During the past couple of weeks I have had to conduct business with adults who are over 50 years old, and as much as I hate to generalize and discriminate, there are just a few observations that I must vocalize: They are NOT good at following up. It doesn't matter if you call or email, it doesn't matter how urgent you sound on the phone, and it doesn't matter if you use all caps via email to convey just how important it is that they get back to you ASAP. They take their sweet time returning the message(s).

When I deal with people my own age, calls and the emails that go returned often turn into text conversations, because sometimes that the easiest mode with which to communicate. But older folks just don't seem to want to do that. I won't insult their intelligence by saying that they can't, because I've seen my dad send and receive texts, but he doesn't check his phone often enough to rely on that. And THEN when they finally do call or email, the reason you needed them has come and gone, and of course that's when they are super accessible, and want to chit-chat about things that are important to THEM. Again, this isn't me disrespecting my elders, I just want some reciprocity. I vow to not be like this when I get older. My calls, my texts and my emails will be returned in a prompt fashion. That is my promise to you.

On a more serious note, I saw an accident right in front of me this morning, and it was some pretty scary stuff. A jeep was trying to make a sharp right turn from the middle lane, and he ended up cutting off a cab that was in the turning lane. The jeep ran up on the curb, and the cab swerved and hit a parking meter AND a no parking sign, and severely smashed in the front of his car. No one was seriously hurt, and surprisingly, no tempers flared. But what really surprised me was how generous the non-accident individuals were. People (myself included) went up to the driver of the jeep, the cab driver and the passenger in the cab and made sure everyone was alright. One person called the police and asked if anyone needed an ambulance, and it just ran like a well-tuned operation. I even surprised myself by talking to the cab driver about mundane subjects to take his mind off his ruined cab. I know this sounds sappy, but it was just really nice to see random strangers get together, love one another, and help out.