Excuse me, what time is it? - a true story

I had to pop in at the bank today. In the queue, in front of me, an old man with a cane was guarding his shopping bag. When he saw me settle behind him, he turned around apologetically and asked if he could leave his bag and go sit down a bit. I smiled and nodded. When the queue moved forward, he stood up to move his bag along with everyone. The second time, I moved his bag before he even got a chance to stand up.

Behind me, was another old man.

— Excuse me, what time is it?

— 10.34.

He then notices that I have two watches. I explain to him that one of them is a smartwatch where I can check my notifications, but it’s sometimes a bit stupid when it comes to just showing me the time. The other watch was a gift, so I cherish it and it also shows me the time. I tell him that so many things can be smart nowadays, even lightbulbs! We then talk about the long queue, he asks where I’m from - his neighbours and the lady who cuts his hair are also Romanian, and we talk about grandparents (his nan lived to be 97!).

Unfortunately, he had a doctor’s appointment at 11 am and even though I offered to let him in front of me, it would’ve already been too late for him. He left the queue to go to the doc. I hope that when he returned to the bank the queue was short and he found nice people to chat with.