>>2370727I was in a national park in Pennsylvania four years ago and this guy in his ~50s approaches me. He’s in loose athletic shorts and a white t-shirt. I’ve got jeans, boots, and my li’l ranger-looking button-down with a camera round my neck. He’s getting closer, and it’s clear some sort of interaction is about to happen. I greet him, and he starts chatting me up. Talking about the late summer afternoon; asking about me, where I’m from, etc. I’m being polite, but my feelers are going bananas and it’s pretty clear he’s stalling for some sort of big reveal. Just when I’m about to gracefully excuse myself, he tells me a joke. A fucking knock-knock joke. The punchline is dirty. Now I’m absolutely and seriously creeped the fuck out. I laugh, concealing all nervousness from my tone. He asks me, “you wanna know what they say about this place?” Tell me. “They say you’re liable to get your dick sucked.” It was at this point that I said exactly, “wow that’s crazy.” Excused myself and walked quickly to my car.
I’ve thought about that a couple times over the years. It’s gotta take a great deal of motivation to solicit strangers, and folks tend to react in extreme ways to those offers sometimes. It always makes me sad to think about what his life might have looked like.
