Are you a Grumpy older person?

I have to admit that I find the whole grumpy old woman / old man thing really tiresome and I rail against it in myself as much as I can. I see it really as someone losing touch with the new and failing to catch back up so taking out their frustration with that on younger people. It's similar to the rose tinted, everything was better in my day thing and I can't bear that. Some things are definitely shitter now and some things are better. I am middle aged, and interacting with grumpy older people only strengthens my determination that I will not end up like that -  tediously whingeing that not everything is how I want it to be.

Sorry if that sounds really harsh Catwoman, it's not aimed at you! My mil is like this - just constantly moaning about everything and it drives me nuts!

We have an new updated tesco and it's horrible, they seem to have more fridges and freezers but appear to be selling a smaller range, naturally veggie stuff is crammed into one corner and isn't restocked as often. Stock levels are a problem with all our supermarkets, partly because whenever the ferries enter or depart people go through our supermarkets like a plague of locusts.

Speaking of supermarkets, does it seem to others that we're being made to settle buying things we don't really want or have to use alternative suppliers? My Mum has sensitive skin and finds the Simple range really suits her, but there's only one place that sells it now, our new and improved tesco no longer seems to do any products for those of us with sensitive skin, not just in the body care ailse either but in the laundry and washing up aisles too. I don't believe theres been a sudden drop in the numbers of people wanting sensitive skin products, I think it's more a case of won't sell it rather than no enough people want it.

I believe it has always been like this, your words echo my parent’s concerning “new fangled gizmos”, for which read - colour tv, automatic washing machines, electric lawn mower, remote control devices. Go back a bit further and it was simple things such as telephones, speed limits, seat belts, and so on.

Progress happens, it is inevitable as humankind is curious and experimental, we are always going to discovering the new. And given the young, statistically, have greater learning capacity and more flexibility of thinking then statistically its going to be we oldsters who struggle with progress. 

I was feeling this malaise (grumpyness) myself but understood that it was a road only to constant unhappiness, and unpleasant for others in my life. So Im consciously embracing change and up to date technology, for example I bought an iPhone 17e a few days ago and am learning how to make the most productive use of its incredible features, my previous phone was a very early smart phone with limited abilities. And after a couple of years with dug-in-heels Im embracing a safe use of AI. And you know, this embracing of change is bringing rewards every day, each little piece of learning gives me a small self esteem boost. And I believe my cognitive skills are improving and that slowing the aging process. 

As for supermarkets, I agree about the one you mention, but they are business and they do these things to reduce costs and maintain or increase profits. I think our answer to their annoying re designs is to shop at small independents, we have a friendly farm shop and equal distance to the supermarket, to buy books from real bookshops, and so on.

I apologise if Ive given a serious answer to a slightly light hearted question but as always what I actually hear is the literal meaning of language. 

Alice

I can thoroughly appreciate how you feel TheCatWoman  My view is that tech is neither good nor bad in itself, it's how it is deployed.

Some tech deployments make things better but others make things worse. Mechanical washing machines (repairable) are good, AI slop is bad (as seen here the other week and in the Trumposphere).

In my lifetime, I have seen a shift from institutions carrying risk and undertaking services for citizens to risk being carried by citizens who have to do much of the servicing themselves.

This was sold to us as convenience and as reducing cost to us but frankly private institutions and their shareholders have trousered the cash and made a lot of people redundant!

Not everyone has the cognitive ability, motor skills, memory, skills or money for devices/data to lead a digital-first life. 

Having spent some of my childrens first months doing washing by hand, I fully appreciate the joys of an automatic washing machine.

I'm glad I don't have to crawl around the floor with a dustpan and brush trying to sweep crud from the carpet.

I love my humax box that allows me to record and pause live telly, I don't know what I did without one.

I love my kindle.

I can't imagine life with a food processor or a freezer.

But, its the way we seem to be having less and less choice about how and where tech is used and integrated into our lives. For instance, I don't want a satnav in my car, I find them very distracting, but all modern cars seem to have them and it's difficult to turn them off, and some can't be turned off. Many people seem to be suspicious of those of us who don't want a smart phone, don't use social media and aren't always online and available. I often leave home without a phone, because I don't want to be contactable, I don't know how to use a smart phone and I when I look at social media stuff I don't see whats in it for me and some of it is so annoying I want to kill it.

I don't know how to use online banking, I want to be able to use a carpark without having all this tech stuff, I want to be able to manage my bills myself, I want to have a bank statement sent to me every month and not have to faff around all the time.

So as you see I'm not anti tech, I just want the choice over what and how I use it.

Having spent some of my childrens first months doing washing by hand, I fully appreciate the joys of an automatic washing machine.

I'm glad I don't have to crawl around the floor with a dustpan and brush trying to sweep crud from the carpet.

I love my humax box that allows me to record and pause live telly, I don't know what I did without one.

I love my kindle.

I can't imagine life with a food processor or a freezer.

But, its the way we seem to be having less and less choice about how and where tech is used and integrated into our lives. For instance, I don't want a satnav in my car, I find them very distracting, but all modern cars seem to have them and it's difficult to turn them off, and some can't be turned off. Many people seem to be suspicious of those of us who don't want a smart phone, don't use social media and aren't always online and available. I often leave home without a phone, because I don't want to be contactable, I don't know how to use a smart phone and I when I look at social media stuff I don't see whats in it for me and some of it is so annoying I want to kill it.

I don't know how to use online banking, I want to be able to use a carpark without having all this tech stuff, I want to be able to manage my bills myself, I want to have a bank statement sent to me every month and not have to faff around all the time.

So as you see I'm not anti tech, I just want the choice over what and how I use it.

I can thoroughly appreciate how you feel TheCatWoman  My view is that tech is neither good nor bad in itself, it's how it is deployed.

Some tech deployments make things better but others make things worse. Mechanical washing machines (repairable) are good, AI slop is bad (as seen here the other week and in the Trumposphere).

In my lifetime, I have seen a shift from institutions carrying risk and undertaking services for citizens to risk being carried by citizens who have to do much of the servicing themselves.

This was sold to us as convenience and as reducing cost to us but frankly private institutions and their shareholders have trousered the cash and made a lot of people redundant!

Not everyone has the cognitive ability, motor skills, memory, skills or money for devices/data to lead a digital-first life.