Stranger danger ?
TLDR: I guilt myself into helping an old man who then tries to recruit me as a sugar baby
In an effort to be more sustainable I bought a second hand sweater on a online retailer called Vinted. Instantly after picking it up I unwrapped the package in order to make sure it was free from any smells or defects that would deter me from taking it home. That’s when I spotted an old man with a very serious limp smiling at me. As I was waiting to cross the street he told me: “-are you lost?
-no not at all I live right nearby
-I just had a heart attack but I’m taking care of myself now and trying to exercise
-Well that’s really good, my father had heart issues and I really wish he would have taken better care of himself, but he died this summer.” He gave me a huge, bewildered smile and said “that’s lovely”, so I concluded that he was probably deaf as a doorknob.
“-I’m going to have café au lait, would you come with me ?” I told him I would walk him to the café, mostly because I thought there was no way he would survive the walk. He beamed and held my hand and as we walked he started telling me that he had a very big and beautiful apartment. It then dawned on me that not only was I taking it upon myself to support an older man when I already had a sprained ankle but that also he seemed to be making a very strange attempt at flirting with me. I answered that all apartments were beautiful in the neighborhood. He then told me he had a Mercedes he couldn’t drive. I told him I couldn’t drive either. Once again he smiled absentmindedly.
I asked him how old he has, and when he finally heard the question correctly he told me he was 61. I thought that he was as likely to be 61 as I was likely to be Elon Musk. He asked me to walk faster and of course not wanting to accidentally murder him, I moved even slower. He took my arm and leaned in smiling and looking absolutely thrilled, I continued asking him about his children and telling him to take care of his health and he continued alluding to his possessions, obviously not hearing and I no longer listening, which is pretty close to a normal conversation anyways. It took us 15 minutes to walk 300 meters and I made sure he sat down in one piece before I left quickly. It’s not easy to grow old.
