Another Senior Day At The Cinema

Mom called the other day and asked if I wanted to go see the new movie The Second Exotic Marigold Hotel which I agreed to go to since I didn't have anything better to do. We decided to go to the afternoon matinee and went to Applebees for lunch. It was really a hard decision about lunch because we usually like to go to Red Lobster when we're in the neighboring town. After lunch, we purchased our tickets, bitched about the price of the popcorn and walked inside the movie theater. I thought it was strange when the lady selling the tickets said that we had purchased the last two tickets and the movie was now sold out. It was a Wednesday afternoon, school was in session and I didn't think that this movie was supposed to be a blockbuster or anything. I soon got my answer when we arrived in Theater Two; the place was packed. It was filled with row upon row of old people, namely senior citizens. I was the youngest person in there by about 30 years. Even Mom, who ain't a spring chicken any longer looked at me strangely. "What the heck's going on," she asked. "Did they get Senior price? Did they get a group discount? How can I get in this group?" We found two seats up in the very last row and after tripping over two walking canes, a walker on wheels and a prosthetic leg we settled into our seats. The movie started and we were about 30 minutes into it when the tape broke. Mom elbowed me and decided that she wanted popcorn after all and now would be a good time to get it. I agreed and started down the steps when I heard someone ask me if I was going to the concession stand. I stopped and looked towards the voice and was startled to see the smallest little old lady imaginable. I said I was and she asked if I would get her something too. Her legs don't move so good especially when she's been sitting awhile. I nodded in agreement, collected her money and started back down the steps. Another voice chimed in. And then another. Finally, once I reached the bottom of the stairs, I just asked the entire audience who wanted popcorn. Almost every hand in the theater wobbled upright. I looked a little scared I think because the lady on the bottom row said, "Come on honey, I'll help you." It seems in the rush to get the Soothing Waters Assisted Living Home residents inside the theater before the movie started someone had neglected to ask the Seniors if they wanted any refreshments. And that's how for the next 30 minutes, myself and my helper, Genevieve, made about 25 trips to the concession stand. The manager of the theater noticed what we were doing and didn't restart the movie until we had finished. Everyone had popcorn and everyone had a drink! Well, almost. When I walked backed up the stairs totally exhausted to reclaim my seat Mom gave me a quizzical look. "Where's my popcorn?" she asked. "Here, honey," the lady in front of us said, "she can have the rest of mine. I only wanted a bite or two anyway." We accepted her offering and after the movie got back into the car. "Where's my ten bucks?" mom asked. "What ten bucks?" I asked. "The money I gave you for the popcorn; you didn't get me any, remember?" I just smiled and handed over the money...

But, I thought...?

Excuse me while I sit here hitting myself with my rolling pin, but I'm still shaking my head about something that happened the other day. I had whisked Mom away from her square dancing and poker tournaments for an exciting day trip into the northeastern corner of Georgia to go leaf looking. Of course, there were no leaves to be found or seen because we are experiencing our third consecutive year of rain, drizzle and fog. Which means you can barely see your hand in front of your face, let alone, a beautiful mountaintop bursting with splendid oranges, yellows, and reds. We soon grew tired of squinting through the fog and listening to my wipers SCREECH across the windshield and decided it was time to stop for lunch. I had done some research on restaurants in the area and had settled on a seafood place called Rumor Hazeit. We ordered lunch and began to look around the dining area and took notice of the other customers. One table was obviously local business people enjoying a leisurely lunch, another table possibly a young couple in love because they were suck facing constantly. (Get a room!) Other tables were filled with other tourists out enjoying the fog and rain, and the last table, well, it was filled with senior citizens. I counted at least ten gray, purple, and silver haired beauties sitting together. I'm not sure if they were local or not; just out for the day. Could have been a church group, who knows. But they were the quietest bunch of ladies I'd ever seen. Almost made me nervous. We had finished eating and were letting our food settle while watching the server that had been handling the seniors try to settle up their bills. I could sense she was getting a little frustrated because they couldn't remember who ordered what and didn't agree with the amounts on the bill. One of the ladies began talking privately to her and for some reason the waitress announced that it was her birthday. Dead silence ensued and what happened next is what had me asking, "But, I thought..." Everyone of those ladies stood up and began singing Happy Birthday...to...the... waitress. Mom and I looked at each other with the same WTH face. I thought the waitress was supposed to sing to the customer. Whatever! We didn't want to be party poopers so we joined in and before the song ended the whole restaurant had stood up and sang Happy Birthday. The waitress smiled and thanked everybody and said we had really made her day. I'm sure that's one birthday that will never be forgotten.

