(Originally posted in r/military)

I was stationed at a Coast Guard Air Station as a Yeoman, assigned to the ID card desk. We were the only military unit within a hundred miles, so we got all the retirees and dependents.

This one morning, a very nice old lady walked in, needing her dependent ID card renewed. I greeted her, walked her over to my desk, sat her down, and started the process. While I was typing up the Champus form, we chatted about various things. She told me about her late husband, who had fought in Korea, and how both her sons and her oldest daughter had all joined various branches, and then let me know that she had Alzheimer's, so if she sort of faded and seemed not to know what was going on, that was the reason.

I stopped and asked her if she needed a glass of water or something, and she laughed and said she felt fine at the moment. After I went back to typing, she explained that having Alzheimer's wasn't really all that bad. "I can buy myself Christmas presents and surprise myself on Christmas morning!"

As I was laughing, she added that she never had to suffer fools either. She'd just look away for a moment, then look back at them, a little puzzled, and introduce herself. "After I've done that a few times, they usually walk away," she whispered, delighted with herself.

I got the paperwork done. She signed it and I walked it into my Chief's office for him to sign the form and card. When I returned, our XO was animatedly talking to the lady. Apparently, she was head of some important group in town or related to someone important ... I never did sort it out, but he was sucking up to her like a starving remora.

I sat back down and got my Polaroid out to take her picture for the card, so I had a marvelous view of her slowly looking away from my XO. After a moment, she turned back, a little shocked to see him talking to her, and introduced herself to him, pleasantly. He seemed perplexed and looked at me in confusion, and then she did it again!

That's when he gave up and wandered back into his little cave.

After he'd left, she leaned forward and said, "See? Works every time!"

I hope I'm that cool at her age.