It shames me to say this, and it it by no means easy, but my father has turned into a bitter, cranky old man. And not in a funny way.
We got back from Texas today and I couldn't have gotten home quicker.
Now, to preface all of this, my dad has always been a little high strung. He's always been a complainer. He's always had a passive-negative personality. But over the last few years it's gotten progressively worse--to the point now where it is vitrually unbearable to sit and listen to him for more than about ten minutes.
Let me preface all of this by saying that I think the critical event in this entire transformation was September 11th. Something in him just snapped, and he has yet, I think, to come to grips with it. He's retired military, and was ready to reinlist the day after the attack.
He's also become radically more conservative since then, as well. George Bush can do no wrong, the rest of the world is out to get him (and us), Christianity is under attack in this country, we've lost our sense of morals and values, blah blah blah. Now just imagine getting lectured on this over and over and over.
Everything pisses him off nowadays. He can't watch TV without finding something wrong. Hollywood is fake. Liberals suck. He hates any and all commercials. And don't even get me started on watching ballgames with him. It doesn't even have to be 'his' team to get him started. He literally yells at the TV. Seriously.
He revels in his misery as well. I am convinced of this. Why will he keep on watching a program if it makes him sick? Why does he read the newspaper from cover to cover if all it gives him is pain? It's illogical to me.
The man needs a hobby--he needs to get out , find some friends (preferably ones similar to his) and vent to them instead of his family. My poor mother is too afraid(?) to tell him to shut the fuck up, and she doesn't really have any friends of her own to divert her own attention. It's a big mess, and I'm not sure what I can do.
To make matters even worse, he's about a hair's breadth from becoming a full-blown racist as well. He fails to either understand or even accept black culture as "normal" for example. Something is wrong with blacks because they are not 'white' enough. He hates their music, the way they dress, and so forth, without understanding why the differences are there in the first place.
It's a damn shame that this has happened, and it really brings tears to my eyes that my own father, an intelligent man, has turned into this.
Please give me some soothing words to make me feel better
We got back from Texas today and I couldn't have gotten home quicker.
Now, to preface all of this, my dad has always been a little high strung. He's always been a complainer. He's always had a passive-negative personality. But over the last few years it's gotten progressively worse--to the point now where it is vitrually unbearable to sit and listen to him for more than about ten minutes.
Let me preface all of this by saying that I think the critical event in this entire transformation was September 11th. Something in him just snapped, and he has yet, I think, to come to grips with it. He's retired military, and was ready to reinlist the day after the attack.
He's also become radically more conservative since then, as well. George Bush can do no wrong, the rest of the world is out to get him (and us), Christianity is under attack in this country, we've lost our sense of morals and values, blah blah blah. Now just imagine getting lectured on this over and over and over.
Everything pisses him off nowadays. He can't watch TV without finding something wrong. Hollywood is fake. Liberals suck. He hates any and all commercials. And don't even get me started on watching ballgames with him. It doesn't even have to be 'his' team to get him started. He literally yells at the TV. Seriously.
He revels in his misery as well. I am convinced of this. Why will he keep on watching a program if it makes him sick? Why does he read the newspaper from cover to cover if all it gives him is pain? It's illogical to me.
The man needs a hobby--he needs to get out , find some friends (preferably ones similar to his) and vent to them instead of his family. My poor mother is too afraid(?) to tell him to shut the fuck up, and she doesn't really have any friends of her own to divert her own attention. It's a big mess, and I'm not sure what I can do.
To make matters even worse, he's about a hair's breadth from becoming a full-blown racist as well. He fails to either understand or even accept black culture as "normal" for example. Something is wrong with blacks because they are not 'white' enough. He hates their music, the way they dress, and so forth, without understanding why the differences are there in the first place.
It's a damn shame that this has happened, and it really brings tears to my eyes that my own father, an intelligent man, has turned into this.
Please give me some soothing words to make me feel better
VIEW 8 of 8 COMMENTS
It sound like your dad is SERIOUSLY depressed. They should put him on Effexor or Paxil or something. Effexor has helped my dad quite a bit. Not to mention me. Both me and my dad have been told we're "Happy Angry People." And I feel like that's pretty accurate. I enjoy bitching and moaning to a certain extent, and being pissed off feels better than being sad, which brings us back around to the depression thing. I dunno, food for thought. I hope he gets the help he needs. Hang in there for him.
CAT