You might think I’m not so aged in Arizona, especially if you consider I am here to provide a family presence for my 101 year old great aunt. And yet I had this experience yesterday:
I love thrift store shopping and I happened to find a store on the way home from visiting Aunt June. It was a busy place due to a 50% off sale and a number of families shopping for Halloween costumes. When I finally headed to the register with my little pile of treasures I was in line behind an adult male and 4 boys, ranging in age from about 9 to 12. As I waited about 10 minutes I learned they each had a $10 allowance for their costume and observed they had certainly had a great time picking out all sorts of interesting things. The youngest boy, upon reaching the register, exclaimed to the (male) cashier "I am going to be an old lady!".
And immediately he turned in my direction and exclaimed again — "No offense to old ladies".
Being naive, I turned around thinking there must be an older woman behind me who is potentially offended right now…but no, there was not another woman within 50 feet of us. He was directing this comment to ME!
While this is sinking in for me, I see that the face of the adult male accompanying him has gone from a nice color to stark white and the cashier is doing all he can to not laugh out loud.
I guess if someone has to deliver this news to me, a 9 year old boy excited about buying a bra is as good as anyone.