Everyone is over 50 or 60 and everyone keeps in touch and is living life and no one seems to be too bitter about anything. My parents, incidentally, seem to be going with the flow. Hell, my mother has a blackberry and probably uses more technology on a daily basis then me. I think my parents are more in amazement and are more intrigued about the world coming up around them then they are bitter about things from the past.

At times, I think I'm more bitter at how these young whippersnappers act these days then my parents are and how all my favorite places are... ok they're still there... but they'll be gone someday! GROWL!

 

[Borg]

For instance, did you ever want certain things in the world, or people in general, to change? How old were you when you finally decided to give up on thinking about it?

A-G

I worked on the assembly line for General Motors in the early 80's and hated the way that they treated their workers. I used to jokingly say that I would be willing to serve six months in jail if I could cause them one billion in damage to their profits. All I had to do is wait long enough and they did far more damage to themselves. Unfortunately, the workers are getting the worst of it.

 

[BobG]

Strangely, I've never been a bitter person.

Well, at least not until Ivan explained how much fun old age was going to be? It's enough to lose all hope.

 

[GeorginaS]

Well. Ivan just made my morning. Now, off to the salt mines with me.

 

[lisab]

Well. Ivan just made my morning. Now, off to the salt mines with me.

...sigh...me too, Georgina...I wasn't in the best mood when I started reading this thread, now I just want to go back to bed .

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

I've always been sweetness and light itself. Nothing upsets me or makes me bitter. Not even the time that this moron, this idiotic moron parked his car half-way across my driveway so I couldn't get out. What a sleezebag jerk, I'd like to rip his face off. I really needed to get out to the beach that day but with the telephone pole on the other side, there was no way I could squeeze out. I hope he dies of a terrible debilitating disease that lasts for years. I want his body drawn and quartered and each piece dragged in the mud and then I'd stomp on them. That's what I'd do to anybody that tries to make me bitter.

 

[Borg]

I've always been sweetness and light itself. Nothing upsets me or makes me bitter. Not even the time that this moron, this idiotic moron parked his car half-way across my driveway so I couldn't get out. What a sleezebag jerk, I'd like to rip his face off. I really needed to get out to the beach that day but with the telephone pole on the other side, there was no way I could squeeze out. I hope he dies of a terrible debilitating disease that lasts for years. I want his body drawn and quartered and each piece dragged in the mud and then I'd stomp on them. That's what I'd do to anybody that tries to make me bitter.

God help us all if you ever do get bitter.

 

[Pengwuino]

I've always been sweetness and light itself. Nothing upsets me or makes me bitter. Not even the time that this moron, this idiotic moron parked his car half-way across my driveway so I couldn't get out. What a sleezebag jerk, I'd like to rip his face off. I really needed to get out to the beach that day but with the telephone pole on the other side, there was no way I could squeeze out. I hope he dies of a terrible debilitating disease that lasts for years. I want his body drawn and quartered and each piece dragged in the mud and then I'd stomp on them. That's what I'd do to anybody that tries to make me bitter.

You're such a sweetheart, I can tell.