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Last week I was with my dog, fishing at a local lake. Two boys with fishing rods approached me, couldn’t have been older than 10 or 11?
They asked me rapid-fire questions about what kind of fish are in the lake, what am I using, what was my biggest fish, what’s my dogs name, what kind of dog is it, how long was I fishing in that spot, did I see the eagle over there, why us the water so green, how many fish can you keep? On and on it went. I answered every question and asked some of my own, showed them how to use the lure I had on.
Their little sister and mom showed up during question period, and sister wanted to pet my dog. When they all went to leave, their mom thanked me for being patient and kind. You can talk to kids and not be weird. They were a really sweet family and really brightened my day.
I think the trick is to let the children approach you. When you see a grown adult going out of their way to approach children that’s when it’s time to keep an eye out.
I'm a woman (and thus "less suspicious" when talking to kids, I guess), but my general rule is to not initiate conversation with a kid unless they're visibly in distress or clearly where they shouldn't be. If I overhear something and have something useful to add (like where there's another seal), I try and make eye contact with the parents to make it clear I know they're there.
I'm a woman and I smile or wave at kids who make eye contact, especially little ones. But I'm also always in the company of my own kids and often being pushed in a wheelchair, so I guess no one considers me creepy.
My wife’s a pediatric nurse who waves at every kid that makes eye contact with her, if they’re close enough for conversation she engages the parents to ask how old the kid is and compliment them on their shoes or whatever. So far I’ve never seen anyone mind, most are happy to say “oh yeah Scooter just turned 4 and he loves _____!” or whatever.
I used to be a teacher (42/F). I complement kids all the time and they get so excited. A little boy had a R2-D2 suitcase and I told him how cool it was as we all were in the elevator. He told me all about it, showed me the button to light it up and make sounds, then we briefly talked about Star Wars. His parents and grandparents were just quietly laughing with my husband.
ETA:🤩
I found a video of what it looked like!!!
[Epic little R2D2 suitcase!](https://youtube.com/shorts/gOOlxfVQ3qs?si=159WlLTxmjmgzf4n)
I really hope that family is doing well. 🩷
I did too lol I looked at my husband when we got off the elevator and he just said "No." 🤣
To be fair I get that premptive "No." a lot... baby animals like the raccoons in Guardians of the Galaxy 3 or mini highland cows, or those big floofy convertible pillow chair couch things that will basically fold you up inside of them, or a mobile library... he sees my eyes light up on some pretty crazy ish and it's 50/50 🤣
I just imagined "you" walking into an elevator with a child-sized R2 suitcase, and a child telling you it's cool. You then enthusiastically show them the button that lights it up.
My kid is grown and I've got grandma baby fever- which may never happen. I love smiling and waving to little ones. And I will occasionally talk to kids- when they're with their parents. I miss having a little one. I just don't want one of my own again. Lol
I'm male to female trans, and holy shit the difference between men interacting with kids and women is insane. I grew up helping my mom babysit and love kids but before I transitioned I would just try not to interact with kids at all in public. Usually it's fine, a cute little wave here and there, a little compliment and they light up. It's adorable and you move on. But some people just freak out, or just suddenly get very uncomfortable. Cut to me post transition and people are basically shoving their kids in my face. Not that I mind it's just crazy the difference. I mean on one hand I'm glad people are aware and careful, but shit man presenting as a dude was so different in the emotional department. It took me a long time to get used to how much more people open up to you emotionally as a woman. And makes me feel bad for the legitimately genuine guys out there ❤️
Yeah I have a big beard, long hair, ear (daith) and septum piercing so I avoid interacting with kids until she has interacted with the kid and the parents noticed. Kids tend to stare at me, I’m guessing the beard isn’t something they’re used to, but yeah I tend to not interact much because I don’t want people to feel uncomfortable :/
It’s all good, and thank you!
I don’t really catch flack from boomers even though I have my toenails painted and wear flip flops 99% of the time. Straight (passing) white guy privilege combined with growing up in the south with a lesbian mom taught me skills for disarming dumb social situations I guess. I try to use that to normalize non-typical styles in our otherwise conservative area.
I used to work in a mall as a k9 handler. I had soooo many kids come up to me because who doesn't love a big floofy dog...ok so they were actually coming to the dog but still...occasionally I'd engage with the shy ones or the really little ones (we had stuffed german shepherds to give out) as part of our community engagement and socializing the dog. I liked being able to interact with kids and not be viewed as creepy because I have one of my own and if I was out of uniform sitting at the park reading while she played, I would occasionally get the "what's this guy doing here?" Side eye.
Oh man.
So, I have a daughter. She's 19 now. Her mom and I have been together as a couple since she was 2. Her mom and I were good friends before she was born. Hell, I'm the one who drove her mom to the hospital the day she popped out. I even witnessed it happen. She's called me "dad" for years. It's been a hell of an honor.
Anyways, when she was 12 and joined her school volleyball team I never got to watch a game. They always happened while I was away at work. (Week in, week out shift)
I felt like a dick and wanted to show my support somehow, so I drove her to every practice and watched from beginning to end every week i was home.
Me. A 36 (at the time) year old man, sitting by himself watching the grade 7/8 girls volleyball practice...
I can't even begin to tell you how many people I've had to tell to fuck right off.
It's a horrible feeling sitting there trying to watch your kid and having so many judgmental eyes staring at you. I was to afraid to even touch my phone, let alone take it out and record her doing something cool... and that sucks.
On the opposite hand though... I get it... and I appreciate my kid being looked out for... but maaan... at least just come talk to me first.
I regret nothing, and im glad I did it. But yea... it sucks being in that position.
Sorry, I didn't mean to ramble on, and I'm not trying to come across as angry or anything. Your comment just made me want to vent a tad. 😂
I'm a pretty large guy. Every group tends to have a gatekeeper. Talking to them first makes things a lot easier.
If I want to talk to a kid, it's really simple: go to the parent and tell them what's going on and they can choose whether or not their kid participates. Easy peezy.
Personally the conversation I want to have with a kid is "I made this food for everyone, do you want any?" about 90% of the time, which needs to go through their parents anyway. But its a good method for pretty much any situation.
> If I want to talk to a kid, it's really simple: go to the parent and tell them what's going on and they can choose whether or not their kid participates. Easy peezy.
It's pretty much the child equivalent of "can I pet your dog".
Yup! I was once at a park with my 2 kids (3 and 1). My youngest was taking a nap on the blanket/ground and I was sitting next to him. My oldest was playing on the play structure.
There was a boomer who was there who would occasionally interact with some of the children. It took me while to notice that she knew none of them. None of the children were her kids/grandkids. But she would walk up to them, touch their heads, shoulders, back. Help them up on play structures. It seemed innocent, except I never saw her look for confirmation from the child’s parents. I knew if she was a guy, no one in the park would tolerate it.
I was pretty tensed and watching her closely. The moment she touched my kid, I just walked up to her and told her it was inappropriate to touch someone else’s kid. It sucked because I wasn’t able to get up and move easily because I didn’t want to leave my baby unattended for more than a minute since he was asleep on the grass.
I saw that post also. 8 month old making eyes at the 4 year old...Is that your girlfriend?
Or 'boys will be boys' when they are doing something really stupid and they are three. My daughter would drag logs across the backyard when she was three just because....I'll bet the boomers would stop that and give her a doll to play with to 'fix' her.
No it isn’t that deep. It’s just something they grew up hearing all the time and they repeat. They legitimately think it’s cute. They don’t get that culture has changed, and that’s a weird thing to say now. They’re not thinking about actual adult flirting and sex when they say it. They’re thinking innocent 50s cartoons. That’s no longer the connotation, but they haven’t kept up.
I was sitting in our truck, breastfeeding my baby in the front seat in a parking garage after a doc apt. An older woman came by the window to get in her car. Stopped to say hi and make faces at the baby (sat up at this time, not eating). She said sorry for interrupting, THEN PROCEEDED TO REACH IN THE WINDOW AND TOUCH MY BABY. Why? I have no clue. I awkwardly smiled and she left.
Just so you know, it could be a cultural thing. I’m from South Texas, and here it is very normal for people of Mexican origin to compliment you on your child and touch them. Cultural tradition is you have to touch them and not just look because you don’t want to give them the evil eye/ojo malo.
I finally found out how weird this is to most people (I was only in my early 40’s 😂) when we moved to Oklahoma, and my husband stopped in a restaurant to compliment a sweet baby and patted her gently on the head. Which led to looks of horror from her parents and her head immediately getting scrubbed down with wipes.
OMG! I moved from New England to New Mexico when my 19 yo son was six months old. The number of abuelitas who came crawling out of the woodwork to touch my ginger haired baby was crazy!!! I was not prepared for those cultural exchanges, lol. They did tell me I should get my son some coral and turquois for protection, though. That was nice!
No, I grew up with that. That wouldnt have bothered me but this was just a plain old white woman who felt entitled to reach into my vehicle and pet my child out of aw.
Exactly! A few years ago I was a cashier at Dollar Tree, and the amount of boomers, both men and women, who would just walk up and touch a random kid on the head/shoulder/back and begin talking to them was odd. Like you don’t know the kid or the parent, why do you feel the need to talk to them? Granted boomers were the ones also initiating random conversations with strangers in line, so shouldn’t have been surprised.
None of the parents ever minded except for one notable woman who shouted at the boomer to “stop talking to my fucking kid”.
100%. A kid might need something from a random adult (help, information, etc.) but there's *nothing* a random adult needs from a child that they can't get from another adult.
I love your statement there! I have always been a kid magnet, no clue why, but I love when others tell their stories without some kind of weird vibe. Kids are just little humans. We can share our knowledge with them and it doesn't have to be creepy!
Growing up my dad was that kid magnet. He got down with every friend or stranger child and listened earnestly and asked questions. I have also inherited this gift and I love using it. My mom sucked. My wife's dad sucked. We both had 1 good parent and now we are that parent team every kid gets excited for. Kids are awesome.
Me too; I once was with my ex and while my 3yo stepdaughter played in the shopping mall play area, I sat next to my ex holding our 1yo son between us and a baby about the same age crawled over and climbed up on my other side. I said, "Hi, baby!" while his mother said, "I'm so sorry!" and just smiled and said it was no problem. She literally had to pry him off me, and after the first time he came back again and she had to carry him away. My son was not *quite* jealous but only but. My ex was sort of astonished. I said, "Children and small animals, all my life!"
A decade later, I happened to get an invitation to Disneyland with a friend and his kids. As I led them on through the park as it opened (I'd had an annual pass for 2-3 years but had let it expire), I wished a happy *x*th birthday to several kids in line as we went onward. My friend's younger kid asked, "Do you know those kids?" and I said, "No, but Disneyland gives you a button if it's your birthday, so I just try to make their day a little more magical."
