Oscar the Grouch

I remember when Alex and I were just starting to see each other, I asked him what he liked in me. And he said it was my cheerful disposition and sense of humor that attracted him to me. “You are like sunshine on a rainy day,” he said something to this effect. He told me that I seem to be always happy, and to him, there was never a dull moment with me.

Bakit may masungit na tao? Of course, we all have problems, stressors, bad hair days, and bad times. But there are people who are naturally ill-tempered, short-tempered, sulky, irritable. They have this innate surliness. I admit, I have my down times, and I am not always this cheerful. I am a woman, I have PMS, and I have mood swings. There are times when I slip into this grouchy mode but I am not masungit by nature. As one who is known to be jolly, I don’t want to be caught off-guard, I always try to be on my happy side most of the times. I don’t like people having this first impression of me that I am grouchy. Especially now that I’m already considered a “tita”, I don't want people to say “Ang tanda na kasi, kaya masungit.” Or worse, “Maganda nga, masungit naman.” LOL

There’s this Mr. Assimo, a character in Bubble Gang, an overly irate man played by Michael V. who seems to complain about everything, has no good word for anything, finding everything not to his liking. Pero bakit nga ba may masungit na tao? These are the ones na umaga pa lang, parang wala na sa mood agad. You greet them, you talk to them, parang wala lang, parang walang nakikita or naririnig. They can’t even return your greeting, parang may bayad palagi ang ngiti. Yung harap-harapang pagsusungit. If your day or morning isn’t great, don’t blame it on others, or don’t dump it on other people. There are people who are terminally irritable in the morning, and there are people na sabi nga, habang nagkaka-edad, sumusungit. Yung walang lovelife (or s*x life). Excuse me po, tabi-tabi lang. There are people who feel it has to be on their own terms when and when not to be masungit. Ayaw kitang batiin, eh bakit ba. Of course, death or loss or sickness is excuse enough, and there are a lot of reasons to be grumpy – waking up on the wrong side of the bed, lack of sleep, heavy traffic, fight with your partner, boredom, empty wallet. But come on, for the rest, it can’t be that bad that you have to be like this every day and you take it out on people who are just being nice to you. Nakakapagod din naman magsungit. Hindi ka ba napapagod?

Life is short. Stay connected, stay positive. Be like the fairy dust or stars, or a lake when the sun hits it just right — all of these things sparkle. Be a source of joy, shine above the rest, and don’t be afraid to sparkle a little bit brighter.

~TheGoodGirl