For those with a grouch in their lives — which is actually most of us — there is nothing better than Do A Grouch A Favor Day, which is celebrated on February 16 each year. Help a very grumpy person turn their mood around. So how do we help them experience the sweeter side of life?
Grouch, grump, cross, irritable. These people go by many adjectives and appear almost everywhere. Most of us have a grouch in our life, whether it is a neighbor, a friend, a colleague, or even that guy you pass at the train station each morning. Many of us are also guilty of being grumps ourselves when the going gets tough.
This persona is so common, various ancient Greek plays feature a ‘grump’, a character so grouchy that they have no more purpose than to amuse us.
History is also full of such grumpy, grouchy people, as evidenced by all the stories about great visionaries. Newton is said to have held obsessive grudges against people, Beethoven became more recalcitrant upon losing his hearing, and even our own American presidents have had their moments. It’s not just the greats, either. We can only assume regular people have been, and continue to be, grouchy. After all, they had ample circumstances to be that way — the Great Depression, the World Wars, and even the financial crash of 2008.
This day comes at a time when the world is putting much stock into being positive. Billion-dollar book sales attest to the fact that self-help is a booming industry. Happiness experts and mindfulness apps regularly coax new subscribers into seeking inner peace and satisfaction. Even the U.S. Army is training its soldiers in positive psychology. Meanwhile, countries are judged by their ‘happiness index’, which rivals their G.D.P., if not surpasses it.
While we cannot pinpoint the origins of this day, we rather think this might be the brainchild of someone who is a grouch and secretly wants to be the recipient of nice gestures from people. That or Big Bird from “Sesame Street” is trying to stop Oscar the Grouch from grumbling again.
