Being a man makes me untrustworthy?

It snowed. We don't get snow a lot around here. Main roads aren't bad but the kids are out of school/preschool because the back roads suck.

So my friend G called and asked if I could watch his two kids Luna (4) and Atom (2) while he took care of some things out and about and sure, I had no problem. The kids and I get along like peanut butter and jelly.

So I get to his place, bundle them up and we walk out to the park to play in the snow. We had fun. We were having fun. Till some lady grabs Luna's hand and asks "Is that your daddy? Do you know that man?"

I tried to be calm and polite but my fingernails were in the palms of my hands. Of course Luna was all like "That's my daddy's friend he's watching us while daddy gets work done." But nonetheless, I'm ready to punch some faces right now.

These dangly parts between my legs mean I'm immoral and untrustworthy, right? Right?

Who wants to fight?

Too much news telling everyone that pedophiles are everywhere

You should have called the cops and told them that some strange woman was running around grabbing children at the park.

One of my daughters friends isn't allowed over unless my wife is home also... It doesn't really make me mad though, I don't let my daughter go to anyone but my sisters if me or my wife aren't also going. I have had two people close to me that have turned out to be pedophiles though, so I'm overly cautious.

Rather you slightly demeaned than a peedophile unchallenged.

Most abused children are abused by women. 53% I think. So why would this not have happened if I were a woman?

Average Joe on the street probably doesn't look up Wikipedia for peedophile statistics.

Instead they just make up their own or go by other people say.

But really, I don't care what the statistics are. You don't just go grabbing kids assuming the person they are with is immoral with absolutely no evidence.

Can't you just say: "I'm their sitter?"

Worst case she calls the cops and they find out you're their sitter.

@quietraven: Not sure why what was implied is being parroted back.

The world being prejudice isn't news and won't change anytime soon.

For all we know he may have a twirly mustache or have irresponsiblebly worn a balaclava.

That's odd...not sure what to make of it.

Meh. Not really something that I'd get upset over myself. It's better to error on the side of caution and really what's the worst that could happen.

Such is the society today.

If you're a father, uncle or otherwise take care of small children, Don't take them to the playground by yourself.

Actually I was agreeing with you. But yeah, you are right.

This is a slight concern of mine since I look nothing like my nephews. Luckily I haven't run into any crazy people yet

Sounds like she spends too much time worrying about other people's lives.

Also, who names their children Luna and Atom?

G is an astrophysicist. We're lucky we didn't get a Sol or Quark. Yet.

Yeah those names are a bit odd. Luna I can see but I don't think I've ever heard of someone named Atom. Everyone is going to think it's Adam when they hear it.

Ummm, did the lady knew Luna from somewhere else?

Nope. I did ask Luna this right afterward. If she did I could have maybe understood, but the fact that Luna says she didn't know the woman really boiled my blood.

We hung around the park longer than I had planned just to make a point. I made sure to get caught giving that fat hen the evil eye more than a few times, too.

My step Grandfather, who of course had no resemblance to me since there was no blood relation, used to take me to playground all the time. It was great, and we had no problems.

I don't think you need to worry about that sort of thing too much. If you get crazies like that, just laugh them off, call the police if it gets too far. But I don't think it's really likely to happen.

Man, reminds of a nosy old lady next door.

Even if you where guilty, what was that stupid b*tch going to do? Take you down?

Kind of wished you decked her, just to read the news about it.

Maybe you just look particularly shifty-eyed or something.

Forget to shave and comb your hair that day? :-)

society is sexist against men, this isn't news ? did you not watch the movie titanic ? this isn't new...... 100 men = 1 women in societies eye's.

Look up ww1/ww2 for more proof

dont get mad, i'm only being real

it's also side splittingly funny to me how women only now want equal treatment because the world is alot safer, and all the hard work has been done by men... So now women can cash in on that hard work and take all the best bits for themselves, while disrespecting and calling the sons/grandsons/great grandsons of the men who made their easy self centred life possible rapists... that's right they call men rapists.....

now i've explained it to you, you can now see women for what they truly are, golddigging coattail riders #fact

@br0kenrabbit: yes sometimes I feel like the gorilla in the room you just gotta play along

Sounds like the woman was nervous and over-protective. She was definitely in the wrong, but her motivations were good. I admit though that her if her only thought was, "This is a guy and thus a potential pedophile", that she was being sexist and rude.

