Grumpy Old Colin

I’ve found another new blog that I shall be checking out on a regular basis. That means apart from my own blogs there are about seven that I check out frequently –
A Hebridean in New Zealand
Frog End
Tales from an English Coffee Drinker
Word Imperfect
A Little Blog of Courage
The Gasbag Cometh
and now
Grumpy Old Man http://grumpy.blog.co.uk/
(There is another I check out regularly, as opposed to frequently – An Occasional Blog!)


This latest blog I have found is written by 74 year old Colin from Walton-on-Thames (who looks anything but grumpy in this photo). Note how almost the only information Colin gives in his profile is his age and location – the standard items you get in a news article. “22 year old Naseby man stabbed with a pike...” How we love to picture the person (and stereotype them accordingly) with the briefest of information.

Of course, it is always easier with men than with women. Newspapers may have no qualms about writing “56 year old Matilda, a dancing instructor from Chipping Sodbury” but us blokes outside of the media have to be a bit more careful. To us Matilda would have to be ‘in her fifties’. And if she were only 51 that is problematic. “In her fifties” or even “In her early fifties” could then suggest she was older than she is. And middle-aged Matilda sounds even worse. In that case I think I’d avoid the age thing altogether and settle for some other aspect of her life – assuming it was known – like “Waltzing Matilda...”

But back to Grumpy Colin in his seventies... His blog is a view of the world with which I may not always agree but I like the fact that he “Speaks English” (and, more to the point, writes it properly) and speaks his mind. Well worth a visit, folks.