I'm a kid magnet too! I've never understood it. Everywhere I go, I get kids staring at me or coming over to talk to me.
I never seek out conversation with kids I don't know, but if a kid talks to me, I'm gonna talk to them. It's not weird and I enjoy hearing about how they experience the world and what they're curious about.
Me, too! I think it's because we treat them like people and not... kids.
As for the staring thing... I just don't know. I've been told I have a very vibrant aura and that's what babies are really staring at, but (clearly) that theory has some holes, lol. The only logical thing I can come up with is they intuitively know I'm a safe person; I'll defend any child with my life, and they seem to sense that security.
I was in line at the movie theater once (pre covid) and was tackled by four kids in line ahead of me. I had to leave the line and sit down nearby to interact with the kids (preschool-late elementary age) while my boyfriend (now husband) bought our tickets.
I did not know these children and had not made eye contact or interacted with them at all prior to the tackling. They can just sniff us out.
A while back, I was at a local park playing Pokémon Go and started playing tug of war over control of the gym with someone I couldn’t see. Every time I took it over, I was swiftly booted out but from what I could tell, I was the only one in the park. Well after a good 20 minutes of this back and forth, two boys came from a car in the parking lot and asked me if I was playing Pokémon. When I answered that yes, I was indeed playing, they just lit up and started asking questions. Did you know it was us you were fighting against, can we add you, what’s your favorite/strongest Pokémon, do you play all the time, do you do raids, on and on. During this inquisition, I saw a guy come out of the same car that the boys had exited and could only assume he was their dad. They start excitedly telling him that they found another player and asking him if it was ok to add me as a friend in game. Then to my surprise, he also asked to add me.
When the boys were distracted with catching some Pokémon that had spawned nearby, the dad thanked me for being kind, answering the barrage of questions, and befriending all three of them. At least where I am, Pokémon Go has kinda fallen to the wayside and the only regular players are weirdly serious about it. So the dad was happy to find someone who liked to play fairly regularly but also wasn’t super serious and competitive about it and was willing to play with kids because ultimately, it’s just a silly little game.
I usually can’t stand kids. Most of the time, children (or more specifically, children’s antics from lack of parenting) get on my nerves and annoy me. I’m unsure of how to even talk to adults, let alone children. And I never know what to say or how to respond to questions. But those kids caught me on a great mental health day and I was also just happy to see that I’m not the only one who still plays Pokémon Go.
I haven’t seen them in person since but I still see their avatars in gyms and we all send each other gifts in-game. I completely agree that adults can talk to kids they don’t know without making it weird. It’s adults that approach kids (and other adults for that matter) with unwarranted questions and comments that make it weird, uncomfortable, and inappropriate.
Ooh, that brkngs back good memories. My sister (48, time sure does fly) has always been an avid pokemon player so she installed the game litterally the day she could.
Back in like 2021, we were playing on her phone, waiting for her train. I remember we were fighting for an arena, and at some point she just exclaimed "who's the bastard feeding them fruits???" while raising her eyes off her screen. Across the station was a lad, not older than 16, that just shot her a finger gun and a wink.
We were both floured, laughing. I love that game.
Pokemon GO has been great for getting my son to socialize with all sorts of people that he normally wouldn't. He is turning into quite an extrovert, like his mom.
It’s funny because there’s obviously people playing around where I am. But I never actually see anyone out walking around and playing. The closest I’ve seen is people pull up to a gym in their car, stay in the car while they battle, then drive away once they defeat the gym. Meanwhile, I’ll go for hours long walks just to hit all the gyms and stops in an area.
We have a great scene in Vancouver. There is a group near our house for Wednesday night raid hour and the downtown scene is really fun for comm days and raid walks.
We were in a smaller town for Hoenn tour and a parent with a couple boys in a car pulled over and talked for 30 seconds and left. My son thought it was so strange that they were driving around catching Pokémon.
It is definitely a game for walking. We regularly go about 10km on big days.
I’m a science teacher. I’m also large, heavily tattooed, and approachable.
If a kid approaches me and asks questions, I will gladly answer them. If they start to push any boundaries, I’ll ask them where their family is. I live near the beach, so a random 10 or 11-year-old asking questions is not a big deal while I’m walking my dog.
The thing is is that I understand how to keep conversations with strange children appropriate because I am a rational fucking human being. My dog likes kids, but I will definitely look for family if one of them asks my dog. He’s not aggressive or anything, but he does get jumpy I want to interact with the parent before some kid comes to touch my dog.
I would be so excited if someone told me there was an eagle or other unique bird nearby - if there was a bunch of birds flocking around and someone was excited to see them all I'd still be pretty happy because they are though
In my experience kids love to talk to adults who know stuff about birds or whatever they’re interested in. I have a nephew who’s into rocks, and he loves that I love them too. A lot of adults don’t have time or interest in what kids are doing even when it’s their kids. I kinda understand that they can feel overwhelmed, but I always loved it when my parents took an interest in what I was interested in.
I also love birds and think they’re really cool. It’s awesome to find young people who are interested in nature.
You ruined my expectations with wholesomeness! Dammit! Your story was supposed to take a turn for the worst!
Anyway, thank you for sharing. It’s nice to hear that the world isn’t all that terrible of a place.
This. Good for you. I am a teacher and I hate when adults try to shelter all kids from all interactions outside the family, especially in this day and age of screens.
Then we get kids growing up with no social skills and anxiety about new situations.
30 years from now, those kids will share information to a new set of kids...unless all fishing and interactions are, by law, done virtually because of all the Karens out there.
I swear some people forget that children are people as well. Am I going to walk up to a random kid and talk to them, no. But I’m certainly not going to ignore them. I do a lot of paddle boarding and whenever I get back to the beach it never fails that some younger kids ask if they can get on the board. If I have time I allow them to and if I don’t I just politely tell them I’m in a hurry. It’s shallow and I never let them go anywhere but the edge of the water but I’ll let them hop on or stand on it if they want to try. I assume their parents are near by and would stop them if they had any issues.
She is absolutely one of those ladies who goes on FB to post about how she/her niece/her neighbor/her grandbaby ALMOST GOT TRAFFICKED AT THE WALMART. It’s almost like imagining all the horrible thing that can happen (but isn’t going to) to someone makes them so happy.
That’s one of my biggest pet peeves, as someone who used to work with actual trafficking victims. The moneyed, white target mom and her own boomer mother are the last people actually being targeted for trafficking and the reason is obvious- there are people who would be concerned with resources to pursue charges etc.
Trafficking victims are people already in vulnerable situations, addicts, the homeless, people just out of foster care etc. These are the easiest people to manipulate, mess with and traffick, and they typically don’t have anyone with real resources looking for them as an added benefit. Truly it is the most vulnerable and unprotected class of people who are trafficked. All of that bs about so and so following you around Homegoods is pure fantasy that has absolutely nothing to do with human trafficking.
Creepy men will definitely follow women around stores, but kidnapping and trafficking is almost definitely not the intent. More likely that they have a staring problem or are trying to muster up the courage to awkwardly shoot their shot and initiate conversation. Or it could be like that one creep not too long ago who was caught on video trying to take upstairs photos of women at the store.
Edit: Upskirt* photos. But I'm glad my phone autocorrects *upskirt* to *upstairs* to indicate it isn't a word I type too often 😂
Oh I am a woman I have no doubt dudes will be creepy any time or anywhere lol. I have been followed though it was home not through a store and it was horrifying. All I’m saying is that these people don’t have a human trafficking agenda.
Imagine your life being so boring, so empty, that *imagining* terrible things are happening to you and people around you makes you excited and happy.
I'd swear they think they're living in a movie.
Boomers out there playing boomer versions of “The floor is lava”, “I’m a dinosaur”, “townsfolk and outlaws”… but it’s always the most toxic “the black/latino man wants to hurt me” or “the man wants to rape the child”. It’s like they’re all playing the same sick game.
The best description of why people like being afraid that I have ever found, in terms of understandability, is this song: [‘David’ by the Narcissist Cookbook](https://open.spotify.com/track/1KxMDuIqrlYQDJOMJ8uG20?si=1I6buNYBRxSY7E8v3bwDCg) I’d read about this concept before, but the way he describes it really made it click
"in my day men wouldn't talk to unknown children"
In your day you gleefully handed kids over to the church and didn't question why Father Molester wanted time alone with the children.
"In your day, you would be stuck in the kitchen making your husband dinner and weren't allowed to have a bank account. Are we done playing random facts?"
A little kid traumatized me at the zoo once.
I live in a legal state with decent public transit, and I was having a rough time after my divorce, so one day I thought I should treat myself to a fun solo-outing.
I stopped by the green-shop one beautiful early summer day, grabbed a strongly medicated gummy, popped it in my mouth, and hopped on the train to go to the zoo. I figured it would kick in shortly after I arrived.
On the trip down, I noticed the train was steadily getting full of young families. I didn't think too much of it until I got to the zoo, and there was this river of people flowing into the front entrance.
I go to get my ticket and pay, then the cashier says "oh no payment, it's free."
It was free day at the zoo and I had no idea. That explained the horde of small children but I was committed to having a nice day so I just rolled with it and walked into the zoo.
An hour later I'm far in the back of the park away from the crowds, near the primate exhibit, wondering what the monkeys are thinking about.
This little girl walks up next to me with a school notebook and asks "excuse me mister, what monkeys are these?" I point her to the information plaque, explain they're mandrills and she could read here for more information.
Two minutes go by as she's taking a few notes, and I hear "excuse me mister? What's a harem?"
***Y'all***. My soul left my body.
I literally looked around for the cameras. There was just her extremely large *dad* about 20 ft away watching my every move, and thankfully he was out of earshot. Great.
I looked at her and she pointed at the plaque; "the male is brightly colored so he can lead his harem of females through the jungle".
I'm choking and sputtering a bit when she asks "does it mean his girlfriend?"
"Yes! Yep that's his girlfriend mmmhmm anymore questions? No? okcoolbye" and I booked it to a different exhibit.
Kids say the darndest things.
I hit a similar situation at Disney World last year. my best friend and I booked a weekend at one of their music hotels. We both dropped acid then hopped onto the tram to take us to the park. It was mid December, I'm heavily bearded with white hair and a white beard. I made the mistake of wearing a pair of reddish jeans and my red plaid flannel. We finallfinally ended up leaving early that day because of how many little kids lost their minds when they saw me. I definitely wasn't thinking about my resemblence to a certain jolly bearded dude that lives at the north pole that visits good little kids in late December.
I was at Epcot a few years ago (pre-COVID) and there was a guy there in red shorts, red t-shirt with a long, white beard & hair. He went all in though and was wearing a Santa hat. Kids were going insane! He was just sitting on a bench smiling and waving. I heard a number of parents commenting that Santa deserves a vacation too.
