Andy Rooney died Friday night. That doesn't seem possible. It was just slightly over a month ago that he announced he was retiring from his weekly segment on the popular CBS program "60 Minutes." Andy complained and mocked the nonsense of the world in which we lived. One time I remember him complaining about the warning label on mattresses which proclaimed it was a violation of federal law to pull it out. Andy did just that on network TV. He stated he would report from federal prison if he was arrested. Andy Rooney reported on the nonsense, the aggravation we all shared in everyday life. I laughed at him when he asked what good is a paperweight in offices where the windows don't open to blow paper off your desk. I chucked at his railing about the frustrations of going to the local DMV to wait and wait...and wait. Andy Rooney made a living on saying things that ordinary Americans are irritated about. True enough, he was a best selling author. But, those three minutes at the end of every 60 Minutes episode is what endeared him to so many people.

Andy Rooney was truly America's old crotchety curmudgeon. He would be rude and crude at times. One of the things that irked him most is if he were eating dinner at some restaurant, people would interrupt him for his autograph. Andy said once, "Why in the hell would anyone want my autograph? For what reason?" How can you help but not like someone like that? He is among the last of the "Greatest Generation" who are quickly dying out. Andy Rooney was a reporter for the military newspaper, "Stars and Stripes" during WWII. Andy Rooney was 92 years young. God Bless him.

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