Senior Day At The Cinema

Mom called the other day and asked if I wanted to go see the new movie about Julia Child titled Julie and Julia. I agreed to go since I didn't have anything better to do. We decided to go to the afternoon matinee and went to Applebees for lunch. It was really a hard decision about lunch because we usually like to go to Red Lobster when we're in the neighboring town. Anyhow, lunch was mostly uneventful. We got the Horatio Cane of waitresses. She tried having a conversation with us and wouldn't even look our way. She kept looking out the window and down at the floor. If you're not sure about what I'm referring to check out CSI Miami and watch Horatio. He's always looking down and has his head tilted funny. Weird! We purchased our tickets, bitched about the price of the popcorn and walked inside the movie theater. I thought it was strange when the lady selling the tickets said that we had got the last two tickets and the movie was now sold out. It was a Wednesday afternoon, school had already started back and I didn't think that this movie was supposed to be a blockbuster or anything. I soon got my answer when we arrived in Theater 2; the place was packed. It was filled with row upon row of old people, namely senior citizens. I was the youngest person in there by about 30 years. Even Mom, who ain't a spring chicken any longer looked at me strangely. What the heck's going on she seemed to be thinking. Did they get Senior price? Did they get a group discount? How can I get in this group? I knew that these thoughts were probably running through Mom's head. We found two seats up in the very last row and after tripping over 2 walking canes, a walker on wheels and a prosthetic leg we settled into our seats. The movie started and we were about 30 minutes into it when the tape broke. Mom elbowed me and decided that she wanted popcorn after all and now would be a good time to get it. I agreed and had started down the steps when I heard someone ask me if I was going to the concession stand. I stopped and looked towards the voice and was startled to see the smallest little old lady imaginable. I said I was and she asked if I would get her something too. Her legs don't move so good especially when she's been sitting awhile. I nodded in agreement, collected her money and started back down the steps. Another voice chimed in. And then another. Finally, once I reached the bottom of the stairs, I just asked the entire audience who wanted popcorn. Almost every hand in the theater wobbled upright. I looked a little scared I think because the lady on the bottom row said, "Come on honey, I'll help you." It seems in the rush to get the Soothing Waters Assisted Living Home residents inside the theater before the movie started someone had neglected to ask the Seniors if they wanted any refreshments. And that's how for the next 30 minutes, myself and my helper, Genevieve, made about 25 trips to the concession stand. The manager of the theater noticed what we were doing and didn't restart the movie until we had finished. Everyone had popcorn and everyone had a drink! Well, almost. When I walked backed up the stairs totally exhausted to reclaim my seat Mom gave me a quizzical look. "Where's my popcorn?" she asked.

The Nerve Of That Woman...Part I

I had to go to Walmart the other day to pick up a few things I needed and took my cart over to the checkout lanes when I finished. Of course, all of the lines were extremely long so I just settled into line behind a little old lady that closely resembled my late Granny. "Oh, my goodness!" she exclaimed. "I don't know how these people can get away with charging 3 dollars for a loaf of bread. I'm just a little old lady on a fixed income and I can't afford these prices. I stayed at home my whole life caring for my husband and my children only to be left nearly penniless by some fat cat up in New York, Wall E Street, I think it's called. That madman, Milhoff, took all of our money and spent it on thousand dollar golf shirts. A thousand dollars for a shirt, who would pay that? I was hoping to have an easier time in my Golden Years and now I can barely afford food for me and my retarded son. I had to leave him out in the car because I upset him when I get to complaining about these prices. I don't mean to, but I'm doing the best I can." "I'm sorry to hear that," I said. I felt sorry for the lady, I really did. Times are tough all over. I hadn't lost any money to that Milhoff guy but I had lost one of my part time jobs and was beginning to feel the pinch myself. It was finally her turn to begin placing her items up on the register belt and she began talking to the cashier and pointing to me in a friendly manner...