So, there I was today, standing on Yaffo St by the soup store, waiting in a relatively long line of people for some beet soup with vegetarian kubbe.

I go there once a month, the woman knows me, I know her, kinda.

Today it was busy, and she wasn’t so focused, so the queue was getting longer and longer. Two cops were ahead of me, and they have special ‘cop cards’ which means that you and me even get to pay for their lunch, and not just their salary.

The woman behind the till was a little flustered trying to work out the ‘cop cards’ and in the meantime, the queue was getting longer and longer.

Then, some old bat joined the queue, and some younger but still 65+ weird old guy showed up behind her.

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The cops were just finishing.

I’d been standing there 10 minutes already, waiting my turn. I stood up on the step to order my beet soup with vegetarian kubbe, when the old bat behind me started screaming in English:

I am here! I am here! I am here!

I looked at the serving woman, she looked at me. Just as she was about to continue serving me, the weird older guy chimed in with she’s here! In hebrew.

The woman behind the counter looked flustered. Then, she decided to ignore me and to start serving the rude old bat behind me, who was positively glowing, that she’d managed to push in so easily.

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What can I tell you, dear reader?

In a perfect world, I would accept all this with total equanimity, and saintly patience, and thank the good Lord for doling out the bizayon in such a ridiculously easy fashion.

But, it’s not a perfect world.

And I suddenly felt so upset and powerless about this old bat pushing in, in such a rude, ‘entitled’ way, after I’d been standing there patiently for 10 minutes already, that I decided to just walk away.

I try very hard not to swear any more, because Rabbenu talks about how much spiritual damage using swear words does to a person’s soul, but man o man, I was so sorely tempted to drop an F-bomb.

I didn’t. But I thought about it, a lot, as I walked away to find a different soup place somewhere else.

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Now, you’ll tell me they just passed a law in this country that lets OAPs push in.

I haven’t checked that out myself, I’d appreciate some links, or more info, to see if that’s really true.

But let’s assume, for the sake of argument, that it is.

Now, let’s assume that a huge proportion of the old people in the world actually have really, really bad middot. They spent their whole life not working on themselves, and now, naturally, as they age and get even more angry, miserable and bitter about life, they feel even more entitled to boss other people around, mistreat those around them, and generally act in a rude, obnoxious manner.

Does it sound like a good idea to any normal, sane person, to let these horrible old farts push in to any queue they feel like, gratis?

How is this meant to work, tachlis?

If I’ve been standing there for half an hour, and each time another old fart shows up and pushes in, am I just meant to keep standing there until I also become an OAP and then can finally get served?

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In a perfect world, I’d accept this with more equanimity.

But I’m at an age and stage in life when I’m just finding it harder and harder to pretend that when someone else is displaying a narcissistic sense of inflated entitlement that’s OK, just because they happen to be old.

Don’t get me wrong. If I see someone is weak, or not feeling well, or struggling to stand, I will be the first person to let that person go ahead of me in a queue.

But that was not what was going on today.

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So, in the meantime, if this really is a new law, and not just an urban myth, can someone please send me a link to something that explains clearly under what circumstances old people are now allowed to push in on any queue they want, in Israel?

Let’s start there.

Does it apply to soup places?

Car washes?

Rami Levi?

Only the post office?

The Kupat Holim?

I need to know what I’m dealing with here.

==

Most of the people who shop in my local super are OAP anglos, and I’ve been observing them for years, with an eye to doing everything in my power to not turn into one of them.

If there is more than one person in the queue, they start talking to the manager demanding he opens another till just for them.

They spend hours in the freezer section, critically discussing the appearance of the frozen blueberries with their spouses.

They give off really angry vibes, if you dare to try and dart in and get a pint of milk whilst they are stuck there staring at the dairy section for five minutes, trying to decide which brand of almond milk they want.

I have lost count of the number of angry, miserable and entitled old people I have observed in my local super.

It’s a not-so-silent prayer of mine, that God should help me to avoid their fate, and not think that being old somehow gives a person every justification for inflicting their bad middot on everyone else around them.

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Rabbenu teaches us very clearly:

It’s forbidden to be old!!!

It’s forbidden to turn into an old fart, who treats people horribly and expects to get away with it because their bones aches and their heart is heavy with a lifetime of moaning, complaining, blaming and pushing other people around.

God forbid, we should get to OAP age and still not have made even a start on working on overcoming our bad middot.

==

So, if there really is a new law in Israel, please send me details.

Let’s see what we’re really up against here.

And in the meantime, looks like I have a whole bunch of ‘patience and acceptance’ and other good middot, that I need to acquire.

Ad 120.

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UPDATE:

I found something online, about this ‘new law’, that was apparently passed back in 2017, only applies to 80+ year olds and ONLY APPLIES TO GOVERNMENT AGENCIES:

https://www.kolzchut.org.il/he/פטור_מהמתנה_בתור_לשירות_ציבורי_לאזרחים_ותיקים_מעל_גיל_80.com

The problem is, someone seems to have defined ‘government agencies’ as including cinemas, Osher Ad, and the beach.

Machine translated snippet:

Authorities considered a “public authority”

• Government office.
• City or local council.
• A corporation established by law, such as: the National Insurance Institute, Yad Vashem, Yad Yitzhak Ben-Zvi, the Israel Broadcasting Corporation, the Authority for the Conservation of Nature and the National Parks.
• A government company, a mixed company and a government subsidiary such as: Israel Electric Company, Israel Railways, Beit Hatfutsot, The Israel Museum.
• The Jewish Agency for the Land of Israel.
• HMO (the exemption applies only in line for office services).
• Any controlled body such as a factory, institution, foundation or other body that is directly or indirectly supported by the government.

Places considered public places

• Service provided by the post office or bank.

• Service provided in a cinema, theatre, concert hall, stadium.

• Service provided in the gallery, museum, library.

• Service provided at the facility to sell tickets for travel by public transport.

• Service provided at a memorial site, a national site, an antiquities site, a national park and a nature reserve.

• Service provided in large supermarkets (with a sale area of at least 250 square meters).

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How are *you and me* meant to be able to know if that pushy old lady is really 80+?

The one who pushed in today definitely wasn’t.

The one who pushed in on my husband two weeks ago, definitely wasn’t.

Also, if this law was passed nine years ago, why is it only now that I am starting to see all these selfish, entitled ‘old people’ pushing in?

And lastly, who in their right mind came up with this ridiculous, impractical law, that is giving me ‘Covid mask requirements’ vibes?

That would be this guy: MK Itzik Shmuli (Zionist Union).

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HERE is his Wiki Page, and this is a pertinent snippet:

Shmuli headed several lobbies in the Knesset, including the Retirees Lobby, the Lobby for Lone Soldiers, the Affordable Housing Lobby, the Animal Lobby and the Lobby for Pluralistic Judaism against Religious Fanaticism.

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Read more HERE.