Dear Editor: With a broken little finger, I was waiting in a little room at the emergency room when finally the doctor came in. Two of my Christian friends were on either side of me. The doctor asked about previous surgeries to see if I was fit enough to have another one on my finger. Next January I'll be 73 years old so I'm telling him how blessed I've been with good health but that I'm accident prone.

He took out his cell phone, and, picture this, all three were on their cell phones. So this Louisiana slang voice came out of me and said, "Oh, but no Sha. Old people want your time, not your money or presents, but your time. So either sue me or take your phones away from me."

All cell phones were put away. By the way, I waited two days for some of the swelling to go down and then had the surgery.