Retirement home melee breaks out over salad bar

[ShibbOleth]

Originally from The St. Petersburg Times
WINTER HAVEN - A dispute at the salad bar turned into a food fracas at an upscale retirement home, with a man biting another's arm and other residents suffering minor injuries.

Police said Lee Thoss, 62, of the Spring Haven Retirement Community was picking through the lettuce, which disgusted 86-year-old William Hocker, standing in line behind him Sunday.

Hocker told Thoss no one wanted to eat food he had been playing with. Thoss yelled and cursed at him, Hocker told police, and Hocker called him a nasty name. Then, witnesses said, Thoss began punching Hocker in the face.

In the melee that followed, Allen Croft, 79, tried to grab Thoss, who bit him on the arm, according to reports. Thoss' mother, Arlene, in her 80s and also a Spring Haven resident, attempted to break up the fight and ended up with a cut arm. Harry Griffin, 92, was at the salad bar and cut his head when he was knocked to the ground.

Is it just me, or does this sound like a scene in a bad movie?

[Zoe]

My mother is 91 and lives in assisted care where the residents are still reasonably spry. To my amazement, I find that the GI generation hasn't lost its feistiness. Some are angry at being as confined as they are. Others don't like being patronized. Some are being stolen from or talked rudely to.

There is a lot of geriatric depression too which can lead to anger. I don't think this generation was really taught how to deal with angry feelings before they become aggressive.

I've also noticed situations where the residents were no longer mentally competent and should have been in nursing homes (where they would be more closely monitored) instead of assisted care.

Maybe when the Boomers move in everything will return to a state of peace and love. I'm counting on medical marijuana.

[Jenaroph]

Add snappy dialogue and subtract the injuries, and it sounds like a scene from the Simpsons.