How bad is what my 80yo dad does?
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Anonymous
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I was finally able to bring over my elderly dad (I am a naturalized citizen) who is 80 and very sweet and is in fairly good shape overall.
However once he arrived he started doing some pretty weird stuff. At first it was fairly innocent like shaking another man’s hand with both his hands but recently he got lost on a trail, a kind woman showed him directions and he patted her on her head out of gratitude! I am so mortified. I don’t want him to become a neighborhood creep people discuss on Nextdoor, or have to explain all this to the police if they end up getting called. Fwiw he’s never tried to pull anything like that off in his old country (people are, well, much less friendly there). Anyway, I forbid him to touch anyone he does not know well but I don’t really trust him not to do it anymore. So how bad is it? Can he get in trouble for it? And what do I do, is it some sort of a mental health issue I need to discuss with his doctor? Honestly it feels so weird I don’t know what to do. |
Anonymous
| Do you always overreact like this? |
Anonymous
| This is not a big deal. You seem like the one with a problem. Sure it’s weird he patted someone on the head, but just tell him not to and move on. |
Anonymous
| Not bad at all. People understand. |
Anonymous
| OP here, ok, thank you. I think he is just happy that everyone is so friendly but I’d hate for someone to overreact |
Anonymous
| How do you know? Were you there? |
Anonymous
| People think old people are extra friendly. Old foreign people more so. I wouldn’t worry about it. I’d only worry if he had a language barrier AND was mean because that would be dangerous for him here |
Anonymous
He told me |
Anonymous
the only one overreacting is you. |
Anonymous
| Your overreaction is bizarre. Do you have anxiety? I thought you were going to say he had exposed himself or told a racist joke. |
Anonymous
Not diagnosed anxiety, no But isn’t touching strangers a big no no? I am surprised but relieved it is seen as nbd |
Anonymous
He described, shaking someone’s hand with two hands. What an odd conversation. |
Anonymous
dude you've got to take it down a notch your dad is fine - you however have a lot of anxiety you should try to deal with i thought this was going to be about taking a sh** in a public place or driving the wrong way on the highway - not shaking hands with two hands instead of one |
Anonymous
| Is he undocumented or are you? You seem afraid of the authorities being notified. |
Anonymous
| That's so cute! I like it! I'm going to start doing it. |