Hey everyone!
This is going to b a bit more of a serious post. Don't read if you are sensitive to topics like creepy dudes talking to minors and odd minor and adult interactions. KT, please don't take this down, I genuinely want to educate my experience for you all so it hopefully doesn't happen to any of you guys.
Anyway, today was the first time my mom allowed me to walk around town with my two friends, Jae and Dakota (not their actual names for privacy reasons) after school. We went to the ice cream place, our local Walmart, and the pet shop after school. We were having fun until we decided to pop in at Walmart. Dakota had a 20$ gift card so we decided to get some candy and Halloween decor there. We were all goofing off and having a lot of fun. Y'know, basic teenager shenanigans.
We decided to go to the book section to see what they had in stock. We saw this odd man there. He started initiating conversation with Dakota and he genuinely seemed nice at first. Then, he asked if we were in HIGH SCHOOL, to which we said no, and that we were in MIDDLE SCHOOL (we are all 12-14). That should have been the point this dude stopped talking and walked away, but he didn't. Mind you, this guy told us he was 33 years old.
He then asked if he could have Dakota's number and if she could MEET HIM AT THE LOCAL PARK SOMETIME. Me and Jae, who had been silently standing off to the side for all of this, widened our eyes at each other and nodded slightly. Jae whispered to me, "Will, what do we do?" to which I responded, "Get Dakota and lets get out of here. I will go find an employee". We both wanted to run out of there as fast as possible. Mind you, THIS MAN WAS TALKING TO 2 UNDERAGE GIRLS AND 1 UNDERAGED BOY WHEN HE KNEW HOW OLD WE WERE.
Dakota didn't want to seem rude or suspicious so she agreed and they exchanged numbers. We then said our goodbyes and speed walked out of there. Dakota agreed that he was a creep and me and Jae were anxious and begged Dakota to leave, to which we did, but not before finding some employees. We told them everything and they were very sweet and agreed that the man was weird. The employees waited with us as we checked out to make sure we made it out of the store safely and promised to keep an eye out for him. Dakota blocked his number and we booked it out of there.
We walked back to Dakota's house then. We were planning on going other places in town too but we were all so freaked after that interaction that we decided it was best to just go home. I was an anxious mess after that. I kept shaking and stress-eating my candy and trying to get my mind off of the incident but I just couldn't.
Anyway, we are all okay now, but I just wanted to share this so you all know that it isn't normal or okay. If something like this ever happens to you or a friend, run. Book it out of there and tell an adult. This is serious stuff and its genuinely creepy and weird. Once again, KT, please please please don't take this post down. I want to share my story and educate you all so it hopefully never happens to any of you.
Thanks for reading. Stay safe, guys :)
- Dino/Wilbur/Toby (he/they/xe)
