Deli indelicate

This is to the not-so-gentle man who was at the local delicatessen a week ago and decided to take it upon himself to confront our table with hands on hips to tell us to "be quiet," that he was trying to talk.

We were on the patio of the deli in the midst of a family reunion when you decided to join us out there. You could plainly see that there were four adults and four small children who, by the way, were all in their seats and totally behaving but, God forbid, laughing and having a good time. You could have just as easily turned around and left if you didn't like the atmosphere. You chose to stay.

My son was home on leave from the military to celebrate his son's second birthday, to whom we were all laughing because the 2year-old was showing off for his cousins by pretending to be a bear.

You can consider yourself very lucky because my military son wanted to grab you by the back of your shirt and take you outside to teach you how to speak to people, particularly his mother, wife, sister, son and nieces. He had a hard time staying put and being the "gentleman" in this situation. He was, after all, on his first day of leave and trying to relax and have a nice happy visit with his family. Thank you for spoiling that with your ignorance. You owe this young man a huge debt of gratitude and a huge apology.

Who are you going after next, the elderly and infirm? You have already decided to be in charge of the military and small children who laugh in public on an open patio at a local deli. You must feel like a really big, important person to think you have the right to speak to anyone like that, but you should most definitely move to the desert or the mountains away from this family oriented community, because anyone who can't stand the sound of children's laughter should rethink their lives and their value to this community. Joan Bock Agoura Hills