Pervs Are People Too

I don't think it's what I was wearing. Perhaps I look suggestable? Sympathetic? On the same wavelength?

I am often accosted by elderly gentlemen who wish to discuss their peccadillos (old perves).

Today a lovely pensioner at the the bus stop engaged me in a conversation about a snorkeling trip to Gordon's Bay a couple of years ago. He was looking for gropers.

(This kind of groper)

Imagine his surprise and delight when only a few metres away there appeared a woman who was entirely naked. Entirely naked! (His emphasis, not mine.)

Unfortunately my bus arrived at that point so I was unable to continue chatting.

I wonder where things might have gone from there. Was he going to invite me on a snorkeling adventure? Was I expected to reciprocate by reminiscing about a similar experience?

And if he was having lewd thoughts about me, well, I'm not going to complain. No-one else is having them at the moment. And I'm hardly going to be tempted into taking up any consequent offer am I?

I guess you could see this as the positive side to the changes affected in me by current circumstances.

I have a far greater appreciation of small interactions and I am less fearful of people because I know my own boundaries. I've learned not to make assumptions about people. If I'm confident about my own choices in any given situation then I'm comfortable, fullstop.

A younger me might have been a little afraid of his intentions, unsure of how to respond.

My current self could see him as an absolutely charming, intelligent man with entirely dishonourable motives. I could give him five minutes of my time without giving him anything more of myself at all, without akwardness or anxiety.

(And he gave me something to write about on the bus.)