Talking To Old Guys

So I have these old guys that work with me. Now, they're not that that old (one is 55, the other is 58), but together they've been working with the Health Department for combined over 70 years. Naturally, they like to look back fondly on the past and try to remember when things were "like this."

Every once in a while, one of them would like to chat with me. I like to think of myself as respectful of my elders, so if anything, I keep an ear open and appease them with my full attention. This morning, though, I somehow got stuck talking to both of them at the same time. Now while it may be like I'm complaining over something silly, keep in mind:

1. One of them likes to talk and talk about how it was in the past, but I don't think he realizes that he is changing the subject every couple of sentences thinking he's making some great segways. Total non sequiturs, unfortunately

2. The other likes to display his "memory" of people he once worked with, for, or just in general, met in life. Unfortunately, he says aloud, "what's his name?" followed by him humming and hawing and tilting his head up high trying to remember the person's name. One literal minute later, he finally remembers (if he's lucky), and in the meantime he doesn't let anyone else say anything because of the aforementioned vocalized humming and hawing

3. The first guy likes to group things he's talking about (ex. "Jason, settling for retirement comes down to five things...") followed by him counting down using each finger. The problem is, he does this haphazardously. What do I mean? Basically, he'll give me the top three reasons to something he is grumbling about, but then when he gets to the second point, he'll realize that he doesn't have a third point (I'm assuming he thought he could improvise). So what does he end up doing? Changing the subject thinking he's making a great segway into a related point. Again, though, it turns out to be a non-sequitur

4. I have to keep saying, "yes, uh-huh, mmmhmmm, yup, right, of course" realistically, pretending I have full concentration as to what they are saying. Interspersed in this is me trying to change the subject to a concluding statement to perhaps end the conversation, but then eventually it turns into...

5. Them taking a seat beside me. At that point I know I'm going to have to be in this conversation for the long haul. And try to hide the pain in my face I sometimes get when, quite frankly, I'm not in the mood to socialize with them because...

6. They are literally grumpy old men. They like to talk negatively, about, well, mostly everything and how "it wasn't like this when they started out in the field"

"I remember when I was worth six pence, none the richer"

Eventually, I try to convince them to retire. No such luck, yet. I hope my Dad isn't like this at his work. I also hope when I get to their age...actually, scratch that. I can't even imagine what it's like to be 30. I hope oldness isn't hereditary