Rude old woman

Yesterday we all went shopping at a local shopping center. My daughter needed new shoes for school so Mrs F and her set off around the variety of shoe emporiums. What a nightmare - "I'm not having Clarks they are so unfashionable" my daughter complains. I can't see the point of that but also point out that Clarks last for years - well my brogues do anyhow. Mrs F "I'm not paying that - you need a mortgage" - however they last years... I'll shut up they aren't listening.

So they go to another shop and agree on a pair but they only have the left one for a pair size 4 - where the hell is the other one? You'd think they'd remember only selling one!

So son and I take the list for the curry that night to the Sainsbury. We finish and sit on a bench by the exit waiting for the girls.

A lady - probably in her 70s comes along clinging to a trolley - clearly she had some difficulty walking. Now she has plenty more right to sit on the bench than my son and I who are now surrounded by carrier bags reading Guitar Buyer while waiting for the shoe buying marathon to end. She only had to say "Excuse my love - could you move up so my husband and I could sit there?" I'd have gladly moved over. But no she shouts (I use that word advisedly in my view given where she was in relation to us and her husband) - "We can sit there - get him to move - get him to move all his bags - we can sit there". I shut my magazine and looked her in the eye "I'll ****ing move then shall I." I do regret the profanity that wasn't called for and deflated my moral position here a bit. I picked up the bags and we vacated the seat. Behind me she says "Oh I didn't mean it like that". I didn't turn as it wasn't worth the scene but I want to say "Yes you did or else you'd have asked politely - I see loads of stuff on the TV and in the press about no respect for older people etc. well it's a two way street isn't it". This isn't the first and no doubt not the last time I'll get feed up with this my daughter gets it frequently...

The worse one of those was a while back when my daughter along with a load of other girls were all getting on the bus outside her school. An older lady said really loudly to her companion - "It a disgrace all these girls on the bus it's only because their parents are too lazy to pick them up". When she told me this I was flabbergasted - she uses the bus since (at that point) we were both at work paying taxes to pay for her free bus transport - by the way where I live we don't get free bus passes for kids to go to school (which I think it flatly nuts!) so it costs us hundreds of pounds to get her to and from school. Also it is the greenest option as well.

GRRRRR!!!

Maybe though there is something to this - can I get to the age where I can say this sort of vitriol without fear of retribution because I'm old - what age do you think is the cut over point for this? I hope it's 50 as I'm only 2 years away from it :-)