When waiting for my bus this morning, I met an interesting person: a World War II veteran. We didn't chat for long but our conversation consisted of education, sports and a little about his time in the war. He mentioned that he spent his 21st birthday in Singapore during the conflict; his current age is over 90 and while he is obviously more frail than he used to be, he is active and can take himself to places via public transportation. His gripe was with the cold weather.
My only problem with the discussion is that I hope I wasn't accidentally disrespectful towards him in any way. There were a couple of times when I wasn't sure how to respond, such as what to say about his war service ("Good for you!" is downright condescending and wasn't at all something I was going to say). I hope I came across as polite and as someone who improved his day a little.
As someone who loves the elderly and spends time with the elderly a lot; just listening to him made his world brighter. I know most just love telling their stories and want someone to listen. :)
ReplyDeleteI hope that was the case. :)
DeleteI'm SURE you were polite. :)
ReplyDeleteOh, I was certainly polite; I was interested in what he had to say and I hope that was conveyed adequately to him. :)
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