NATIONAL GROUCH DAY

National Grouch Day

NATIONAL GROUCH DAY

Attention, all you grumblers, moaners, and professional complainers! October 15th is National Grouch Day, the one day of the year you can be your truest, most miserable self without anyone telling you to "turn that frown upside down." So go ahead, let out that groan you've been holding in. Today, misery loves company, and we're all invited to the pity party.

#NationalGrouchDay

For the uninitiated (and frankly, overly cheerful), a grouch is a master of the complaint, a connoisseur of cantankerousness. They find joy (a word they would despise) only when their coffee is cold, the WiFi is slow, and everyone else is just as unhappy as they are.

A true grouch communicates through a unique dialect of backhanded compliments ("That's the least ugly sweater I've ever seen you wear") and withering scowls. They are fluent in sighs, eye-rolls, and the fine art of finding the single dark cloud in an otherwise sunny sky. Noise, silence, cheerfulness, sadness—it all makes a grouch generally, and delightfully, unpleasant.

Sometimes grumps give backhanded compliments. "Your house looked horrible until you painted it." Other times they don't give them at all. Noise, silence, general activity makes a grouch generally unpleasant. 

It seems that a grouch may be happy (although they would never admit it) only when others are unhappy and grouchy.  It is then that they feel most comfortable with having others share in their grumpy, cantankerous, surly world with them.

National Grouch Day would be a good time to send a grouch e-card and then ask a friend, whether they be a grouch or not, to come on over, sit back, share some popcorn, relax and watch the movie Grumpy Old Men!

HOW TO MISERABLY CELEBRATE NATIONAL GROUCH DAY

If you're ready to ruin the day, here are some perfectly awful ways to "celebrate."

  1. Practice your most disappointed-looking frown in the mirror.
  2. Give a backhanded compliment to an annoyingly cheerful coworker.
  3. Watch Grumpy Old Men and take detailed notes on technique.
  4. Complain about the weather, regardless of what the weather is.
  5. Demand to speak to the manager... about the perfectly acceptable quality of your service.
  6. Share your most irritating pet peeve using #NationalGrouchDay. Don't hold back.
  7. May your toast land butter-side down, and may your remote be just out of reach.
  8. We hope the jelly from your sardine sandwich makes your keyboard sticky!

NATIONAL GROUCH DAY HISTORY

This Sesame Street-inspired holiday has been celebrated since at least 1976 and celebrates the grouch's way of life. 

Grouch FAQ

Q. Who were some famous grouches?
A. Most famous grouches are fictional. They include names like Oscar the Grouch, Archie Bunker, and the Grinch.

Q. What word is the opposite of grouch?
A. A person who is a happy camper is someone who is generally joyful and satisfied.