Once I turned 50, I started venting my frustration at the irritations of life.  It felt good, so I kept doing it.  I call these periodic and hopefully humorous verbal tantrums Old Man Rants. Let’s get to it!

Today’s topics: Drugs, Backing In & Solo Maskers

Drug Commercials on TV

Have you seen these advertisements? They literally tell you to tell your doctor what to do and what to prescribe! I don’t know about you but I’m gonna leave the doctoring to the doctors.

Plus did you notice the way the half the commercial is just a voice rattling off all the side effects? There are dozens of them and some sound pretty serious.

What if clothing ads came with disclaimers like that too?

“Well-fitting pants may cause compliments and flirtatious advances from others.”

Or….

Shirt may not help you appear attractive or fit properly if you gain weight, lose weight or are just naturally ugly”.

I smell a lawsuit!

Backing in?  Why? What for?

If drivers insist on backing in they should have to pass a test in which they demonstrate that they can do it as quickly as pulling in head first.  

Photo by jae park on Pexels.com

Backing out of the space doesn’t seem to take any longer than pulling out headfirst, so that’s a wash.  But waiting for someone to back in unnecessarily makes me grind my teeth a little bit.  

In the words of Kimberly “Sweet Brown” Wilkins- “Ain’t nobody got time for that”!

Covid Leftover- Solo Maskers

Even though mask wearing is uncommon these days, I still see it now and then in various situations. That’s fine- I’m a mask proponent, but why would you wear a mask when you’re driving alone in your car? That makes no damn sense- unless of course you ate too many beans and are having gas, and even then you’re probably better off opening a window.

Ah- I feel better now! Time to go chase some kids of my lawn.

For more Old Man Rants and other stories of a more useful nature, visit and subscribe to Five O’Clock Shadow, an online magazine by Todd Fulginiti.