On Friday, I was choosing apples in the grocery store and overheard two men talking about destroying the economy when old people were going to die anyways.

“Excuse me, gentlemen” I said, “ but that hurts my feelings, I know my mother is old, but I do not want her to die.” Without another word, I stood there looking at the two men.

After a long silence, one of the men said he wasn’t talking about my mother. I remained silent. The other man said they didn’t mean to hurt my feelings. I turned to the other man and asked if his parents lived in nursing homes? He asked why, what difference did that make? I told him I had a feeling that was the difference between us. In my family old people live with their families, they took care of us and we take care of them. I asked again, if his parents lived in a nursing home. He said his mother lived in a nursing home. I asked if that might explain the reason I was wearing a mask and he wasn’t? The stubborn man said no — so I dived in hard. Sir, other people are taking care of your mother so you don’t have to. But I take care of my mother, so I wear a mask to protect her. Given the number of old people dying in nursing homes right now, it makes me wonder why they were put there to begin with. What does it say about American families? Believe it or not, we finally landed on common ground.