Employees at a local supermarket experienced some tense moments when an elderly man cut in front of a woman in the bakery department this morning. She had already been cut off by another elderly gentleman when she walked up to the counter to have a birthday cake decorated for her partner. As she waited her turn, another man walked up, looked at her waiting, and proceeded to walk right up to the register and ask for coffee. The employee looked over at the woman who was now beginning to snarl and then told the man it would be a few minutes while the coffee brewed. After being told that he wanted the cup filled 1/3 of the way with hot water before adding the coffee, the bakery employee finally helped the woman who was now tapping her foot. When asked why she didn’t say anything to the old man who cut in line, she replied:

“Pretty much the only thing that saved that old codger from a verbal ass-kicking was his age. I mean, I like old people. They’re funny, honest, and usually have some pretty good stories to tell. But some of these guys give senior citizens a bad name. I did say ‘Gee, I guess I’m not standing here waiting to be helped,’ but I don’t think he had his hearing aid turned up all the way. It also helped that I’ve had two meals, a coffee, and a soda. Otherwise, my inner bitch probably would have come out. I did try to send him a message by sighing, shaking my head, raising my eyebrow at him, and tapping the cart with my free hand. I think he got the message because he suddenly became interested in the menu at the counter. Had he been under 50, I probably would have told him where he could stick his coffee.”

We tried to ask the gentleman his take on the incident, but he walked by and pretended to not hear us. On the way out of the store, the woman gave us one last statement.

“It’s people like that who make me want to carry a taser.”