In the Northern Flinders Rangers and far away from the nearest town I went camping for a few days rest. I took an older friend with me, he’s 65 and new to camping.
I’ll tell you his story and ask for your opinion…
We arrived at this usually crowded spot to find we were one group among only 6 or so small groups sharing thousands of hectares.
We set up camp alongside a small almost dry creek 300 metres from a young family, with about the same distance to a retired couple with their two grand kids on the other side. Late on day two a couple of young twenty something women rode in on their bikes. (cycles, push bikes.. whatever you call them)
They rode around a bit and chose a spot halfway between the two old guys (us) and the grandparents. I assumed they chose this spot as there is safety in numbers and old people are less likely to be axe murderers…maybe!
As they set up their camp I noticed that Kev (my friend) placed his deck chair so he could see their camp…Hmm!
After some time Kev turned to me (remember he’s 65) and said “ That girl fancies me, every time I look over she’s checking me out”.
I thought he was making a joke….
I’d put money on it that she turned to her friend at this point and said “Every time I look over there that creepy old dude is watching me”
Eventually the girls came over and introduced themselves to ask for water for the next few days travel. We chatted for a while and I found the young teacher and her Jeweler friend were riding 900km up through the ranges on an ages old cattle trail. I lament that I am too old to do that sort of thing anymore though my wife and I rode our horses along part of that very trail 30 years ago. (before it became trendy)
While in our camp Kev made several cringe worthy comments about women which the other three of us ignored completely.
The girls left our camp with the water and enough firewood to keep them warm through the night. (wood I’d brought from home, as we must these days)
The next morning they returned the wood they didn’t use, topped up their water and left to continue their adventure.
I was so pissed and embarrassed by his behavior that I spend much of the next two days paying him out every time he opened his mouth.
SO...do you find Kevs behavior creepy? …or is he just a foolish old man who doesn’t know when to shut the fuck up!
A piece of 600 million year old sea bed, 300 metres up in the ranges.
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6 comments:
Hi Tempo,
I agree with you completely, you are spot on about what the girls would of been saying, and I'm sure they would of been a bit"creeped out" by the "old guy". I just don't understand it sometimes with guys, I surprised they didn't move.
It was very nice of you to help them out with the firewood and water, hopefully that may have made up for the stares.
Poor old bloke has lost touch with reality some people do at that age its a case of please engage brain before speaking :-).
My take on older men, sometime creepers:
the man in ? forgets he is not 25 any more. being old sucks, but being a old man is even worse. it is cute( to some extent) when they are 12, 25 even 40. 65 and they are a creeper. sun fresh air open spaces, can make a man hearty.
some men just don't know how to behave.
he must of got a hold of some horny goat weed. and refused to behave like a gentleman. you should let him know that his behaviour was embarrassing, no matter what his age. some things are just not tolerable, also I would tell him to go get laid, that should fix his behaviour for all of 5 minutes.
Hi Mags, I thought I'd read the situation right... Being Australian you would understand the water situation here, there's not much of it so it wouldn't sit right to refuse water to someone who needs it. My trailer has a big water tank under it so I had lots to spare.
@Windsmoke, Yes, that's what I'm thinking too but he just does not seem to get it at all. I wonder if he's been like that all his life? (Ive only known him a short time)
Hi Shan, It's not cute to see a bloke that age hitting on girls young enough to be his grandkids. I was so red faced I wanted to crawl under something and hide... after they left I told him he was dreaming and they wouldn't be interested in someone his age. He just said you never know and some girls prefer older men. Thats true I guess but not THAT old...He's 45 years+ older, that just seems creepy to me. Id love to blame the great outdoors but he's inappropriate much of the time no matter where he is...and you're right, it's intolerable!
Pity your friend won't be reading these comments. I think he probably has a lot of issues around women and low self-esteem. He was using his imagination to pep himself up and pretend the women were interested in him, rather than face the reality that they were just two young attractive women enjoying themselves without him... and that he was actually camping with his friend - you!
If a man stares at me or makes sexual jokes or comments, I feel bad. These women were out there camping and enjoying life as human beings and although they are young and attractive, they are more than just sexual objects.
Your friend may have the mistaken belief that it is flattering to the women to have an old man drool over them. It's not. Helping them out and being friendly gives a better impression. And there can even be a place to pay them a genuine considered compliment. It's natural to find young women attractive but it's antiquated and offensive to make sexual innuendos to anyone. Better to engage with all people on a real level and be honest.
Hi Spiral, I couldn't agree more, he was making a fool of himself and embarrassing me and the girls. One of the few good things about being older is the fact that I can talk to younger women without them thinking I'm hitting on them, they see me as a fatherly or grandfatherly figure and there is no misunderstandings or hassle. I cant see myself going away with him again anytime soon!
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