What's Age Got To Do With It?
Thursday, November 20, 2014 at 3:03PM I’m not a violent man. Never was. I know that, as I get older, I’m supposed to be more temperamental. Maybe I am. Perhaps I am quicker to anger. Old codger stuff. Is it just a male thing?
Today, I had an urge to eat French fries. Why? I don’t know. I don’t usually crave them. Call it a “hankering.” I knew that, if I were to order them at the nearby McDonald’s, I’d have to ask for them without salt. Would they do that?
As I wheeled into the parking lot, some a-hole cut me off. Zoomed in right in front of me! I almost hit him. Just who did he think he was? JERK! He quickly pulled into a parking spot and I soon followed into a nearby one. He jumped out of his car in a flash and ran toward the side door. I really thought about giving him a piece of my mind as I exited mine, but three things stopped me from saying a word…
#1 Age. I was a lot older, wiser and more experienced. Patience goes a long way. Or, it should.
#2 He was a construction type dude. Bigger than me, in other words. He would have kicked my you know what. Plus, he was a lot faster than me.
#3 He made a bee-line to the men’s room.
That third one (#3) told me he was in a hurry to do a number two, probably, without going into further detail, and that gave him license to get where he needed to go as quickly as humanly possible. That’s where #1 came in. There may be circumstances beyond someone’s control that cause something to happen. (Imagine if he had come along a second or two earlier. BAM! He would have hit me and there would have been two accidents.)
As he disappeared into the restroom area, I went through the main door and waited near the front counter to order. A minute or two later, I was able to ask for them without salt. Yes, I was told, and they come out fresher that way, but it took a little longer.
That guy? As I left, he was still in there somewhere, I’m sure, but I had no desire to go reprimand him for anything. Actually, I didn’t give him a thought at all. Instead, I learned a simple little lesson about maintaining a level head. Self-control prevailed. I’m sure we’ve all been there before - old and young.
Cross-posted on Daily Kos
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Reader Comments (4)
Your post reminded me of a not so well known quote by a young Oswald Chambers: "There's always one thing more that we don't know about!" It was meant to keep people from being presumptuous and gossip-y but I believe you might say it would help to keep us from a hasty retort that could land us in serious trouble or cause greater grief ... :-)
Hello, Sherry! I know that I can be guilty of putting myself one step ahead of what a person is going to say, only to find out I'm totally wrong. That's always been one of my faults. But, at least, I've never been the violent type. Never a chip on my shoulder. Second guessing? Yes.
I like Chambers's quote. Ironically, his first book was titled, Baffled to Fight Better, taken from a favorite line by Robert Browning.
681. Epilogue
AT the midnight in the silence of the sleep-time,
When you set your fancies free,
Will they pass to where—by death, fools think, imprisoned—
Low he lies who once so loved you, whom you loved so,
—Pity me?
Oh to love so, be so loved, yet so mistaken!
What had I on earth to do
With the slothful, with the mawkish, the unmanly?
Like the aimless, helpless, hopeless, did I drivel
—Being—who?
One who never turned his back but marched breast forward,
Never doubted clouds would break,
Never dreamed, though right were worsted, wrong would triumph,
Held we fall to rise, are baffled to fight better,
Sleep to wake.
No, at noonday in the bustle of man’s work-time
Greet the unseen with a cheer!
Bid him forward, breast and back as either should be,
“Strive and thrive!” cry “Speed,—fight on, fare ever
There as here!”
Thank you, Sherry!
Dave
Oh, Dave, it is SO good to see you back again, we have missed you!
Thank you, Debra! Right now, I'm just warming up a little. I think I'm a little rusty. Hopefully, I can get back into the swing of things, but I don't look forward to writing about any new murder cases in the Orlando area any time soon. I might just stick to lighthearted stories for now. I'm not really sure yet. I do know that I really, really appreciate your comment.