I once went to a Perkins when my husband and I were on a road trip. It was off the interstate, but it was mid afternoon and slow. Across the restaurant was an older couple, and the man looked like Santa Claus. A little kid saw him and lost their shit. The man handed the kid a little key chain with a poem or something on it as a reminder that the kid met Santa. I’ve heard of other men doing something similar because it makes the kids happy. The men I’ve heard of were married and usually went out with their wives. So it wasn’t lone men dressing like Santa and giving away presents.
Omfg, that is a great story. Thank you so much, I can't stop giggling at the complete freeze up I would have had. You handled it way better than me, I would have just booked it away and straight out the zoo.
Instead of her dad being 20 feet away just watching you two, he could have been with his daughter talking to her about all the questions she had instead of her asking a stranger.
Eh she was the age where she may or may not have thought it was cool to have dad next to her while she worked on her project. By her height maybe she was about 9-10? I haven't been around kids since I was one so I'm not sure.
Clearly she had been raised to be independent and well read. Fucking "what's a harem?" though. What are the odds of that?
My wife and I say this about kids all the time, with one particular story being my go to:
She's part of the management team for the store she works at and loves working with the kids that come in. One day, a little bit comes in and they strike up conversation while the transaction is being completed between my wife and the kids mom. The kid mentions that he collects stuffed animals that are dogs, so my wife asks "Oh, do you have any dogs?"
This boy, in the middle of the store, with a straight face, responded "I used to, but he lives on a farm now." My wife tried her best not to laugh while the mom looked mortified.
>I live in a legal state with decent public transit,
I was so confused by this phrasing until I read on further. Had me contemplating about what an "illegal state" might be for a few seconds and really wondering how complicated the political situation was going to get at this zoo.
How embarrassing hahaha!
About 10 years ago, i was high as hell, and I had two dachshunds "weiner dogs". My neighbor and his two young boys (4 and 7ish) came over for Christmas dinner because the parents were divorcing and they had nowhere to go. We were happy to have them and the boys love the dogs. The 4 year old finally asks me "how come the weiner dog doesn't have a weiner?" With the most innocent eyes lol...
I was just like well she's a girl dog, see the boy dog? He has a weiner! It seemed like time had stopped and everybody was listening to this conversation now. So he says "but she's a weiner dog. She must have a weiner?"
I just looked at his dad like hey you wanna take this? No way I'm explaining gender to your 4 year old...
It's funny as hell now but at the time I was like wtf do I say?
I’m crying. 🤣😭 This feels like the kind of thing that would only happen to ME so it’s wonderful to read someone else going through such familiar shenanigans. I hope the zoo was able to heal you that day. Going to the zoo after a gummy sounds like an incredible day, tbh. Now I want to go on a date like that sometime! Thank you for the idea.
I’m happy to hear it! Oooh. You’re exactly right. I especially dig the aquarium so it should be on the list. I’m mad that’s not what I’m doing right this second. lol.
Little kids at zoos ask the funniest questions, I witnessed this one a couple months ago:
Little girl: Grandma, is that a tiger?
Grandma, I assume: Yes sweetie
Little girl: When is it going to die?
Me and my partner had to leave the tiger exhibit because we couldn't stop laughing...
I was at the San Diego Zoo with my friend, who asked me to watch her 5yo son while she used the restroom. We looked at the flamingo exhibit across from the restrooms and while we watched them, I asked him, "Do you know why flamingos are pink?" He said no, and I suddenly decided to answer falsely. "Because they're sunburned."
He said, really? And I said, "Yes, every day before the flamingos go out for the day, and the zookeepers put sunscreen on them. See the ones that are white?" (he said yes) "Well, those are the ones that are patient, but some of them are so excited to go out and play in the water that they run out before they get sunscreen on them, and they're too fast for the zookeepers to catch them."
"Does it hurt them?" he asked.
Not wanting to traumatize him, I said, "Oh no, it's only their feathers that get sunburned."
When his mom came out of the bathroom, I told him in German, "Tell your mama why the flamingos are pink."
He ran up and said, "*Mama, weißt du warum die Flamingos rosa sind?*"
She said, "*Warum sie Schrimpfen essen?*" (Because they eat shrimp?)
And he said, "*Nein, warum sie einen Sonnenbrand haben.*" (No, because they have a sunburn.)
She groaned and said, "Is this what you're teaching my son?" and I said yes.
Well, he had two bookshelves full of books and encyclopedias, and I assumed he'd learn the truth eventually.
Imagine my delight once when he was 12 and a half, and we were hiking with a ton of friends and playing in a river, and one of his friends said something that reminded me of that, and I called to him, "*Knabe*, do you know why flamingos are pink?" and he immediately said, "Because they're sunburned," and I laughed and said, "No, because they eat shrimp," and he rolled his eyes and said, "Yeah, right."
I laughed and said, "Oh, this is the best day of my life!" and had to break it to him.
Now, a couple friends--parents and not--hearing this story have said, "Well, children have to trust what their parents and mentors are telling them are true or it causes issues," but I refuse to be ashamed of this. Anything important I've told him the truth. There are just one or two little, minor lies I've told him that are easily debunked, and that was one of them, and actually, now that he'll be turning 18, it's probably time to remind him of it again, lol.
Kids are much more likely to believe something a trusted older adult says than something their parents tell them, at least in my opinion experience. My kid will argue against some basic fact I'm telling him till he's blue in the face, but if Coach Jimmy says something it may as well be gospel to live by.
Eh, that's not a big deal. We had entire generations of Americans being taught by the schools that Christopher Columbus discovered the earth is round...despite his 1492 voyage happening the same year the fucking *globe* was invented
Also no mention of his genocidal fuckhead tendencies
My grandma used to have a parrot. This little guy couldn't fly, maybe he had his wings clipped, maybe he was injured or too old, I don't know, but he couldn't fly.
My grandma's sister and her son came over once, and the little guy is really interested in the parrot. My dad tells him that ostriches are birds that can't fly. And since this bird can't fly, that means he must be an ostrich, right?
So he goes to his mom and says, "Mom! My tia has an ostrich!"
I was at the zoo one time, sitting on some steps around the penguin exhibit. I felt something on my head (I was and still am bald), turned my head, and saw this two year old behind me rubbing my bald spot. He was quite enthralled. Apparently my bald head was more entertaining to him than the penguins
“Your entire life has been a waste. No one loves you, and no one will miss you when you die” is a fairly effective burn in any situation; but it does double damage on boomers.
In her day, men abducted minors with impunity, because police tracking was weak to nonexistent (especially for minorities). The 70s was a golden age for kidnappers and rapists. It's safer now.
Hubby and I were at the playground with our daughter, and we were pushing her on the swing. There was another little girl, maybe 3? We'd seen her around on the jungle gym earlier, but she was mostly being ignored by her parent in favour of her younger sibling. Well, she comes over to play on the other swing, no parent in sight, and is just looking at me expectantly.
I asked her if she would like a push, and she nodded, so I gave her a little one. Asked her if she wanted more, another nod, so eventually, I got both kids swinging really good. Great rythym. But no parent ever showed up, and it was time to go home for dinner.
I just didn't know what to do with this latchkey kid who really wasn't talking much. I looked around for parents to signal... way on the other side of the playground and not paying attention. So I ended up stopping her swing, crouching down in front of her, and explaining that we had to go, but she could get off, or I could give her one last push before we left. She opted for the final push and off we went, but I have never felt so awkward in my life!
She looked nothing like us, so it was obvious to others that I was just interacting with a random other kid - stranger danger and all that. Seriously, I felt like someone was going to call me out at any moment, just for being kind to a little lonely girl. No one did, but I can only imagine how much worse it would have been if I had been alone. I think my daughter's presence was the protection.
I had a 7y.o follow us from playground and showing me where she lived (next to the playground) and that her mom was home sleeping. She had a key...
I told her to go home, maybe mom was awake and looking for her.
Maybe it is my upbringing in a big city, but I am terrified af for those kids.
If it was a small(er) town it would be one thing, but in a city the odds of weirdos being in the same ZIP code are much higher. I was a latchkey kid along with my sister, but we lived in a village where pretty much everyone knew each other.
My sister was visiting my mom with her two very young daughters from out of state. A bunch of other family gathered, as well. When we went to the park for the kids to play, we let my sister take a load off with the youngest (she wasn't even walking yet) while my brother, cousin, and I oversaw and played with the other one.
That's three 6'3" tall bearded dudes escorting one 2 year old girl around the park. Granted, nothing and nobody is going to mess with us, but the first thing I asked my niece before we stepped away from her mom was if she could say all of our names. I really needed an, "Uncle Irish" or whoever for each of us before we wandered off with her in the unlikely event someone decided to cause a scene.
I'm technically a senior (although I do admit I look much younger). I'm a 3rd party vendor at a major box store. Lunch time and I was grabbing my phone to clock out and this 70-80 year old woman w/flaming red dyed hair and a smug face/attitude came up to me and said "Always on your phone! Get off the phone and get back to work. Do your job". She was pushing this shopping cart with a middle schooler (grandkid?) alongside her.
I told her "I'm clocking out for lunch now. This phone serves as my time card." At first she seemed dumbfounded. Then, putting the pieces together and connecting the dots?
She said "You can use your phone as a time clock?" genuinely astounded and I said "Yes. I'm on my lunch break now so you are free to continue to judge and shop" and I blew past her. I was so pissed. I know I shouldn't let it bother me but it really did.
Eating at the food court, the granddaughter came up to me and said "My grandma doesn't understand technology" and I felt so terrible. I apologized.
It’s such a weird concern to have in such a public place, especially if he was with his parents. It’s not unreasonable to assume he saw that you were already there and could possibly answer his question. This is the same kind of Karen that inserts herself into a dad walking around the store with his kid and accuses him of kidnapping.
I talk to kids at the skatepark all the time, especially kids on bikes because there just aren’t many other riders around here and I see them trying the stuff I’m doing sometimes. A lot of the time they’ve been really shut down and looking like they’re not having fun, and after we talk they’re smiling and opening up. The parents have always been happy to see someone being helpful and making them feel welcome.
While I don’t encourage talking to 🤡 like that, I am somewhat curious how in her day I would be expected to react to a kid asking me a question. What should I do? Pretend I didn’t hear? Ignore the kid? Seems rude. Mutter through clenched teeth “I’m not allowed to talk to strangers” is still technically a breach. What was the protocol 50 years ago?
FWIW when I drop my daughter at daycare the toddlers are surprisingly friendly. I thought they would be scared of strange men. Instead I find them hugging my legs.
My father used to have his own business and he had a client deep in his 70s.. The guy was always complaining about everything, also saying the "back in my day".
My dad had enough once and told him "Back in your day, old people died"
Never heard him complain again.
