Old? OLD?????

Daffodils in Colchester Castle Park

We've been having a touch of spring here, warm sunny days and blue skies. It can't last; too early. So I've been trying to make the most of it, getting out in the sun.

I took mum to the park the other day. It was a gorgeous afternoon; we fed nuts to the squirrels, admired the banks of daffodils and eventually, bought some tea and cake from the cafe and took a bench in the sun by a big beech tree. Ahhh..... so lovely, so quiet....... until-

a man and a woman entered the park with a small, screaming child. The woman was trying to force him into a pushchair that he seemed far too large to need, and the father swore and smoked as he looked on. Then he took hold of the child, still screaming and now kicking too, and carried him along to throw him into the chair. He looked over at us and, seeing that we were looking their way (as was everyone else, attention having been drawn by the sudden NOISE), shouted, "HAVEN'T YOU ANYTHING BETTER TO LOOK AT, YOU NOSY OLD BITCH?", accompanied by certain hand gestures.

My initial thought was, well, YES, I have PLENTY better things to look at than you, actually, in fact, being a park, there are probably one or two turds around here that I would enjoy looking at more.
But the thought that really dominated my mind for the rest of the day was "Old? OLD? ME?? Do I look OLD?"

I said this to a friend and she said, "Oh, the 'nosy bitch' bit didn't bother you then?" Well no, to be honest, that just went over my head. Water off a duck's back, I'm pleased to say. Relieved to say; relieved that this didn't happen on one of my bad days, when it would have sent me reeling- downwards. No. "Nosy bitch" is nasty. But "old" is just plain below the belt!!!

I've since realised two things;
1) that he was probably lashing out because he was embarrassed at not being able to control his child,
and 2) that he was probably lashing out because he was paranoid, owing to extensive use of canabis.

Oh, is that assuming a bit much? Hmm. Maybe I am seeing too much Jeremy Kyle on TV. He looked like a prospective guest on that show though. Grrrr. Good grief!