Ricky Gervais was right about becoming a grumpy old man

The time to contemplate has been welcome in parts, but not so in others. As a middle aged man clinging on to his 40s, until recently I wondered where my forefathers were coming from with their incessant moans, numerous irritants and propensity to say it as they see it, but now I am on that boat and have grown to enjoy the voyage.

Ricky Gervais recently discussed ageing and, although crude, his summation was correct: ‘It’s all physical’ he ventured, before explaining, in detail, which part of his anatomy now swung like a clock’s pendulum.

As the years pass, I find myself less sociable, preferring to venture, socially, within walking distance so as not to have the hassle of clubs or of being outside of one’s comfort zone, in a place you don’t want to be, as you are becoming tedious to someone else who would rather stay up all night and listen to repetitive music and not be able to handle their liquor.

With lockdowns that option is taken away, so there is little thought as to where to go this Friday as the decision has been taken out of your hands, not that I’m complaining.

Gervais is ultimately right however, as the physical is where it’s at. Even when not in pain I can't fail but give a pained ‘ooh’ each time I haul my sorry derriere from upstanding to inert. Yawns have taken on animalistic tendency as I now howl like the rather upset bear from The Revenant as I shake like I have shell shock, whilst expelling air before the prerequisite proclamation of tiredness.

Lockdown helped Brett realise that getting old is not as bad as problems others face. Photo: Pixabay

The lockdown has proven however that we do not require the numerous trips to the doctors as, well, many of them aren’t seeing us face to face anyhow, and we aren’t venturing outside to catch illness, instead finding activity that has become alien to us in recent years with which to pass the time. Writing letters, doing puzzles and reading books are all making a long overdue comeback, and if it weren’t for the lack of milkman you could look out the window and imagine you were back in the 1980s.

Ageing therefore is not fine, yet its not so bad if you can now work from home and have those who are most used to your moans tolerate it, whether they choose to or not. The lockdown has certainly helped pride in the environment as we take care of the home and garden which, although they take the same time commitment as ever, now allow us, with enforced home arrest, to do a job properly and not punish our bodies as we used to when fighting the scourge of time limitations.

The lockdown has afforded those of us fortunate enough to still be in employ, the ability to work just as hard, but smarter. We still have the same crazed workplace initiatives as ever before, but many can now view them from a distance as we roll our eyes without comeback as the webcam is switched off.

The moans are as frequent, yet the content has changed. Previous disagreements and debate have migrated, and the emphasis has moved from topics heartily disagreed about at work or in the pub, such as Brexit, to pretty much Covid as the main talking point. As our environment has shifted, we are more concerned with the minutiae of life and not the macro happenings that we have little effect over anyhow. The big things aren’t being sweated so much as the ageing process and lockdown align in the stars to leave us thinking its not really that bad for some of us, is it?

• Brett Ellis is a teacher