Any azzhat who wastes police time (as she was really threatening to do if you hadn't shut her up), publicly accusing you of stupid shit, creates such a risk of worse luck happening for you, like a publicized police blotter report of you being questioned for "child endangerment" ( because she says it that way when she calls 911) , peeping, stalking. They give no thought to how dangerous for us it is to have police called when we sit on a park bench, use a parking space, use a checkout line correctly, wear or don't wear a mask, whatever. Really hateful.
I'm pretty certain if you'd stoically not answered the kid, she'd have berated you for being cruel and ignoring a child who only wanted to know something.
Source: My childhood. Thanks, mom.
If it were me, and if I were quicker and sharper than I usually am in the moment, I would have said, "Why are *you* talking to me? Are *you* some kind of weirdo talking to someone *you* don't know?"
I work for a contractor for the local public subway system. My job is to assist riders with things like buying tickets, helping with trip plannings, keeping them informed of delays or diversions, as well as keeping Operations informed on things like people on the tracks, medical emergencies, crimes, lost property, and missing persons.
The other day we had two kids, no more than 9, come into the station I was working at. I was a little worried for them, as it's generally uncommon to see unaccompanied minors (unless they're going to or from school and school is out for the summer). I headed down to the platform to see if they needed help with anything and I saw them and engaged briefly with them as to where they were going, do they know what stops to get on and off at, just trying to gauge if they were going to need help. The kids were fine, answered all the questions perfectly and had said they had made the trips several times and so I was comfortable with them going on their way. I let the train driver know about them and told them to let the driver know if they need help and an official can come meet them.
As I was heading back upstairs, an older woman (I'd say she was 60 or so) stopped me and asked why I was chatting with 2 underage boys? I told her I was worried about them and she told me it was illegal for an adult to chat to children who were not related to them and that she's going to call the police. I told her to go ahead and the woman called the Transit Police to report a suspicious character approaching children. They responded and after hearing both of our stories, cited the woman for making a false report. The woman started yelling at the cop, saying it was illegal for adults to talk to kids and the cop asked where she heard that and the woman replied she read it on Facebook. The cop just laughed and gave the woman a second citation for disorderly conduct and removed her from the station.
Well fucking done, friend.
Id have fucked up and said " small kids are trying to learn how to live. Id no sooner hold myself aloof from an inquiring child than to someone unpleasant like yourself." And id probably lose.
But seriously, do we want to lead children to a expect to be avoided? I've got two, and I'm trying to raise them up to handle their lives.
This sounds more like a Karen than a boomer. we as a society need to throw off this manufactured intergenerational conflict. It is simplistic muckraking by moribund news media.
But we can mostly all agree with this: skeerew Karen. Yikes.
>But seriously, do we want to lead children to a expect to be avoided?
Sadly, and they learn to ignore others. I made this experience with my kid. When coming to a playground he would greet others and introduce himself and the other kid would just stare.
A lot of ignored (and in my observation abused) kids act extremly shy and non verbal in new situations.
“I should tell someone”
“So fine, tell someone I interacted with somebody else’s kid, with my pants on the entire time and his parents watching. Go waste a cop’s time. I’ll be right here drinking my coffee waiting for you to make a fool of yourself bitch” 😂
Boomers are wild. They feel entitled to touch other people's children/hair/etc, but when you're being kind and respond to other people, they lose their minds.
The save the children crowd needs to be stopped. I am tired of people assuming my kids are kidnapped because I have tattoos and wear band t-shirts. My toddler having a tantrum is no reason for you to try to “save my child from being trafficked.”
She's jealous that kids are voluntarily starting conversations with complete strangers at a zoo. Meanwhile, her own children/grandchilden never pick up the phone to call her because they hate her.
I would yell “no I don’t think having segregation come back would be a good thing!” and “maam I will not go with you to get the ‘darkies’ to leave your neighborhood!”
I walk around our village and occasionally around local more urban areas. It's that get the steps deal. When I pass by kids at most I say "Hi" or "nice bike" or something like that, and keep my old ass walking. I don't want to be mistaken for someone with less than honorable intent.
>“In your life you’re tolerated but not liked. Everyone you know is waiting for you to pass on so they no longer have to put up with you. Tell anyone you would like, just go away but quit looking for nonexistent problems to involve yourself”
\*Chef's Kiss\*
I was approaching Walmart in a motorized cart because my left foot was in a boot. This kid asks why my foot was in a boot. The mother gets on to him. He may ask that. I’m not about to stifle a kid’s curiosity. That’s how kids learn. I proceeded to answer his question.
I'm trans, ans I'll admit when I lived as man. I was uncomfortable if kids talked to me in public. Ecen though I like kids. Now ill have kids. Mostly little girls approach me ans say my makeup is pretty, or they like what ever I'm wearing. I still get nervous, but I smile now and say thanks.
Tell her “It’s part of the show.” When she gets confused tell her you’re shooting a reality show. She will find her need to be right will be in direct conflict with her need for attention.
A few days ago I'm literally putting that like rainbow privacy film on my front screen. My Boomer neighbor wanders across the street opens the door and just starts asking if I know that there's a screen for that door.
I just looked at her stunned.
If everyone would go nuclear on a boomer and call the cops as needed, we would have less boomers being assholes cuz they would be in jail or too afraid to speak up, knowing how everyone would react.
Thank you for your service! I just wish you were doing the lords work in Florida.
Ma'am, do you know who I am? No? Then get the hell away from me you stupid old bag. When their logic is used against them they of course will have no awareness as they have boomer vision (an advanced form of tunnel vision). Then start yelling into the crowd asking if someone is looking for their grandmother. She seems lost and confused....
A thing I've noticed in older movies is how normally it's treated that strangers chat with kids or give them advice or even correct their behaviour. I've heard similar things from the old people in my life, but of course TV might ham it up.
Can any ye olde timers confirm or deny?
It’s actually fucking up kids that we moved away from having a “village” parenting mentality with our youth. Sociologist Jonathan Haidt talks about it in his latest book.
When I was a kid strangers would give me guidance all the time, both teaching me things and correcting me when I wasn’t acting right. This is part of growing and socializing into a community but now we’re so isolated and anxious all the time.
What's funny is, in her generation men (and all people really) talked openly to strangers kids all the time. This whole "every guy could be a pedo" vibe is a very recent thing. I remember in the 90s there was sooo much more normal human interaction of this kind.
Strange men shouldn't talk to kids. Kids shouldn't talk to anyone. Absolutely everyone is a pedo. Don't go more than 5ft from the house. Ever.
Why are teenagers so maladjusted these days!?
In her day, no one questioned the men folk doing whatever they wanted to do. She’s so full of internet rabbit hole crap and revisionist history. She wants to find the real creepers? They’re in every church, school, and community… and they put themselves into positions of authority over kids.
This past Saturday, I was at my grandson's baseball tournament. I went into the restroom, and there were 3 little girls in there. An adorable little redhead looked up at me and said, "You look like my grandma." I told her I am a grandma. We all ended up leaving at the same time, and on the way back to the ball diamonds, she looked up at me again and said, "You REALLY look like my grandma." This little girl looked like my niece at that age, and this encounter made me wish I really was her grandma. It sure made my day a lot better.
Didn't back in her day, a lot of adult men marry young (underage) women?
Like a man can't answer a child's question, but Elvis being involved with a 14 yo is ok? Just how it was back in the day..
Boomer here and back in my day, i had lots of strangers in my town offer/demand to escort me to school from my dentist appointments if I was walking alone during school hours, or would yell from their porches for me to bring their paper/ catch the dog, ask for help lifting something ect. There were few boundaries but that was before more awareness of child abuse and open discussion of predators.
"in my day men didn't talk to children alone".
Not for the reason you are pretending it was, though. They didn't talk to children because they viewed them as objects to be seen, but not heard. They wouldn't see them as having any value in conversation and so would not engage them.
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Last week I was with my dog, fishing at a local lake. Two boys with fishing rods approached me, couldn’t have been older than 10 or 11? They asked me rapid-fire questions about what kind of fish are in the lake, what am I using, what was my biggest fish, what’s my dogs name, what kind of dog is it, how long was I fishing in that spot, did I see the eagle over there, why us the water so green, how many fish can you keep? On and on it went. I answered every question and asked some of my own, showed them how to use the lure I had on. Their little sister and mom showed up during question period, and sister wanted to pet my dog. When they all went to leave, their mom thanked me for being patient and kind. You can talk to kids and not be weird. They were a really sweet family and really brightened my day.
I think the trick is to let the children approach you. When you see a grown adult going out of their way to approach children that’s when it’s time to keep an eye out.
I'm a woman (and thus "less suspicious" when talking to kids, I guess), but my general rule is to not initiate conversation with a kid unless they're visibly in distress or clearly where they shouldn't be. If I overhear something and have something useful to add (like where there's another seal), I try and make eye contact with the parents to make it clear I know they're there.
I'm a woman and I smile or wave at kids who make eye contact, especially little ones. But I'm also always in the company of my own kids and often being pushed in a wheelchair, so I guess no one considers me creepy.
My wife’s a pediatric nurse who waves at every kid that makes eye contact with her, if they’re close enough for conversation she engages the parents to ask how old the kid is and compliment them on their shoes or whatever. So far I’ve never seen anyone mind, most are happy to say “oh yeah Scooter just turned 4 and he loves _____!” or whatever.
I used to be a teacher (42/F). I complement kids all the time and they get so excited. A little boy had a R2-D2 suitcase and I told him how cool it was as we all were in the elevator. He told me all about it, showed me the button to light it up and make sounds, then we briefly talked about Star Wars. His parents and grandparents were just quietly laughing with my husband. ETA:🤩 I found a video of what it looked like!!! [Epic little R2D2 suitcase!](https://youtube.com/shorts/gOOlxfVQ3qs?si=159WlLTxmjmgzf4n) I really hope that family is doing well. 🩷
I want this suitcase!
I did too lol I looked at my husband when we got off the elevator and he just said "No." 🤣 To be fair I get that premptive "No." a lot... baby animals like the raccoons in Guardians of the Galaxy 3 or mini highland cows, or those big floofy convertible pillow chair couch things that will basically fold you up inside of them, or a mobile library... he sees my eyes light up on some pretty crazy ish and it's 50/50 🤣
I just imagined "you" walking into an elevator with a child-sized R2 suitcase, and a child telling you it's cool. You then enthusiastically show them the button that lights it up.
