Silly Old Bats

Let me first set the scene.

The woman directly opposite me (Dorothy) is 73 years old. Now, my Sister Barbara is also 73 years old and my Mother at 73 was no different to when she was 50 or 60. The same with my Sister. Neither Mum nor Babs were/are what one would call "Old Ladies", at 73.

Admittedly Mum dropped dead a year later (which is a totally different matter), but both she and Barbara now, would be horrified, if at 73 years old people were treating them as old and incapable.

So, having ascertained that 73 is not an old and incapable age, unless of course one did have an illness that made one so, why does Dorothy expect me to treat her as a woman far older than her age.

Today there was a knock at my door. Now, this is really a non-smoking building, and as such, because I really, really wanted to live here, I ticked non-smoker when I applied for the flat. So because of this, although they all know I smoke, along with a handful of others, if someone from within the block knocks I quickly put the lid on my ashtray tin and blow all the ash and bits of baccy away from off of my computer, so it's not obviously in their faces if they come in.

Mostly it's from Dorothy that I am removing traces of fags because she is terrified, for some reason, that she may one day smell my smoke in the communal areas. Silly cow now thinks I only smoke outside and therefore hasn't mentioned smoke smell once since I told her I don't smoke indoors anyway.

So..... Knock at the door. One minute to put lid on ashtray tin and blow shit off my comp and dining table, and I open the door to.... Yep, Dorothy.

She wants to know how I am, and do I want any rubbish taken downstairs as she herself is on her way to the dustbins. "No Thanks as I took mine down earlier". It's a lie but I can't be bothered to tie up the top of my rubbish and hand it to her when I have two good legs myself.

Then she says, "You know you could knock on my door occasionally to make sure I am ok". "Yes but Dorothy I know you are ok because I hear you constantly talking and laughing outside when you are doing your gardening. I also hear you laughing and singing loudly on the landings sometimes, so I know you aren't dead or need help".

My point is, if she feels that she needs to knock on my door occasionally to check I am still breathing, and even though I am only in my early 60s, and have a family that rings daily, then I don't take offence. It's just a bit inconvenient at times. But I let her get on with it.

But, I am buggered if I am going to make it my responsibility to go knocking to her on a regular basis when I know she is still alive and kicking. She is as fit as a fiddle and has far more energy than I do. She isn't lonely because when I invite her in for a cuppa, every time she knocks, she declines, saying she was only making sure I was alright.

These are flats for the over 60s, simply to keep young people with kids out. It's not a bloody care home. Why on earth does the woman think we are all old and decrepit that live here? She's a pratt.