Today was an extra special day for me. I got to spend the entire day (7:30am to 9:00pm) with just me and my daughter. Had I not just come off a 12hr shift myself, we may have done more things than we did, but it was still pretty fun for being dead tired and not having a clue what an almost two year old would fin interesting. (FYI, kids don't get totally psyched to go to a comic shop. Strange, huh?)

The start was pretty linear.We spent the morning at home watching those dreadful Backyardigans and In The Night Garden shows she likes, had breakfast, played with the dolls and stuffed animals, yadda yadda yadda. After nap-time (both of us REALLY needed on by noon) I decided we'd head out for a nice lunch and a day at the shopping centre.

Before hitting the mall, I decided to let the gal pick where we should eat. Using her two year old logic, she deducted that McDonalds gives out the best toys, so that's where she wanted to go. Fine....whatever. A Happy Meal and a heart-clogger didn't sound too bad; its been ages since I've abused my intestines at a place like Crap Donalds. When we went inside, I was a little shocked to see how many retirees ('old people') hang out at McDonalds. It was wall-to-wall elderly folks, most sitting by themselves (at a table that could accomidate four others) reading papers, sipping a single coffee or chatting with other equally-as-old people at other tables. I shrugged and go in line with the kid.

While in line waiting for the guy at the front to pay in dimes and quarters the old guy infront of us suddenly turns around and engages conversation with my daughter. Not looking at me once, he stoops over and smiles a very molester-like smile at her and says "What's your name?" due to my profession, my kid has been taught at a young age not to answer questions to strangers. She didn't say a word, and before I could polite-talk him into pissing off, he reaches down and lifts her chin so she can look at him and says to her "Are ya shy? That's okay! My grandson is too."

I fucking lost it.

I grabbed him by his elderly claw and twisted his wrist to the side, trying to keep composure infront of the kid. (Don't need her seeing me go all "Big Bad" infront of her.) He looked like I'd just shot him, and didn't even have time to respond with so much as an "ouch" before I ordered him to piss off and to keep his hands away from my kid. He looked terrified as I let him go, pulled away, called me a lunitic and said he was going to go call the police. (Yeah.....not a threat to me, chap.) He then said in a very quiet and reserved tone that he was only being nice to the girl. He looked like he was going to cry, and I saw in his eyes he realized that he maybe shouldn't have been so forward. He stopped looking like an old pervert and more like an old, lonely man who misjudged a situation. It was then that I realized that I may have over-reacted a bit....but it's impossible to go-back on this road once you've been down it.

I told him in a very rehearsed and even tone that he cannot and will not go around making physical contact with anyone, regardless of his innocent intentions. He tried to make amends and to justify his actions ("In my day talking to kids was a normal thing"....shit like that.) I told him again to never do that to my kid or anyone elses, and waited him out to either order or piss off back to his chair. He gets himself a coffee, and without a word but with a very hurt and ashamed look passes us and sits down by himself to a newspaper in the corner.  We get our food, but I opt for having it to-go so we could eat in the car. (A lot of angry old people were staring at me by now.) We ate our shit sack of food in the parking lot, the kid forgetting what happened and playing with her new toy (the food went untouched for the most part....fucking McDonalds) and me watching the old guy. He sits by himself for a while, gets up and goes to an old car at the side of the building. He looked like he had been crying, roughs himself into the seat, and he drives off.

The rest of the afternoon went great, no problems to speak of. But, I did start paying closer attention to the elderly folks we'd pass on our trip through the mall. They all seemed to strike up conversations with strangers, appearing to trust people and take 'em all at face value. (One infront of us at the drug store actually got the cashier to enter her banking pin for her because her glasses were in the car!) What's the deal??

Am I jaded? I don't trust a fucking single person the first time I meet them. I don't dislike people (my job kinda forces me to be a 'people person') but I don't take their word as fact until I get to know them. Strangers sure as shit aren't going to get close to my kid, either. Maybe I was a bit over-the-line in dealing with the old guy. He's from a different generation, a different mind-set, and a different background than me. I think I've mentally damaged the fellow for his remainding years...but it was my gut-reaction at the time.  I sure as shit was too physical in dealing with a man so old, that's a given. The shit of it is, even though I was looking out for the safety of my daughter, I kinda feel guilty for hurting the old man who (after the fact) obviously didn't mean any ill over the encounter.

So what do you guys think? Out of line? Over the line? Justified? Its been nagging at me since we got home this evening. Should I justify his actions because of his mindset, or should I treat everyone as a potential threat despite it? Have any of you encountered this problem with peple of an older generation? Things they don't see as out-of-line are sometimes universally considered a no-no to the younger generations.

Thoughts? Comments?

Thanks for reading.....unless you skimmed right to the bottom. (Cheater!!)

-The Big Bad