My husband came back from a walk in the park, and I could tell straight away that something was bothering him.

I was just down by the lake, he said, and this man was walking towards me. He was wearing a T-shirt. On the T-shirt in big letters, it said MR. GRUMPY. He wasn’t young, and I guessed that he had probably reached an age where life had generally begun to make him a little bad-tempered. He didn’t seem to notice me but then as he approached me, he looked directly at me and smiled. I was taken totally by surprise. So what I want to know, my husband said, is what sort of game is he playing?

I said there could be all sorts of reasons for this. Maybe the T-shirt was the first thing that came to hand, and he had forgotten what was on it. But, said my husband, if he is the sort of person who smiles at people, he comes across why has he got a T-shirt with a message like that in the first place! Well, I said, maybe a family member gave it to him, and he felt he should wear it because it had been a kind gesture. My husband looked unconvinced at this possible explanation. And, I went on, maybe they do really think that he is grumpy, so they are just making a bit of a joke about it. I suppose that could be true, said my husband, but I always think contradictory gestures means something else is going on. Like when people smile even though they are really uncomfortable and also when people do that thing when they nod their heads when actually they don’t agree with you.

You know what, I said to my husband. This has got me thinking. Why don’t we get you a T-shirt and have something printed on it. What do you think?