Don't Like - Old Man Yells At Cloud
Sometimes, in fleeting moments of self-awareness, I reach for some version of the phrase, “Not to be an old man yelling at clouds” to preface a particularly inane opinion I am going to share. It’s a linguistic self-defense mechanism to insulate me from some obvious critiques. It says, “I know, I know” before I go on kvetching about whatever thing is irritating me. To be an old man yelling at clouds is to be someone detached from what’s really going on in a mostly harmless way. The general idea is that you’re mad about something inconsequential that you can’t control. More specifically, the phrase is deployed to write off someone who’s out of touch and complaining about something they don’t understand. It’s fitting in many such cases. Old men are ornery and not only do they not understand the world around them, they often don’t want to understand it either. So, I think there should be a phrase for this kind of a guy/moment. I just wish it didn’t involve yelling at clouds. We don’t live our lives by the sky as much as we used to but clouds can absolutely drive you insane. Imagine yourself on a beach and a cloud comes to block your chance at a tan or some clouds come and rain out your weekend plans. Are either of those situations the cloud’s fault? Don’t be ridiculous, they’re just clouds. But, also, would it be so wrong to yell at them?