A Brief History
On February 16, 2024, we celebrate another National Do a Grouch a Favor Day. Why would we want to do a grouch a favor? Are grouches a good thing?
Digging Deeper
Whether you call them a grouch, a crab, a whining sniveling malcontent, or a more formal name such as curmudgeon, grouches are all around, complaining about everything and snapping at others. Here are some reasons we should be thankful for grouches and do them a favor.
Grouches are funny. Famous comedians such as Don Rickles, Rodney Dangerfield, Bill Burr, Lewis Black, and Ricky Gervais made a living by making us laugh at their complaints.
Grouches can bring out the best in us. Grouchy bosses and critics can point out our mistakes and force us to perform better. Think of Gordon Ramsay.
Grouches make the rest of us look good. Our minor character defects seem small next to a raving, flaming Karen or Kevin!
Bonus: Who was Marshal of the Empire, Emmanuel de Grouchy, marquis de Grouchy? Grouchy was the last Marshal appointed by Napoleon Bonaparte who fled to the United States after Waterloo in 1815. He later returned to France and was recommissioned as a General, but not as a Marshal. King Louis Philippe once again appointed him as Marshal in 1831. There is no account of him actually being “grouchy,” although he did suffer some criticism for his actions at Waterloo.
Question for students (and subscribers): Who is the grouchiest famous person you know? Please let us know in the comments section below this article.
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Asner, Ed and Ed Weinberger. The Grouchy Historian: An Old-Time Lefty Defends Our Constitution Against Right-Wing Hypocrites and Nutjobs. Simon & Schuster Audio, 2017.
McHugh, Mary. How Not to Become a Crotchety Old Man. Andrews McMeel Publishing, 2009.
The featured image in this article, a photograph by of a grouchy Persian cat, is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication.
You can also watch video versions of this article on YouTube.
