Ornery Old Women

As I run my errands around town I watch people. Yes, I am a people watcher. I have recently noticed that older women seem very unhappy. Now I'm not talking about OLD ladies. I'm talking about women in their fifties. I try to smile at strangers to see if they'll smile back and this age group of women tend not to. In fact, it looks as though their face is permanently shaped into a scowl or a frown. Only occasionally do I find a woman in this age group that will smile back at me.

In the process of observing this phenomenon, I began to ponder the reasons for why these women are not happy. Many thoughts have come to mind. Maybe they're widowed or divorced and alone. Maybe they're husbands are recently retired and they're suddenly spending more time with their life long companion than they want to. Maybe their children are having children and are stressing out these women as they try to figure out how to deal with their posterity's problems. Maybe their children wore them down beyond repair. Maybe their bodies are beginning to age to the point that they are in constant pain and so they aren't enjoying life anymore. Maybe I should stop using the word maybe, it's bugging me.

In the meantime, I've got to figure out why these women are ornery so that I can prevent this from happening to me. I want to be a happy and fulfilled older woman. If you have any insights on how not to be an ornery older woman, I'd love to hear about it!