The other day Merritt the Lance deliveryman told me of a time in Buzzy’s Country Store a few years ago when he and Buzzy were going over a bill for snacks that Merritt had just delivered. Buzzy was having a hard time understanding what was on the bill and he and Merritt kept going over it.
As they were doing so, two Asian-American men came into the Store. The younger of the two asked for directions to Point Lookout. Buzzy looked up from the bill at the young man, then back down at the bill for a long moment before looking back at the man and saying “I’m sorry, but I forgot what you just asked.” The young man then went off on Buzzy calling him rude and impolite among other things. The older man, recognizing that Buzzy was having problems, grabbed the younger man by the arm, shook him and said something to him in their language. He then turned to Buzzy and said, “Please forgive my son for speaking to you like that.”
Moral: If an elderly person does something that annoys you, like driving way too slowly in front of you when you’re in a hurry, cut ’em some slack. You know we’ll all be there some day.