I should seriously get out more. I have been thoroughly entertained by elderly people these last few days in my journeys around town. Laughter is good for the soul…. and my soul has been well nourished!
Walgreens. Change for a $20 and some red and green MnMs. That’s all I was after. Standing in line behind one elderly gentleman, I assumed it would be a quick ride as he was only holding a Hershey’s bar with almonds. And the almonds shouldn’t take any extra time! No. It was anything but a quick ride. I could have walked all the way back to the pharmacy waited in line behind two people getting multiple prescriptions and it would have been faster! The gentleman was a little hunched over… I wondered if it was due to hearing loss and his tendency to lean toward anyone who was talking? He was a cute grandpa: matching light blue jacket, polyester pleated pants and tennis shoes. His gray hair was a bit long for his conservative dress… maybe he was out strolling for a lady friend??? The also elderly cashier rang up the candy bar and pronounced, “$1.09.” The customer replied LOUDLY, “That sign right there says it is only fifty-nine cents!” The cashier asked him to punch in his phone number so he could get the store discount. Ain’t no way on God’s green earth was he going to share his private information with a dang computer! On and on he ranted, “You don’t know who is going to be getting that information! The government is trying to take our money, take our medical, and now they want to call us at home! I’m not putting in my number!” I felt sorry for the cashier, who tried to explain that the overpriced candy bar was only going to be on sale with a precious phone number. “NO WAY! It says FIFTY-NINE CENTS!” Around and around they went like Elf in the department store rotating doors! At that point my MnMs were starting to melt in my hand and not in my mouth. I volunteered to put my phone number in so the man could save fifty cents. I stepped around the man and typed in my digits. Both elderly men thanked me, as did the next three people in line behind me. The happy, candy bar-carrying man then warned me about government intrusion. I secretly reassured him, “It’s our old home phone number that has been disconnected for four years.” And then my secret was out. He laughed so hard while telling everyone in the store, the parking lot and driving by on the street that I outsmarted the government by using a phony phone number! I couldn’t quit laughing!
Next stop: Kohls. Black socks. That’s all I was after. This time I ended up in line following two elderly women… as opposite as they could be. The first gem that drew my attention was leaning heavily on the counter in her black bling-bling velour sweat suit. Her thick, black-rimmed glasses were perfect circles approximately four inches across each heavily make-upped eyeball.
She was adorned with hot pink lipstick in the same shade as a swatch of her used-to-be-gray hair. She was loudly protesting that the store didn’t carry the cappuccino machine that was in the advertisement she was waving over her head. The woman who was assisting her was on the phone asking for someone to come to the front from housewares to help the flashy lady. “Yes, could you please have John come to the front,” she asked and the bug-eyed lady leaned forward to yell into the phone, “IMMEDIATELY!” This caused involuntary bursts of laughter from me and the modestly dressed elderly woman in front of me. Our giggles were not appreciated by the cappuccino-less lady. She turned to us and hissed… seriously hissed, “This is NOT funny!” In my head I was answering her back, “OH, this is Hysterical! I think this is SO FUNNY! You just barked at me for laughing!” The other laughing culprit was much more kind than I. She apologized and went over and put her arm around the pink-haired yeller, telling her that she knows this can be a stressful time! Pinky did calm down quite a bit. But I couldn’t quit laughing.
Bring on the Christmas cheer, old folks! I love it!
My Sister's Jar 