The Age of Irritability

You know the saying about "mellowing with age" and you've probably met a few curmudgeons who miraculously turn sweet as the years go by. Then again, you've also had the unique opportunity to interact with folks who seem to get nastier and nastier with each passing year.

I remember my aunt telling me about her New Year's Resolution: "Kung salbahe ako last year, mas salbahe ako this year!" (extremely loose translation: If I was bad last year, I'll be worse this year.)

So I was wondering if my recent snappiness could be attributed to age, or lack of sleep, or too much worrying over Angel's CS-wound. And then I saw this:

Men get more irritable as testosterone levels decrease?
"The wives notice it first," says Keen-Hun Tai of the Peter MacCallum Cancer Institute in Melbourne. "The men become more withdrawn, but more emotional. They laugh and cry more easily."

Yipes. Who wants to turn into a grumpy old man?! I've met quite a few recently and.... well, let's just say I hope to never exchange email with them again. Hah. Oops... am I starting to become irritable too?

(Quick, Angel! Give me a testosterone-building hug!)

[ First posted on 03/01/2002 by Manuel Viloria ]