You Got Dad’s Back

Health & Body, Jerk, Pharmacy | Right | March 26, 2013


(I am eight years old. My mother, father, and I are all in the chemist to get some medication. My father has a rare spinal condition which is causing him to wobble when he walks, even with a frame. We’re waiting at the counter and hear a customer behind us make a remark under their breath; deliberately loud enough for us to hear.)

Customer: “Drunk at nine am; you should be ashamed.”

(We try to ignore it.)

Customer: “This is disgusting; you should be so embarrassed.”

(I don’t like this person being rude to my father.)

Me: “Watch your tone lady. If you’d bother to be polite and ask if my father is okay, you’d know he has a special illness that makes him this way. He’s not drunk; he’s my father, and I love him. Now apologize for being so mean about him.”

(She went red, stammered, and went down an aisle. The pharmacist gave me a lollipop.)