My Neighbor Thinks I Am A Creep
Posted by harlan on 15 Dec 2007 at 07:28 pm | Tagged as: talking to the void
We’ve been getting incredible amounts of snow this winter. There are areas of my city that don’t have power, but I’ve only lost power a couple times, and only for a little while.
Today I looked out of my kitchen window, which looks out into the condo complex’s playground area. There were a couple of kids there, making a snowman. They were playing great together, one of them rolling the bottom part, one of them rolling the middle one.
It was such a nice scene that I wanted to see it a little closer. I put on shoes and a coat and went outside, standing on my porch and watching them.
I think I had been watching for maybe five minutes when their mother came outside — shoes on, no coat — and yelled at the kids to come inside. The kids weren’t finished with their snowman, and begged to stay out for a while, but she did the “stern mother” voice that most kids recognize as final.
The kids trudged inside, while I still stood there, watching.
As the mother went in, she looked over at me, made eye contact, and shook her head, “no,” twice. Her lips were pressed tightly together, her eyes were angry.
Then she closed the door, hard.
I’m pretty sure I’ve just been told to keep my filthy hands off her children.
Isolation Score: Infinite
As a spokesperson for all mothers world-wide, I’d like to let you know that the shaking of the head twice doesn’t mean you’re a creep. It means she’s counting to ten on the inside, so she won’t scream on the outside.
It’s when she shakes her head only once, that you must worry.
We live in a world overrun by paranoia.
Hello, Harlan,
My thought here is that it doesn’t matter what SHE thinks, all that matters is what you think of yourself. I suspect though that she was just calling the kids in for another reason. Maybe they hadn’t cleaned their rooms? ;)
By the way, I’m not sure where you are located, but you’re a cyclist, right? Get out and join a bike club or something. Friends with common interests certainly make the day go better :D
I disagree with world wide mother - if she wasn’t creeped out by your activity, she would have given you at least a half-wave when she made eye contact. She had probably nagged her kids all morning to go out and play in the snow then had to call them in because her neighbor was on his porch staring at them.
Lets be realistic here. You just can’t stand around and stare at children anymore. We live in a world where GRANDFATHERS molest their grandchildren. Parents just don’t have much tolerance for strangers staring at their children.
If your intentions weren’t creepy, then don’t worry about it. Go to the mall, buy a Starbucks and watch all the people go crazy spending money they don’t really have.
Terri, I seriously doubt there’s much more molestation going on these days. It’s just getting blown out of proportion more than it used to due to better communications (so you hear about that sort of thing even if it’s on the other side of the country) and more sensationalist news media.
i’m sure grandfathers never used to molest their grandchildren. it’s a recent development.
maybe if all you you had on was the shoes and a coat, she had a point. You don’t drive a van do you?
Why give a rat’s rear what your neighbor thinks? Our neighbors do not exist to make us happy. You have every right to stand on your own porch. She’s the one with the problem.
ClBlood, I care what my neighbor thinks. I see her several times per month. I don’t like the idea of my neighbor thinking I’m a pervert.