Perhaps it was more than this though. For instance do you look particularly young? Perhaps too young to have kids of the age that you were sitting for?

I'm 40, with a pretty good winter beard going.

@br0kenrabbit : Perhaps the beard makes you look like a pervy santa who wants the kids to sit in his lap for.........nefarious reasons.

I'm more interested in hearing your response. I mean, it's one thing if the lady knew the kid and her parents, and was suspicious because she saw the kid with someone that she KNEW wasn't her father.

But the fact that she flat out asked the kid if you were her father sort of indicates that she didn't know the kid well enough to be butting the **** in.

So we have a lady who doesn't know the kid, grabbing the kid's hand in the presence of someone who very well COULD be the kid's father. What did YOU say/do in response to that? Because I'd be flipping the **** out. YOU were placed in charge of watching the kid. Not her, YOU. For all intents and purposes, the kid's farther designated you to be the temporary guardian for the time being. Then some total stranger comes and grab's the kid's ****ing hand? I'd have SOMETHING to say about that, you bet your ass.

Anyway, just curious what you said. No way in hell I'd be polite. Calm, maybe, because overreacting never helps anyone. But POLITE? Hell no. Given the circumstances, I've got ZERO reason to be polite.

This.

Even if she did know the kid from somewhere else...if she didn't know the kid well enough to know who her parents were, then she's got no ****ing business intervening when she sees the kid with an adult. If she had to ask if you were the father, then for all she knows you very well might have been the father. So whether she knew the kid or not, she had ZERO business acting like that.

But peanut butter tastes like shit

I was wondering when someone was going to comment on that haha. Luna to me isn't that odd, I've heard that one before. Atom though... well, that is a first for me.

sex offender? Or actual pedophile?

A lot of times people just assume the worst if your a registered sex offender, but the simple truth is that you can be a sex offender for something as innocent as urinating in public.

I notice many moms these days play the overprotective Defender of Innocents. It is getting out of hand.

When I was a kid, we'd go to the part and as long as you stayed in sight you could talk to whomever you like, adult, kid, animal...imaginary friends.

She's a dumb ass. You did the good thing like me. When my nephews get dropped off, or i have to sit for any reason, i take them to the movies, or out somewhere. I try to make their day bright, and full of fun. Which it sounds like to me you did. She's an idiot. Some people are too quick to judge, with their ignorant minds. Feel good about yourself, and that you did good man. Forget here, and don't even sweat it.

True but I thought maybe she might have known her from daycare/preschool. Guess not.

I just said "I'm watching them while their dad takes care of stuff and their mom is working since they are home today." Seriously, that's all I said. I wanted to say more, but...kids.

Say, Nope...But I will sell you her for 5 fiddy!

Wish more people would watch Penn and Teller's episode on Stranger Danger being absolutely bullshit.. The US has become more safe, not less, its the fact that the media has increased their coverage of said things many fold over than they use to..

Nah, I don't know what her problem was. Did she have any reason to suspect you were a stranger to the kids?

@Iszdope: Don't do this to me man :(((((

@br0kenrabbit: There, there, of course it does.

Pedophiles. I had a friend about a year after we were out of high school he was watching his neighbors kids and when they came home they walked in on him with both their kids pants down fondling them. Another close military friend of my wife's groped his sons 12 year old girlfriend which led to the MP's finding child pornography on his computer.

Child Molester Statistics

• Nearly all the offenders in sexual assaults reported to law enforcement were male (96%). - Sexual Assault of Young Children as Reported to Law Enforcement, 7/00, NCJ 182990, U.S. Department of Justice

• Males are reported to be the abusers in 80-95% of cases - Thoringer, D., et al., 1988.

Only if you're a straight, white male these days.

http://www.safehorizon.org/page/child-abuse-facts-56.html

Of the 2012 child abuse cases, 45.3% of the perpetrators were male and 53.5% were female.

@br0kenrabbit: This is 2016, you should know by now that males are lowly creatures unfit for anything...

That's for child abuse in general, including both molestation and domestic violence. Since the majority of child molestation cases involve adult males, that would mean the majority of child domestic violence cases involve adult females.