I went through airport security Monday and neglected to take my laptop out of my briefcase and place it in a separate plastic bin and was properly chastised by a TSA lady who put her hands on her hips and said, “I just got done telling you about laptops!”
Not many 75-year-old men from Minnesota are out to blow up an airliner, but of course it only takes one, and she was right to say, “Did you not hear me, sir?” in that sardonic tone of voice.
When you’re 75, people treat you with deference and call you “sir” and ask if they can carry your bags, all the courtesies that might be extended to a Cabinet undersecretary or a retired newscaster.