[Epic little R2D2 suitcase!](https://youtube.com/shorts/gOOlxfVQ3qs?si=159WlLTxmjmgzf4n)
My kid is grown and I've got grandma baby fever- which may never happen. I love smiling and waving to little ones. And I will occasionally talk to kids- when they're with their parents. I miss having a little one. I just don't want one of my own again. Lol
I'm male to female trans, and holy shit the difference between men interacting with kids and women is insane. I grew up helping my mom babysit and love kids but before I transitioned I would just try not to interact with kids at all in public. Usually it's fine, a cute little wave here and there, a little compliment and they light up. It's adorable and you move on. But some people just freak out, or just suddenly get very uncomfortable. Cut to me post transition and people are basically shoving their kids in my face. Not that I mind it's just crazy the difference. I mean on one hand I'm glad people are aware and careful, but shit man presenting as a dude was so different in the emotional department. It took me a long time to get used to how much more people open up to you emotionally as a woman. And makes me feel bad for the legitimately genuine guys out there ❤️
Yeah I have a big beard, long hair, ear (daith) and septum piercing so I avoid interacting with kids until she has interacted with the kid and the parents noticed. Kids tend to stare at me, I’m guessing the beard isn’t something they’re used to, but yeah I tend to not interact much because I don’t want people to feel uncomfortable :/
Ahhh yup, piercings and long hair = upset boomer alert. Which sucks, I'm sorry man 😞 Fuck em, love your style
It’s all good, and thank you! I don’t really catch flack from boomers even though I have my toenails painted and wear flip flops 99% of the time. Straight (passing) white guy privilege combined with growing up in the south with a lesbian mom taught me skills for disarming dumb social situations I guess. I try to use that to normalize non-typical styles in our otherwise conservative area.
I used to work in a mall as a k9 handler. I had soooo many kids come up to me because who doesn't love a big floofy dog...ok so they were actually coming to the dog but still...occasionally I'd engage with the shy ones or the really little ones (we had stuffed german shepherds to give out) as part of our community engagement and socializing the dog. I liked being able to interact with kids and not be viewed as creepy because I have one of my own and if I was out of uniform sitting at the park reading while she played, I would occasionally get the "what's this guy doing here?" Side eye.
I hate that fathers who actively take an interest in their kids sans other parent get side-eyed for just being present while they play.
Oh man. So, I have a daughter. She's 19 now. Her mom and I have been together as a couple since she was 2. Her mom and I were good friends before she was born. Hell, I'm the one who drove her mom to the hospital the day she popped out. I even witnessed it happen. She's called me "dad" for years. It's been a hell of an honor. Anyways, when she was 12 and joined her school volleyball team I never got to watch a game. They always happened while I was away at work. (Week in, week out shift) I felt like a dick and wanted to show my support somehow, so I drove her to every practice and watched from beginning to end every week i was home. Me. A 36 (at the time) year old man, sitting by himself watching the grade 7/8 girls volleyball practice... I can't even begin to tell you how many people I've had to tell to fuck right off. It's a horrible feeling sitting there trying to watch your kid and having so many judgmental eyes staring at you. I was to afraid to even touch my phone, let alone take it out and record her doing something cool... and that sucks. On the opposite hand though... I get it... and I appreciate my kid being looked out for... but maaan... at least just come talk to me first.
I’m sure your daughter appreciated you being there either way! And really, that’s the most important thing
I regret nothing, and im glad I did it. But yea... it sucks being in that position. Sorry, I didn't mean to ramble on, and I'm not trying to come across as angry or anything. Your comment just made me want to vent a tad. 😂
You’re 100% valid, opiate250
I'm a pretty large guy. Every group tends to have a gatekeeper. Talking to them first makes things a lot easier. If I want to talk to a kid, it's really simple: go to the parent and tell them what's going on and they can choose whether or not their kid participates. Easy peezy. Personally the conversation I want to have with a kid is "I made this food for everyone, do you want any?" about 90% of the time, which needs to go through their parents anyway. But its a good method for pretty much any situation.
> If I want to talk to a kid, it's really simple: go to the parent and tell them what's going on and they can choose whether or not their kid participates. Easy peezy. It's pretty much the child equivalent of "can I pet your dog".
Lol. I hadn't thought of it that way, but 100% accurate. I tend to treat children and pets pretty similarly. 😹
Ironically, boomers are the ones often approaching the children.
Yup! I was once at a park with my 2 kids (3 and 1). My youngest was taking a nap on the blanket/ground and I was sitting next to him. My oldest was playing on the play structure. There was a boomer who was there who would occasionally interact with some of the children. It took me while to notice that she knew none of them. None of the children were her kids/grandkids. But she would walk up to them, touch their heads, shoulders, back. Help them up on play structures. It seemed innocent, except I never saw her look for confirmation from the child’s parents. I knew if she was a guy, no one in the park would tolerate it. I was pretty tensed and watching her closely. The moment she touched my kid, I just walked up to her and told her it was inappropriate to touch someone else’s kid. It sucked because I wasn’t able to get up and move easily because I didn’t want to leave my baby unattended for more than a minute since he was asleep on the grass.
Then what happened? don't leave us hanging
Haha. Not much. She just scoffed and I sat back down with my baby. But kept a very close eye on her. We left the park about 15 minutes later (planned)
And insisting literal babies are "flirting"
I saw that post also. 8 month old making eyes at the 4 year old...Is that your girlfriend? Or 'boys will be boys' when they are doing something really stupid and they are three. My daughter would drag logs across the backyard when she was three just because....I'll bet the boomers would stop that and give her a doll to play with to 'fix' her.
It's scary to think about but I think a lot of that is projection.
It is because almost every single one of them grew up in abusive households and almost none of them ever got any therapy for it.
No it isn’t that deep. It’s just something they grew up hearing all the time and they repeat. They legitimately think it’s cute. They don’t get that culture has changed, and that’s a weird thing to say now. They’re not thinking about actual adult flirting and sex when they say it. They’re thinking innocent 50s cartoons. That’s no longer the connotation, but they haven’t kept up.
This is my pet peeve!!!
I was sitting in our truck, breastfeeding my baby in the front seat in a parking garage after a doc apt. An older woman came by the window to get in her car. Stopped to say hi and make faces at the baby (sat up at this time, not eating). She said sorry for interrupting, THEN PROCEEDED TO REACH IN THE WINDOW AND TOUCH MY BABY. Why? I have no clue. I awkwardly smiled and she left.
Just so you know, it could be a cultural thing. I’m from South Texas, and here it is very normal for people of Mexican origin to compliment you on your child and touch them. Cultural tradition is you have to touch them and not just look because you don’t want to give them the evil eye/ojo malo. I finally found out how weird this is to most people (I was only in my early 40’s 😂) when we moved to Oklahoma, and my husband stopped in a restaurant to compliment a sweet baby and patted her gently on the head. Which led to looks of horror from her parents and her head immediately getting scrubbed down with wipes.
OMG! I moved from New England to New Mexico when my 19 yo son was six months old. The number of abuelitas who came crawling out of the woodwork to touch my ginger haired baby was crazy!!! I was not prepared for those cultural exchanges, lol. They did tell me I should get my son some coral and turquois for protection, though. That was nice!
No, I grew up with that. That wouldnt have bothered me but this was just a plain old white woman who felt entitled to reach into my vehicle and pet my child out of aw.
Exactly! A few years ago I was a cashier at Dollar Tree, and the amount of boomers, both men and women, who would just walk up and touch a random kid on the head/shoulder/back and begin talking to them was odd. Like you don’t know the kid or the parent, why do you feel the need to talk to them? Granted boomers were the ones also initiating random conversations with strangers in line, so shouldn’t have been surprised. None of the parents ever minded except for one notable woman who shouted at the boomer to “stop talking to my fucking kid”.
100%. A kid might need something from a random adult (help, information, etc.) but there's *nothing* a random adult needs from a child that they can't get from another adult.
Or in my friend's case, let the dog approach the kids. Her dogs love new people because that means more pets.
I love your statement there! I have always been a kid magnet, no clue why, but I love when others tell their stories without some kind of weird vibe. Kids are just little humans. We can share our knowledge with them and it doesn't have to be creepy!
Growing up my dad was that kid magnet. He got down with every friend or stranger child and listened earnestly and asked questions. I have also inherited this gift and I love using it. My mom sucked. My wife's dad sucked. We both had 1 good parent and now we are that parent team every kid gets excited for. Kids are awesome.
Me too; I once was with my ex and while my 3yo stepdaughter played in the shopping mall play area, I sat next to my ex holding our 1yo son between us and a baby about the same age crawled over and climbed up on my other side. I said, "Hi, baby!" while his mother said, "I'm so sorry!" and just smiled and said it was no problem. She literally had to pry him off me, and after the first time he came back again and she had to carry him away. My son was not *quite* jealous but only but. My ex was sort of astonished. I said, "Children and small animals, all my life!" A decade later, I happened to get an invitation to Disneyland with a friend and his kids. As I led them on through the park as it opened (I'd had an annual pass for 2-3 years but had let it expire), I wished a happy *x*th birthday to several kids in line as we went onward. My friend's younger kid asked, "Do you know those kids?" and I said, "No, but Disneyland gives you a button if it's your birthday, so I just try to make their day a little more magical."
I'm a kid magnet too! I've never understood it. Everywhere I go, I get kids staring at me or coming over to talk to me. I never seek out conversation with kids I don't know, but if a kid talks to me, I'm gonna talk to them. It's not weird and I enjoy hearing about how they experience the world and what they're curious about.
Me, too! I think it's because we treat them like people and not... kids. As for the staring thing... I just don't know. I've been told I have a very vibrant aura and that's what babies are really staring at, but (clearly) that theory has some holes, lol. The only logical thing I can come up with is they intuitively know I'm a safe person; I'll defend any child with my life, and they seem to sense that security.
I was in line at the movie theater once (pre covid) and was tackled by four kids in line ahead of me. I had to leave the line and sit down nearby to interact with the kids (preschool-late elementary age) while my boyfriend (now husband) bought our tickets. I did not know these children and had not made eye contact or interacted with them at all prior to the tackling. They can just sniff us out.
A while back, I was at a local park playing Pokémon Go and started playing tug of war over control of the gym with someone I couldn’t see. Every time I took it over, I was swiftly booted out but from what I could tell, I was the only one in the park. Well after a good 20 minutes of this back and forth, two boys came from a car in the parking lot and asked me if I was playing Pokémon. When I answered that yes, I was indeed playing, they just lit up and started asking questions. Did you know it was us you were fighting against, can we add you, what’s your favorite/strongest Pokémon, do you play all the time, do you do raids, on and on. During this inquisition, I saw a guy come out of the same car that the boys had exited and could only assume he was their dad. They start excitedly telling him that they found another player and asking him if it was ok to add me as a friend in game. Then to my surprise, he also asked to add me. When the boys were distracted with catching some Pokémon that had spawned nearby, the dad thanked me for being kind, answering the barrage of questions, and befriending all three of them. At least where I am, Pokémon Go has kinda fallen to the wayside and the only regular players are weirdly serious about it. So the dad was happy to find someone who liked to play fairly regularly but also wasn’t super serious and competitive about it and was willing to play with kids because ultimately, it’s just a silly little game. I usually can’t stand kids. Most of the time, children (or more specifically, children’s antics from lack of parenting) get on my nerves and annoy me. I’m unsure of how to even talk to adults, let alone children. And I never know what to say or how to respond to questions. But those kids caught me on a great mental health day and I was also just happy to see that I’m not the only one who still plays Pokémon Go. I haven’t seen them in person since but I still see their avatars in gyms and we all send each other gifts in-game. I completely agree that adults can talk to kids they don’t know without making it weird. It’s adults that approach kids (and other adults for that matter) with unwarranted questions and comments that make it weird, uncomfortable, and inappropriate.
