@BillRM,
Quote:
Decades after the fact I still feel very bad about not helping out a mentally retarded young lady when she came up to me on a train platform and ask me to walk her to some near by location that she was not able to find for herself.
My fear of the risk of being alone with or even in the company of such a young lady overcame my desire to aid her and made sure she got where she was going in safety.
Firefly and her like won that round when I acted as if being male I should therefore be consider a possible sexual predator instead of just a person aiding a fellow human being in need.
You know, you really should consider not recounting anecdotes about yourself from your past. They do reveal things about you, and people then draw conclusions about you that you don't like.
I assume the "young lady" had Down syndrome, otherwise I don't know how you would know she was developmentally delayed by just looking at her. And I have a feeling that the "young lady" was more a child than an adult, and that was part of your fear of being seen with her.
And your fear that, if you escorted her to her destination, by just walking with her in public, you might be "consider a possible sexual predator instead of just a person aiding a fellow human being in need" is your own paranoia, don't blame me, or society, for that.
A man seen in public, walking with a female child, or "young lady" wouldn't arouse suspicions of anything. She could be your child, or a relative, or a friend, etc. That you were so paranoid about being "consider a possible sexual predator" raises questions about you. Were you on probation for a sexual offense, and ordered to stay away from children or "young ladies"? Was your reputation already unsavory?
Or, are you so paranoid, and mistrustful of females, that you thought she'd make a false sexual allegation against you?
Do you think all men have a "fear of the risk of being alone with or even in the company of such a young lady" when it comes to walking a short distance in public with a young female who has asked for assistance? You are just paranoid. And I think it's because you knew people might have reason to be suspicious
of you, based on your own reputation, or something else specific to
you.
And this incident apparently occurred decades before you were asked to leave a park because the other adults were alarmed about the way you were using kittens to get children to interact with you. And, in that situation as well, it wasn't simply that you were male, it was the fact that you were doing something to intentionally engage children to interact with a stranger--it was
your behavior that others found inappropriate. You invite, and provoke, other people's suspicions, it's not just because you are male.
If you arouse suspicions of being "a possible sexual predator" it's because of something about
you that's not just gender related. And, if you constantly walk around with "a fear of the risk" of being seen that way, despite no improprieties on your part, that's your own paranoia, not something you're burdened with just because you're male. All men are not constantly regarded as being "a possible sexual predator", that sounds like your rationalization for the way people regard
you. And, in your particular case, they may have good reason to regard you that way.