There is a reason those Snickers commercials work so well: we all know what it’s like to be so hungry or tired or just plain done with the day that even the act of breathing annoys us.
Yet, even though we know it’s a bad habit and we know it’s going to make us and everyone else miserable, we still put off the thing that will cure our grump.
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(I told myself that I had to write this article before I could break for lunch, so we’ll see how bad a decision that was in a couple hundred words.)
Personally, I find the modern world’s insistence on making everything a portmanteau a bit draining, but “hangry” is one I can get behind.
It’s perfect in its simplicity.
Unlike some portmanteaus that are a real awkward stretch, a single letter adds so much meaning here. You’re not just angry. The H provides a whole backstory around why you may be lashing out the way you are.
It’s a universal way to explain, “I’m sorry. I know I shouldn’t be taking this out on you, but my blood sugar is low.”
And then you have a snack and you can properly function again.
As a kid, you’re stuck asking adults when you can eat and what.
As an adult, you can eat whatever you want, whenever you want, and yet for some reason we’re always depriving ourselves.
We always just assume that whatever else needs doing should take precedence over our physical needs. Then we are upset when our bodies and mood penalize us for it.
Instead, go fetch that granola bar. The meeting can wait two extra minutes to start and everyone will understand when you explain that if you didn’t take that time, you’d be hangry for the whole meeting.
