Screen Your Comments More Carefully

I was at a coffee shop. There were two padded chairs in a corner, and I was sitting in one of them. The other chair was next to an empty table. An elderly man and what I assumed was his grandson walked up.

Grandfather: “Excuse me. Is this seat taken?”

He gestured to the empty padded chair.

Me: “Oh, no. Go ahead.”

The grandfather sat. He pulled a chair out from the table for his grandson, who seemed to be happily playing with a toy. I turned back to my laptop and put my headphones on. After a moment, I realized the grandfather was trying to get my attention, so I pulled off my headphones.

Grandfather: “You know, staring too much at a screen can damage your eyes.”

Me: “Um… okay.”

I turned back to my laptop and ignored him. I guess you were upset that I wasn’t interested in talking to you, old man. Maybe you should have focused on spending time with your grandson instead of making passive-aggressive remarks to strangers.