Old people and art galleries

Why is it that the most senior of our citizens tend to act stubbornly and rudely, and refuse to understand the rest of the world? I'm afraid of becoming old, because of some of the plus65 people I've met. I encounter these people in the gallery all the time, and they get furious with me and refuse to listen, because they don't understand the exhibits. Today, I was walking through the gallery and setting up for a tour group, when this white-haired old lady, with a shiny gold tooth and really bad breath, stomped toward me, scowling. She demanded to know where the "art" was. She was standing too close to me, and she didn't ask nicely. Conscious of our image as a public gallery, I patiently explained that the exhibit was called Marking Time, about Saskatchewan artists. What I wanted to say was, "Listen, you old bat, you're surrounded by art! Look at it!" She leaned in even closer, and I tried to back up (invading my personal space is not allowed, I don't care how long you've lived on this earth), and she loudly said, "no, I want to see the art. The real art! Where are the pictures?" I was a little confused about this, since she didn't seem to understand that she was in an art gallery, and there's different kinds of art. I told her that we had this photographer in Gallery 3, that artist in Gallery 1, and so on. She looked around and said, "I want to see lots of art, lots of pictures, not this stuff. Where is it?" I finally directed her to the only 4 paintings we have on display now, realizing that she was not going to listen to anything I said anyway, and I wanted her away from me. She shook her head, muttering as she walked away. It annoyed me that she couldn't see the other forms of art around her, and that she berated me for something I have no control over. I don't like everything I see in the gallery either, but I know that it's a matter of taste, it doesn't mean the art is invalid. I wish I had said that I couldn't help her, that I had a job to do and she could figure this out for herself. But my boss would be proud, anyway.

Congratulations are in order!

angrymonkey has done something that has never been done before, not by angrymonkey! (okay, enuff talking about myself in the third person...very irritating!)
I received my certificate from Medicine Hat College, officially welcoming me onto the College Honour Roll. I never dreamed, when I was in grade school and high school, that I could ever accomplish that. I always felt dumb, and my constant failures and low self-esteem prevented me from seeing that I could do it, and no one else was able to see what was really going on. But now, as a mature student, I know what I'm dealing with, I know what I need to do, and I worked very, very hard to get there! It gives me a goal for next year, as well...I'd really like to continue that success, and stay on the honour roll for the three+ years I'll be there.

Just some thots on the Michael Jackson trial (and I'd love to hear anyone's thots on this, as well): whether he is guilty of sexual abuse I'm not sure. I think the jury actually did the right thing, in acquitting him, despite my personal feelings about MJ. There just wasn't enough evidence to convict, and the justic system seems to be following "innocent until Proven guilty". You can't convict a person based on what you think he might have done. (That being said, I do think he's guilty of manipulating children for his own selfish need to identify with children, and avoid taking responsibily for himself). Anytime an adult, whether he is childlike in behavior or not, uses a child for selfish reasons, he or she is guilty of inappropriate behavior. It is wrong for an adult to welcome a child into their bed, to hang out almost exclusively with children, and to act like they themselves are children.