Below is a true story that I heard on the radio while I was waiting for my wife at the Laundromat. When I arrived home I sat down and wrote it out. (March 29, 3:00 PM 2004) "I hear things on the radio" ??
Red Burtt
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Somewhere In Florida:
There was a food fight and fist fight in a “Home For The Elderly” today. It seems a 73 yr old man named Al was at the salad bar and he was fishing through the lettuce with his hands. Behind him in line was another gentleman who was in his eighties named Fred.
Fred told Al he shouldn’t be handling the salad with his bare hands. Al, in return, told Fred to mind his own damn business, Fred, becoming upset pushed Al, and then standing behind Fred, was Al’s mother, who is also a resident and is in her nineties screamed, “my son Al, only likes certain parts of the lettuce”, she then rammed her walker into Fred’s back causing him to fall down, Al’s mother also fell. Al became enraged and was now throwing food and trying to kick Fred who was lying on the floor along with Al’s mother. Al then lost his balance and he too fell, dislocating his hip.
Two other elderly residents who were sitting at tables near the salad bar also joined the fray. One bent down and tried to punch Al and he fell, fracturing his wrist, the other managed to punch Al in the face and then he too fell on the slippery floor that was now covered with food and salad dressing.
When firefighters and police arrived Al’s mother had her blouse torn off, one breast was showing and was hanging in a bowl of sliced beets, she was semi conscious and was having trouble breathing, Al had lost his teeth and was bleeding from his nose. The two men that had gotten up from the tables to join the fight were also lying in the food on the floor, gasping for breath.
Firefighters said they had never seen anything like it, when they entered the dining room there were several elderly people lying on the floor trying to breath, food was scattered all over the room and walls. Several canes, eyeglasses and a walker were also scattered about. Other residents that were not involved in the actual fighting were screaming and crying, some were shouting obscenities at the combatants. It was also noted by one police officer that several of the older male residents still sitting at the dining room tables had urinated in their pants.
Two sets of false teeth were found on the floor mixed in with the boiled eggs and chicken noodle soup that had fallen from the salad bar.
Several ambulances were needed to transport the injured to the hospital. All had oxygen masks attached to their faces.
One of the older residents that was sitting at the dining room table and joined the fight, died later that day. (No charges were filed).
Al and his mother were both asked to leave the home within thirty days.
“When I grow to old to dream, I will have you to remember”
Author: Red Burtt