Now I realize one day (hopefully) I will be old, too. Meantime, I have just under 30 or so years before I get to the magical age of 80. I can’t wait that long. I need to know now. I have a burning question that I must know the answer to:
Why do old people randomly stop in their tracks for no apparent reason??
Like you’re oh, say, grocery shopping. There’s an old person in front of you as you’re moving on to the next aisle. Suddenly without any warning, without any signals or brake lights, the person just stops. And when they stop, it is always right in the middle of the aisle, completely blocking access to said aisle. Usually it’s an extremely important aisle that you must go down because it has things like coffee and chocolate and cookies.
Then you try to get the old person’s attention. You wave. Old Person doesn’t see you. You say, “Excuse me.” Old Person doesn’t hear you. You yell, “EXCUSE ME!”
Slowly they look up. They look at you like you have 20 heads with snakes coming out of them. Then they slowly move an inch, thinking they are now out of the way. Finally they realize that maybe a little Yorkie pushing a teeny tiny shopping cart might be able to pass them but no other object is going to get by. Finally they get out of the way.
I need to know what compels them to suddenly stop. I want to know if this is going to happen to me when I’m 80. Is it something that’s contagious? Is it a requirement into the secret club of old people?
Simple. They stop because they forgot where they are going and they are trying to remember.
And now the karma of the old gods will bite me in the rear.
i’m thinking secret club…you know, the kind with the secret hand-shake and the secret oath…
Just wait a couple of years and I’ll be able to tell you from personal experience.
I think they are just standing there and start thinking…”.I’ve been shopping since before most of these people were even born.” Then they stop and they are thinking”they think something is wrong with my old ass but I’m just gonna stand here another minute to bug them.” If I am lucky enough to live to that age I’m gonna have fun.
**stalk-stalk**I’M BACK**stalk-stalk-stalk**
I am here to answer your question about this “old people” phenomenon. Actually, Lanny comes very, very close. They did forget where they were going AND why they were going there. Additionally, however, the loop between the brain and the legs/feet that makes them move randomly shorts out without warning. Here’s the problem. It doesn’t JUST happen at the grocery store; it happens at home, too. But here’s the bigger problem. That 30 years you seem to think you’ve got before it happens to you? Make that more like about 3.0 years. Seriously.
**retreats from stalking**
Nah, I just can’t imagine coming to a dead stop just because I don’t remember what I was doing. I never remember what I’m doing & that usually motivates me to wander around even more, trying to remember what the heck it was that caused me to walk into a room in the first place.