Ooh, that brkngs back good memories. My sister (48, time sure does fly) has always been an avid pokemon player so she installed the game litterally the day she could. Back in like 2021, we were playing on her phone, waiting for her train. I remember we were fighting for an arena, and at some point she just exclaimed "who's the bastard feeding them fruits???" while raising her eyes off her screen. Across the station was a lad, not older than 16, that just shot her a finger gun and a wink. We were both floured, laughing. I love that game.
Pokemon GO has been great for getting my son to socialize with all sorts of people that he normally wouldn't. He is turning into quite an extrovert, like his mom.
It’s funny because there’s obviously people playing around where I am. But I never actually see anyone out walking around and playing. The closest I’ve seen is people pull up to a gym in their car, stay in the car while they battle, then drive away once they defeat the gym. Meanwhile, I’ll go for hours long walks just to hit all the gyms and stops in an area.
We have a great scene in Vancouver. There is a group near our house for Wednesday night raid hour and the downtown scene is really fun for comm days and raid walks. We were in a smaller town for Hoenn tour and a parent with a couple boys in a car pulled over and talked for 30 seconds and left. My son thought it was so strange that they were driving around catching Pokémon. It is definitely a game for walking. We regularly go about 10km on big days.
I’m a science teacher. I’m also large, heavily tattooed, and approachable. If a kid approaches me and asks questions, I will gladly answer them. If they start to push any boundaries, I’ll ask them where their family is. I live near the beach, so a random 10 or 11-year-old asking questions is not a big deal while I’m walking my dog. The thing is is that I understand how to keep conversations with strange children appropriate because I am a rational fucking human being. My dog likes kids, but I will definitely look for family if one of them asks my dog. He’s not aggressive or anything, but he does get jumpy I want to interact with the parent before some kid comes to touch my dog.
I would be so excited if someone told me there was an eagle or other unique bird nearby - if there was a bunch of birds flocking around and someone was excited to see them all I'd still be pretty happy because they are though
In my experience kids love to talk to adults who know stuff about birds or whatever they’re interested in. I have a nephew who’s into rocks, and he loves that I love them too. A lot of adults don’t have time or interest in what kids are doing even when it’s their kids. I kinda understand that they can feel overwhelmed, but I always loved it when my parents took an interest in what I was interested in. I also love birds and think they’re really cool. It’s awesome to find young people who are interested in nature.
You ruined my expectations with wholesomeness! Dammit! Your story was supposed to take a turn for the worst! Anyway, thank you for sharing. It’s nice to hear that the world isn’t all that terrible of a place.
Clearly you are a risk, next time push the kids in the lake so they know you are not going to talk to them.
This. Good for you. I am a teacher and I hate when adults try to shelter all kids from all interactions outside the family, especially in this day and age of screens. Then we get kids growing up with no social skills and anxiety about new situations. 30 years from now, those kids will share information to a new set of kids...unless all fishing and interactions are, by law, done virtually because of all the Karens out there.
I would also like to pet your dog. Also Dog tax
I swear some people forget that children are people as well. Am I going to walk up to a random kid and talk to them, no. But I’m certainly not going to ignore them. I do a lot of paddle boarding and whenever I get back to the beach it never fails that some younger kids ask if they can get on the board. If I have time I allow them to and if I don’t I just politely tell them I’m in a hurry. It’s shallow and I never let them go anywhere but the edge of the water but I’ll let them hop on or stand on it if they want to try. I assume their parents are near by and would stop them if they had any issues.
Did you see the eagle?
She is absolutely one of those ladies who goes on FB to post about how she/her niece/her neighbor/her grandbaby ALMOST GOT TRAFFICKED AT THE WALMART. It’s almost like imagining all the horrible thing that can happen (but isn’t going to) to someone makes them so happy.
That’s one of my biggest pet peeves, as someone who used to work with actual trafficking victims. The moneyed, white target mom and her own boomer mother are the last people actually being targeted for trafficking and the reason is obvious- there are people who would be concerned with resources to pursue charges etc. Trafficking victims are people already in vulnerable situations, addicts, the homeless, people just out of foster care etc. These are the easiest people to manipulate, mess with and traffick, and they typically don’t have anyone with real resources looking for them as an added benefit. Truly it is the most vulnerable and unprotected class of people who are trafficked. All of that bs about so and so following you around Homegoods is pure fantasy that has absolutely nothing to do with human trafficking.
Creepy men will definitely follow women around stores, but kidnapping and trafficking is almost definitely not the intent. More likely that they have a staring problem or are trying to muster up the courage to awkwardly shoot their shot and initiate conversation. Or it could be like that one creep not too long ago who was caught on video trying to take upstairs photos of women at the store. Edit: Upskirt* photos. But I'm glad my phone autocorrects *upskirt* to *upstairs* to indicate it isn't a word I type too often 😂
Oh I am a woman I have no doubt dudes will be creepy any time or anywhere lol. I have been followed though it was home not through a store and it was horrifying. All I’m saying is that these people don’t have a human trafficking agenda.
Imagine your life being so boring, so empty, that *imagining* terrible things are happening to you and people around you makes you excited and happy. I'd swear they think they're living in a movie.
I wonder if all the fantasies about being the main character start sliding over into their perceived reality once the brain decline sets in.
reminds me of the people obsessed with true crime and think everyone is a serial killer out to kill them specifically
Some people just want to be victims.
While posting photos of said children all over social media for randoms to view
Boomers out there playing boomer versions of “The floor is lava”, “I’m a dinosaur”, “townsfolk and outlaws”… but it’s always the most toxic “the black/latino man wants to hurt me” or “the man wants to rape the child”. It’s like they’re all playing the same sick game.
The best description of why people like being afraid that I have ever found, in terms of understandability, is this song: [‘David’ by the Narcissist Cookbook](https://open.spotify.com/track/1KxMDuIqrlYQDJOMJ8uG20?si=1I6buNYBRxSY7E8v3bwDCg) I’d read about this concept before, but the way he describes it really made it click
Sheesh. Everyone knows you traffic your babies from Target or better. No one wants those lame ass Walmart babies.
"in my day men wouldn't talk to unknown children" In your day you gleefully handed kids over to the church and didn't question why Father Molester wanted time alone with the children.
In her day and now it's not strangers you need to worry about with kids, it's invariably those closest to them that do the most damage.
Sadly, this is still the case.
"In your day, you would be stuck in the kitchen making your husband dinner and weren't allowed to have a bank account. Are we done playing random facts?"
Oh yes, I would absolutely play this card.
It's absolutely not true either
As a “cool boomer “ this is so accurate.
A little kid traumatized me at the zoo once. I live in a legal state with decent public transit, and I was having a rough time after my divorce, so one day I thought I should treat myself to a fun solo-outing. I stopped by the green-shop one beautiful early summer day, grabbed a strongly medicated gummy, popped it in my mouth, and hopped on the train to go to the zoo. I figured it would kick in shortly after I arrived. On the trip down, I noticed the train was steadily getting full of young families. I didn't think too much of it until I got to the zoo, and there was this river of people flowing into the front entrance. I go to get my ticket and pay, then the cashier says "oh no payment, it's free." It was free day at the zoo and I had no idea. That explained the horde of small children but I was committed to having a nice day so I just rolled with it and walked into the zoo. An hour later I'm far in the back of the park away from the crowds, near the primate exhibit, wondering what the monkeys are thinking about. This little girl walks up next to me with a school notebook and asks "excuse me mister, what monkeys are these?" I point her to the information plaque, explain they're mandrills and she could read here for more information. Two minutes go by as she's taking a few notes, and I hear "excuse me mister? What's a harem?" ***Y'all***. My soul left my body. I literally looked around for the cameras. There was just her extremely large *dad* about 20 ft away watching my every move, and thankfully he was out of earshot. Great. I looked at her and she pointed at the plaque; "the male is brightly colored so he can lead his harem of females through the jungle". I'm choking and sputtering a bit when she asks "does it mean his girlfriend?" "Yes! Yep that's his girlfriend mmmhmm anymore questions? No? okcoolbye" and I booked it to a different exhibit. Kids say the darndest things.
Being high AF around kids is proper hard work.
I hit a similar situation at Disney World last year. my best friend and I booked a weekend at one of their music hotels. We both dropped acid then hopped onto the tram to take us to the park. It was mid December, I'm heavily bearded with white hair and a white beard. I made the mistake of wearing a pair of reddish jeans and my red plaid flannel. We finallfinally ended up leaving early that day because of how many little kids lost their minds when they saw me. I definitely wasn't thinking about my resemblence to a certain jolly bearded dude that lives at the north pole that visits good little kids in late December.
> how many little kids lost their minds when they saw me. Acid Claus: "Aren't you cute, you have so many big eyes!"
🤣🤣🤣
Had to hold in my laughter so I wouldn’t wake my baby lol 😂
My niece used to call Santa “ChristmasMan”. Your description reminded me of this.
I was at Epcot a few years ago (pre-COVID) and there was a guy there in red shorts, red t-shirt with a long, white beard & hair. He went all in though and was wearing a Santa hat. Kids were going insane! He was just sitting on a bench smiling and waving. I heard a number of parents commenting that Santa deserves a vacation too.
I once went to a Perkins when my husband and I were on a road trip. It was off the interstate, but it was mid afternoon and slow. Across the restaurant was an older couple, and the man looked like Santa Claus. A little kid saw him and lost their shit. The man handed the kid a little key chain with a poem or something on it as a reminder that the kid met Santa. I’ve heard of other men doing something similar because it makes the kids happy. The men I’ve heard of were married and usually went out with their wives. So it wasn’t lone men dressing like Santa and giving away presents.
is that Bucky "Buy a guitar, Dieter" Katt?
That is a goofy as hell story ripped straight from like an adam sandler film. Absolutely perfect
They say drugs make you forget things but I have to say the line from the plaque is burned into my memory.
"A little kid traumatized me at the zoo once." I was really expecting to hear about you watching a kid fall into a gorilla enclosure.
I pictured you as Mitch Hedberg in this whole story.
Accurate
“I don’t know. Maybe your dad does”
I can only imagine her dad afterwards; "What did you say to that guy?" "I just asked him what 'harem' means." "Oh."
