Sometimes it pays to have attitude

I was listening to Green Day while working out today—shocking, I know!—and I was on the elliptical while the song “The Grouch” played. It made me laugh, because it’s such a misanthropic song, but I love its attitude.



I was a young boy that had big plans
Now I'm just another shitty old man
I don't have fun and I hate everything
The world owes me, so fuck you

Glory days don't mean shit to me
I drank a six pack of apathy
Life's a bitch and so am I
The world owes me, so fuck you

Wasted youth and a fistful of ideals
I had a young and optimistic point of view

I've decomposed, yet my gut's getting fat
Oh my god I'm turning out like my dad
I'm always rude I've got a bad attitude
The world owes me, so fuck you

The wife's a nag and the kid's fucking up
I don't have sex `cause I can't get it up
I'm just a grouch sitting on the couch
The world owes me, so fuck you

Glory days don't mean shit to me
I drank a six pack of apathy
Life's a bitch and so am I
The world owes me, so fuck you

I love the way Billie Joe sings the word “man.” It’s more like “mehhhn” and it’s pure snot-nosed punk sneer. I really don’t feel this way. I’m not all that cynical or grumpy; I’m not rude or apathetic; I can say with certitude that I love to have fun and I don’t hate everything; and I absolutely don’t feel like the world owes me! But I really do love the attitude of this song, and I can say that there are times when I have an attitude of my own.

I try not to let it get out of control, but I was thinking as I was ellipticalling that it does come in handy at times. What sprang immediately to mind is how Ken and I quite smoking several years ago. A friend of ours and his wife are working on quitting, and they seem to be through the worst of it. I’ve been trying to be a source of support, because I know how tough it is.

I can’t remember the exact date we quit, but it was in August, and I believe it was seven years ago! I have had no desire to ever start again, and I don’t miss it at all. I still have those weird, sporadic cravings once in a while, but they last a matter of seconds and then they’re gone. I don’t expect those ever to go away. (My Dad told me that even after 30 years or so after he quit, he’d still reach to his shirt pocket to pull out a cigarette!)

Attitude really helped me when I was quitting, because my thought process was something like, “Oh yeah? I’ll show you, Cigarettes. You aren’t the boss of me!” It was like the smokes were up in my face and I was getting right back in THEIR face, and even poking them in the chest. “Oh yeah? Yeah? You want a piece of me?” And I beat them. Beat them right into submission. Damn straight!

I hesitate to say that anyone who doesn’t quit smoking is weak, because I understand what a powerful addiction it is. I really loved to smoke. But I came to recognize that it was a psychological crutch for me, and once I figured out that I was stronger than that, it was a very empowering moment. I remember my Mom telling me, “Beth Anne, you’re a really strong-willed person. I can’t believe that you will let those cigarettes keep ruling your life.” She was absolutely right, and I know that her and Dad were really proud of us for quitting.

So to our friends, or anyone else out there who wants to quit, just get a little Billie Joe Armstrong attitude, and to paraphrase the Thunder Song in the movie “Ted”: “Fuck you smoking, you can suck my dick!”