We're at Naturally Yours. It's been a long day. The kids are getting impatient, and I'm tired. This is our last stop. We're in the checkout line with our few items and looking forward to going home. Then the oldest-looking man I've ever seen comes shuffling up to me and says, "Do you mind if I get in front of you? I can't stand for very long." There are two people ahead of me, so I don't know why he chooses me, but of course I step back and let him cut in front of me.
There are only two checkers working, and the lines are both fairly long, and things always move slowly there. The old man has plenty of time to tell me all about every ailment he's ever had, and there are lots of them. My kids are trying to talk to me too, but I'm giving them the sideways evil eye that says "Don't interrupt". There's no break in the litany of ailments, and the kids are getting very annoyed that I'm not acknowledging them. (By the way, this situation happens all the time. I'm trying to teach the children that it's rude to interrupt, but isn't it just as rude for the person who's monopolizing my time to completely ignore my children?).
Finally, the guy gets up to the cashier. He very slowly pulls out a big stack of gift cards and says, "I just had my 98th birthday, and I asked everyone to get me gift cards for Naturally Yours." Each card must have had five or ten bucks on it, because he went through the whole stack. I stood in that line for over 20 minutes. I hope it was a character building experience, but I haven't seen any evidence of it yet.
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