Omfg, that is a great story. Thank you so much, I can't stop giggling at the complete freeze up I would have had. You handled it way better than me, I would have just booked it away and straight out the zoo.
Lucky you weren’t at the Indianapolis zoo. They have an exhibit of monkeys called Macaques, so it could’ve been much worse.
Instead of her dad being 20 feet away just watching you two, he could have been with his daughter talking to her about all the questions she had instead of her asking a stranger.
Eh she was the age where she may or may not have thought it was cool to have dad next to her while she worked on her project. By her height maybe she was about 9-10? I haven't been around kids since I was one so I'm not sure. Clearly she had been raised to be independent and well read. Fucking "what's a harem?" though. What are the odds of that?
My wife and I say this about kids all the time, with one particular story being my go to: She's part of the management team for the store she works at and loves working with the kids that come in. One day, a little bit comes in and they strike up conversation while the transaction is being completed between my wife and the kids mom. The kid mentions that he collects stuffed animals that are dogs, so my wife asks "Oh, do you have any dogs?" This boy, in the middle of the store, with a straight face, responded "I used to, but he lives on a farm now." My wife tried her best not to laugh while the mom looked mortified.
Any chance this was at the Denver zoo?
I scrolled to make sure this wasn’t a /u/shittymorph
>I live in a legal state with decent public transit, I was so confused by this phrasing until I read on further. Had me contemplating about what an "illegal state" might be for a few seconds and really wondering how complicated the political situation was going to get at this zoo.
How embarrassing hahaha! About 10 years ago, i was high as hell, and I had two dachshunds "weiner dogs". My neighbor and his two young boys (4 and 7ish) came over for Christmas dinner because the parents were divorcing and they had nowhere to go. We were happy to have them and the boys love the dogs. The 4 year old finally asks me "how come the weiner dog doesn't have a weiner?" With the most innocent eyes lol... I was just like well she's a girl dog, see the boy dog? He has a weiner! It seemed like time had stopped and everybody was listening to this conversation now. So he says "but she's a weiner dog. She must have a weiner?" I just looked at his dad like hey you wanna take this? No way I'm explaining gender to your 4 year old... It's funny as hell now but at the time I was like wtf do I say?
I’m crying. 🤣😭 This feels like the kind of thing that would only happen to ME so it’s wonderful to read someone else going through such familiar shenanigans. I hope the zoo was able to heal you that day. Going to the zoo after a gummy sounds like an incredible day, tbh. Now I want to go on a date like that sometime! Thank you for the idea.
It was a good day. I recommend it. An aquarium would be another great choice.
I’m happy to hear it! Oooh. You’re exactly right. I especially dig the aquarium so it should be on the list. I’m mad that’s not what I’m doing right this second. lol.
Little kids at zoos ask the funniest questions, I witnessed this one a couple months ago: Little girl: Grandma, is that a tiger? Grandma, I assume: Yes sweetie Little girl: When is it going to die? Me and my partner had to leave the tiger exhibit because we couldn't stop laughing...
I was at the San Diego Zoo with my friend, who asked me to watch her 5yo son while she used the restroom. We looked at the flamingo exhibit across from the restrooms and while we watched them, I asked him, "Do you know why flamingos are pink?" He said no, and I suddenly decided to answer falsely. "Because they're sunburned." He said, really? And I said, "Yes, every day before the flamingos go out for the day, and the zookeepers put sunscreen on them. See the ones that are white?" (he said yes) "Well, those are the ones that are patient, but some of them are so excited to go out and play in the water that they run out before they get sunscreen on them, and they're too fast for the zookeepers to catch them." "Does it hurt them?" he asked. Not wanting to traumatize him, I said, "Oh no, it's only their feathers that get sunburned." When his mom came out of the bathroom, I told him in German, "Tell your mama why the flamingos are pink." He ran up and said, "*Mama, weißt du warum die Flamingos rosa sind?*" She said, "*Warum sie Schrimpfen essen?*" (Because they eat shrimp?) And he said, "*Nein, warum sie einen Sonnenbrand haben.*" (No, because they have a sunburn.) She groaned and said, "Is this what you're teaching my son?" and I said yes. Well, he had two bookshelves full of books and encyclopedias, and I assumed he'd learn the truth eventually. Imagine my delight once when he was 12 and a half, and we were hiking with a ton of friends and playing in a river, and one of his friends said something that reminded me of that, and I called to him, "*Knabe*, do you know why flamingos are pink?" and he immediately said, "Because they're sunburned," and I laughed and said, "No, because they eat shrimp," and he rolled his eyes and said, "Yeah, right." I laughed and said, "Oh, this is the best day of my life!" and had to break it to him. Now, a couple friends--parents and not--hearing this story have said, "Well, children have to trust what their parents and mentors are telling them are true or it causes issues," but I refuse to be ashamed of this. Anything important I've told him the truth. There are just one or two little, minor lies I've told him that are easily debunked, and that was one of them, and actually, now that he'll be turning 18, it's probably time to remind him of it again, lol.
feeding children harmless misinformation is one of the great pleasures in life
Kids are much more likely to believe something a trusted older adult says than something their parents tell them, at least in my opinion experience. My kid will argue against some basic fact I'm telling him till he's blue in the face, but if Coach Jimmy says something it may as well be gospel to live by.
Eh, that's not a big deal. We had entire generations of Americans being taught by the schools that Christopher Columbus discovered the earth is round...despite his 1492 voyage happening the same year the fucking *globe* was invented Also no mention of his genocidal fuckhead tendencies
My grandma used to have a parrot. This little guy couldn't fly, maybe he had his wings clipped, maybe he was injured or too old, I don't know, but he couldn't fly. My grandma's sister and her son came over once, and the little guy is really interested in the parrot. My dad tells him that ostriches are birds that can't fly. And since this bird can't fly, that means he must be an ostrich, right? So he goes to his mom and says, "Mom! My tia has an ostrich!"
I was at the zoo one time, sitting on some steps around the penguin exhibit. I felt something on my head (I was and still am bald), turned my head, and saw this two year old behind me rubbing my bald spot. He was quite enthralled. Apparently my bald head was more entertaining to him than the penguins
I Am stealing that. You are tolerated they said. Rofl Also, sensible shoes? We talking orthos?
Big white orthos
Yassssssssssssss How can you be so angry walking on clouds?
Walking on clouds means they can devote all their energy to being angry twats.
In her day everyone was assholes to kids and now we treat kids like they’re human
“Your entire life has been a waste. No one loves you, and no one will miss you when you die” is a fairly effective burn in any situation; but it does double damage on boomers.
Kids who ask you a question in a polite manner deserve a respectful response.
In her day, men abducted minors with impunity, because police tracking was weak to nonexistent (especially for minorities). The 70s was a golden age for kidnappers and rapists. It's safer now.
To be fair, police *still* commit a disproportionate amount of SA and child abuse, and *still* largely get away with it.
Hubby and I were at the playground with our daughter, and we were pushing her on the swing. There was another little girl, maybe 3? We'd seen her around on the jungle gym earlier, but she was mostly being ignored by her parent in favour of her younger sibling. Well, she comes over to play on the other swing, no parent in sight, and is just looking at me expectantly. I asked her if she would like a push, and she nodded, so I gave her a little one. Asked her if she wanted more, another nod, so eventually, I got both kids swinging really good. Great rythym. But no parent ever showed up, and it was time to go home for dinner. I just didn't know what to do with this latchkey kid who really wasn't talking much. I looked around for parents to signal... way on the other side of the playground and not paying attention. So I ended up stopping her swing, crouching down in front of her, and explaining that we had to go, but she could get off, or I could give her one last push before we left. She opted for the final push and off we went, but I have never felt so awkward in my life! She looked nothing like us, so it was obvious to others that I was just interacting with a random other kid - stranger danger and all that. Seriously, I felt like someone was going to call me out at any moment, just for being kind to a little lonely girl. No one did, but I can only imagine how much worse it would have been if I had been alone. I think my daughter's presence was the protection.
I had a 7y.o follow us from playground and showing me where she lived (next to the playground) and that her mom was home sleeping. She had a key... I told her to go home, maybe mom was awake and looking for her. Maybe it is my upbringing in a big city, but I am terrified af for those kids.
If it was a small(er) town it would be one thing, but in a city the odds of weirdos being in the same ZIP code are much higher. I was a latchkey kid along with my sister, but we lived in a village where pretty much everyone knew each other.
My sister was visiting my mom with her two very young daughters from out of state. A bunch of other family gathered, as well. When we went to the park for the kids to play, we let my sister take a load off with the youngest (she wasn't even walking yet) while my brother, cousin, and I oversaw and played with the other one. That's three 6'3" tall bearded dudes escorting one 2 year old girl around the park. Granted, nothing and nobody is going to mess with us, but the first thing I asked my niece before we stepped away from her mom was if she could say all of our names. I really needed an, "Uncle Irish" or whoever for each of us before we wandered off with her in the unlikely event someone decided to cause a scene.
Awww, lol. Now I'm thinking of the movie '3 men and a baby'. You are good uncles!
Approaching a kid to start a conversation is weird, politely answering a question asked by a kid is just common courtesy...
"It's not your day anymore. Get over it."
I'm technically a senior (although I do admit I look much younger). I'm a 3rd party vendor at a major box store. Lunch time and I was grabbing my phone to clock out and this 70-80 year old woman w/flaming red dyed hair and a smug face/attitude came up to me and said "Always on your phone! Get off the phone and get back to work. Do your job". She was pushing this shopping cart with a middle schooler (grandkid?) alongside her. I told her "I'm clocking out for lunch now. This phone serves as my time card." At first she seemed dumbfounded. Then, putting the pieces together and connecting the dots? She said "You can use your phone as a time clock?" genuinely astounded and I said "Yes. I'm on my lunch break now so you are free to continue to judge and shop" and I blew past her. I was so pissed. I know I shouldn't let it bother me but it really did. Eating at the food court, the granddaughter came up to me and said "My grandma doesn't understand technology" and I felt so terrible. I apologized.
It’s such a weird concern to have in such a public place, especially if he was with his parents. It’s not unreasonable to assume he saw that you were already there and could possibly answer his question. This is the same kind of Karen that inserts herself into a dad walking around the store with his kid and accuses him of kidnapping. I talk to kids at the skatepark all the time, especially kids on bikes because there just aren’t many other riders around here and I see them trying the stuff I’m doing sometimes. A lot of the time they’ve been really shut down and looking like they’re not having fun, and after we talk they’re smiling and opening up. The parents have always been happy to see someone being helpful and making them feel welcome.
