Why do the words grumpy and old just seem to go together. I don’t get it. Maybe there’s some entitlement there or something. (Fortunately, this isn’t the M.O. for every elderly person.)
Last night, as I left my doctor’s appointment, Brandon and the girls left the house on a walk with Buddy, and we were going to meet up at our polling place. I waited outside of the high school cafeteria while Brandon went inside to get in line. The kind volunteers inside told Brandon that the girls, the pup, and I could wait inside – it was no problem. There were stacks of chairs everywhere. One was sitting out, and Abigail, who was holding the leash, sat on it. The other two girls stood for a bit, but then wanted to sit as well. Esther went to take a chair off of the stack and this one old woman told her not to – they might fall. Then, Sarah walked over to another area of the cafeteria where other chairs were sitting out, to slide one over. This woman got up, grabbed the chair from her, and told her no – she could sit on the floor. I WAS FUMING! Meanwhile, the other KIND elderly volunteers were chatting it up with us asking all kinds of questions regarding the dog, etc… Who was this woman to assume that she may have the priviledge to sit on a chair, but my daughter (who is 4!) isn’t granted the same opportunity to sit in the same chair that she has, but rather the nasty floor of a high school cafeteria?! I asked Brandon, as he grabbed his ballot, to please take down some chairs for the girls to sit in. He complied, and even then, this woman had to say something to him about where he placed them in case the line got too long. GOOD HEAVENS! Besides grabbing chairs for our children in spite of her nasty tone to them, I didn’t even know where to begin, but I really wanted to say something. Of course I didn’t – probably because my husband was there. When we left the polling place, all of the volunteers were wishing us well, saying such kind things, and even this bitter old woman chimed in to tell us how sweet and beautiful our daughters were. Oh really? SIGH and GRUMBLE So, as we exited I told Brandon what she had said to Sarah about sitting on the floor and how rude she was. His face said it all. I wonder what would have happened if he would have heard her say that. Probably the same. What do you say to a grumpy woman like that? Nothing that would satisfy anything but a temporary fire of fury in a momma’s body. It still gets me mad just thinking about it.
GOSH!
