Movie buffs will recognize the title of this article as also being the title of a movie from 1993 starring Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau. The two aging retirees were next-door neighbors. Living in Wabasha, Minnesota, the two feuded constantly.
While living alone, they seem to find joy in ice fishing, trading insults, and playing practical jokes on each other.
I’m not recommending the film, if you have not seen this “romantic comedy.” (It was one of the biggest film hits the year it released.) Instead, it leads me to consider two other seemingly grumpy old men. You’ve likely heard of both of them: Joe Biden and Donald Trump.
In Joe Biden’s case, it’s not just that he appears grumpy a lot. He has reason to be. His poll numbers are disastrous. His own party has serious doubts about him, especially as he lives in denial of his memory issues. His supporting cast offers no reality check to help him. He bumps his head on his airplane. He stumbles. Falls off a bike. I’d be grumpy, too!
And yet we find ourselves at risk as a nation of having someone responsible for everything from nuclear codes to sorting out a Mideast debacle with Hamas, while struggling to remember which name goes with the current French president. Embarrassing.
On Super Bowl Sunday, you may feel you stepped out for more chips and guacamole and missed the traditional inspirational words from the president; you didn’t. The customary interview with the U.S. Prez didn’t happen this year.
Why? Well, officials at the White House said the decision to pass on the interview was because viewers of The Big Game preferred to watch football, not the president. (Well, Amen to that!) Taking it a step further, one admin lackey added that Biden himself turned down the interview because CBS would have cut his bumbling — I mean — challenging words short! Oh those CBS editors!!!
The Grumpy Leader of the Free World has another reason to be grumpy. It’s his arch nemesis. No, not Putin—The Donald! Trump gives him nightmares, especially when the former president has higher poll numbers than the current one!
Biden has even called Trump “unAmerican.” Admittedly, The Donald sometimes gives Biden fodder for such accusations. (Can we say, for example, targeting NATO allies who don’t pay their fare share? And sometimes appearing to be a little too palsy-walsy with the Russian president.)
If you watch the evening network news shows, you’ll see why Donald Trump might be seen as Grumpy Old Man #2. The networks have a favorite shot of Trump—nose up in the air and looking, well, grumpy! (With his myriad of current legal issues, we’ll give him two free grumpy passes.)
President Biden gets much nicer treatment, of course. They have stock photos and videos of him actually smiling—like he just heard the same joke as a certain cackling vice president he knows.
But it’s not all funny. And the American people don’t think these two seasoned citizens are seasoning well. A relatively recent ABC News/Ipsos poll revealed that 86 percent of Americans think Joe Biden, at age 81, is too old to serve a second term. But wait…62 percent were saying the same about the 77-year-old Donald Trump!
It’s worth noting that the median age for all off our past US presidents on the day they were inaugurated is fifty-five years old. The public prefers someone around this age. In Congress, the average ages in the House and Senate are 58 and 64, respectively.
Now it seems reasonable that if you’re wanting to be elected as president—regardless of age, you might try not being grumpy. Take Bill Clinton for example. He was gregarious and he smiled a lot. Maybe for the wrong reasons. Jimmy Carter did as well, until 1973.
The best example in my lifetime, however, was Ronald Reagan. Even when his enemies attacked him he kept his wit and humor and delightful countenance about him. As an older man, he seasoned well.
I’m 72. Five years behind Trump. But I don’t want to be known as a grumpy old man. (My wife says I’m not old. Maybe her eyesight is…well, never mind.) The Bible says,
“A joyful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit dries up the bones.” Proverbs 17:22 (CSB)
I think our country will be best served by a president who reveals a joyful heart. And buries the bones of grumpiness.