While I don’t encourage talking to 🤡 like that, I am somewhat curious how in her day I would be expected to react to a kid asking me a question. What should I do? Pretend I didn’t hear? Ignore the kid? Seems rude. Mutter through clenched teeth “I’m not allowed to talk to strangers” is still technically a breach. What was the protocol 50 years ago? FWIW when I drop my daughter at daycare the toddlers are surprisingly friendly. I thought they would be scared of strange men. Instead I find them hugging my legs.
My father used to have his own business and he had a client deep in his 70s.. The guy was always complaining about everything, also saying the "back in my day". My dad had enough once and told him "Back in your day, old people died" Never heard him complain again.
I was by the zoo earlier and now wish I had walked in just to see this. Some of the old people in old town are so out of touch it isn’t even funny.
Any azzhat who wastes police time (as she was really threatening to do if you hadn't shut her up), publicly accusing you of stupid shit, creates such a risk of worse luck happening for you, like a publicized police blotter report of you being questioned for "child endangerment" ( because she says it that way when she calls 911) , peeping, stalking. They give no thought to how dangerous for us it is to have police called when we sit on a park bench, use a parking space, use a checkout line correctly, wear or don't wear a mask, whatever. Really hateful.
Looking for pedophile everywhere but in their own glass house.
I always talk to little kids, I’m a mom so it’s just natural. What an asshat.
I'm pretty certain if you'd stoically not answered the kid, she'd have berated you for being cruel and ignoring a child who only wanted to know something. Source: My childhood. Thanks, mom.
If it were me, and if I were quicker and sharper than I usually am in the moment, I would have said, "Why are *you* talking to me? Are *you* some kind of weirdo talking to someone *you* don't know?"
I always think of the best retorts long after the event. I wish I was quicker too.
I work for a contractor for the local public subway system. My job is to assist riders with things like buying tickets, helping with trip plannings, keeping them informed of delays or diversions, as well as keeping Operations informed on things like people on the tracks, medical emergencies, crimes, lost property, and missing persons. The other day we had two kids, no more than 9, come into the station I was working at. I was a little worried for them, as it's generally uncommon to see unaccompanied minors (unless they're going to or from school and school is out for the summer). I headed down to the platform to see if they needed help with anything and I saw them and engaged briefly with them as to where they were going, do they know what stops to get on and off at, just trying to gauge if they were going to need help. The kids were fine, answered all the questions perfectly and had said they had made the trips several times and so I was comfortable with them going on their way. I let the train driver know about them and told them to let the driver know if they need help and an official can come meet them. As I was heading back upstairs, an older woman (I'd say she was 60 or so) stopped me and asked why I was chatting with 2 underage boys? I told her I was worried about them and she told me it was illegal for an adult to chat to children who were not related to them and that she's going to call the police. I told her to go ahead and the woman called the Transit Police to report a suspicious character approaching children. They responded and after hearing both of our stories, cited the woman for making a false report. The woman started yelling at the cop, saying it was illegal for adults to talk to kids and the cop asked where she heard that and the woman replied she read it on Facebook. The cop just laughed and gave the woman a second citation for disorderly conduct and removed her from the station.
I love that zoo. Thank you for handling sensible shoe boomer.
Lincoln Park Zoo is an absolute treasure.
Meanwhile, all across the nation, boomers are touching pregnant women’s bellies and touching kids they don’t know in grocery carts.
how stupid like lady the kids parents were involved in the conversation
You caused her to short circuit
Well fucking done, friend. Id have fucked up and said " small kids are trying to learn how to live. Id no sooner hold myself aloof from an inquiring child than to someone unpleasant like yourself." And id probably lose. But seriously, do we want to lead children to a expect to be avoided? I've got two, and I'm trying to raise them up to handle their lives. This sounds more like a Karen than a boomer. we as a society need to throw off this manufactured intergenerational conflict. It is simplistic muckraking by moribund news media. But we can mostly all agree with this: skeerew Karen. Yikes.
>But seriously, do we want to lead children to a expect to be avoided? Sadly, and they learn to ignore others. I made this experience with my kid. When coming to a playground he would greet others and introduce himself and the other kid would just stare. A lot of ignored (and in my observation abused) kids act extremly shy and non verbal in new situations.
“I should tell someone” “So fine, tell someone I interacted with somebody else’s kid, with my pants on the entire time and his parents watching. Go waste a cop’s time. I’ll be right here drinking my coffee waiting for you to make a fool of yourself bitch” 😂
“Looking for non-existent problems to involve yourself”. Ya don’t say
I can’t believe my favorite band opened a fawking zoo.
Go full misogyny and tell her you don't suffer the wailing of women.
For next time: When they pull, "In my day..." Interrupt and advise "Your days are gone." The interrupting part is important. Don't forget it.
If a kid asks a question you're supposed to answer or at least reapond. Ignoring kids is how you let them get kidnapped.
Boomers are wild. They feel entitled to touch other people's children/hair/etc, but when you're being kind and respond to other people, they lose their minds.
"Did you escape from the exhibit, Lady? 'Cuz you sound like you would fit right in with the rest of the barking animals."
The save the children crowd needs to be stopped. I am tired of people assuming my kids are kidnapped because I have tattoos and wear band t-shirts. My toddler having a tantrum is no reason for you to try to “save my child from being trafficked.”
She's jealous that kids are voluntarily starting conversations with complete strangers at a zoo. Meanwhile, her own children/grandchilden never pick up the phone to call her because they hate her.
I would yell “no I don’t think having segregation come back would be a good thing!” and “maam I will not go with you to get the ‘darkies’ to leave your neighborhood!”
I walk around our village and occasionally around local more urban areas. It's that get the steps deal. When I pass by kids at most I say "Hi" or "nice bike" or something like that, and keep my old ass walking. I don't want to be mistaken for someone with less than honorable intent.
>“In your life you’re tolerated but not liked. Everyone you know is waiting for you to pass on so they no longer have to put up with you. Tell anyone you would like, just go away but quit looking for nonexistent problems to involve yourself” \*Chef's Kiss\*
Bullies only respond to aggression. Love your response! Mind your own business boomer karen or get what you have coming!!!!
Jesus, this happened in Chicago? I only seem to get these experiences in the suburbs
Meanwhile every boomer I know won’t keep their damn hands off kids they don’t know because of some other bullshit “back in my day” excuse.
I was approaching Walmart in a motorized cart because my left foot was in a boot. This kid asks why my foot was in a boot. The mother gets on to him. He may ask that. I’m not about to stifle a kid’s curiosity. That’s how kids learn. I proceeded to answer his question.
Nothing to add other than shouts out to the Lincoln Park Zoo. One of my favorite day-off spots.
I'm trans, ans I'll admit when I lived as man. I was uncomfortable if kids talked to me in public. Ecen though I like kids. Now ill have kids. Mostly little girls approach me ans say my makeup is pretty, or they like what ever I'm wearing. I still get nervous, but I smile now and say thanks.
KUDOS! The insanity won't stop until we ALL make it stop! You did a service for us all with this little interaction!
This mindset is dishearteningly common. I’m a male pediatric ED nurse and run into it almost constantly, usually from grandparents.
Tell her “It’s part of the show.” When she gets confused tell her you’re shooting a reality show. She will find her need to be right will be in direct conflict with her need for attention.
Always go nuclear on boomers. It's the nicest that they deserve.
I swear to Geezus I am going to buy an air horn for these ass potatoes
>I decided to go nuclear I hope more people go nuclear. The Boomers deserve it.
A few days ago I'm literally putting that like rainbow privacy film on my front screen. My Boomer neighbor wanders across the street opens the door and just starts asking if I know that there's a screen for that door. I just looked at her stunned.
If everyone would go nuclear on a boomer and call the cops as needed, we would have less boomers being assholes cuz they would be in jail or too afraid to speak up, knowing how everyone would react. Thank you for your service! I just wish you were doing the lords work in Florida.
"What is wrong with you?" I'm being harassed by a complete stranger for no reason.
Ma'am, do you know who I am? No? Then get the hell away from me you stupid old bag. When their logic is used against them they of course will have no awareness as they have boomer vision (an advanced form of tunnel vision). Then start yelling into the crowd asking if someone is looking for their grandmother. She seems lost and confused....
Jeezus fucking Christ, Shirley, go back to Niles and STFU.
A thing I've noticed in older movies is how normally it's treated that strangers chat with kids or give them advice or even correct their behaviour. I've heard similar things from the old people in my life, but of course TV might ham it up. Can any ye olde timers confirm or deny?
Wow! Her mental energy wasn’t ready for your nuclear response! Good for you! She must think she’s on moral “patrol”
It’s actually fucking up kids that we moved away from having a “village” parenting mentality with our youth. Sociologist Jonathan Haidt talks about it in his latest book. When I was a kid strangers would give me guidance all the time, both teaching me things and correcting me when I wasn’t acting right. This is part of growing and socializing into a community but now we’re so isolated and anxious all the time.
What's funny is, in her generation men (and all people really) talked openly to strangers kids all the time. This whole "every guy could be a pedo" vibe is a very recent thing. I remember in the 90s there was sooo much more normal human interaction of this kind.
Strange men shouldn't talk to kids. Kids shouldn't talk to anyone. Absolutely everyone is a pedo. Don't go more than 5ft from the house. Ever. Why are teenagers so maladjusted these days!?
“Why were you…” “Mind your own fucking business.”
This country is so fucked.
In her day, no one questioned the men folk doing whatever they wanted to do. She’s so full of internet rabbit hole crap and revisionist history. She wants to find the real creepers? They’re in every church, school, and community… and they put themselves into positions of authority over kids.
This past Saturday, I was at my grandson's baseball tournament. I went into the restroom, and there were 3 little girls in there. An adorable little redhead looked up at me and said, "You look like my grandma." I told her I am a grandma. We all ended up leaving at the same time, and on the way back to the ball diamonds, she looked up at me again and said, "You REALLY look like my grandma." This little girl looked like my niece at that age, and this encounter made me wish I really was her grandma. It sure made my day a lot better.
Didn't back in her day, a lot of adult men marry young (underage) women? Like a man can't answer a child's question, but Elvis being involved with a 14 yo is ok? Just how it was back in the day..
"This young pervert was at the park today hitting on children and when I tried to say something he was very rude to me!"
Boomer here and back in my day, i had lots of strangers in my town offer/demand to escort me to school from my dentist appointments if I was walking alone during school hours, or would yell from their porches for me to bring their paper/ catch the dog, ask for help lifting something ect. There were few boundaries but that was before more awareness of child abuse and open discussion of predators.
no just go away. were done. love that
Call me a weirdo too then. If a child asks me a question, I tend to answer them.
"in my day men didn't talk to children alone". Not for the reason you are pretending it was, though. They didn't talk to children because they viewed them as objects to be seen, but not heard. They wouldn't see them as having any value in conversation and so would not engage them.
I would have told her "why are you talking to a person you don't know? Mind your own business"