I had an incident while detecting the other day and it has bothered me ever since.
I went to a local tot lot to metal detect, it was vacant but there was a family having a picnic at one of the nearby shelters. I walked by and wave to them on my way to the playground and they waved back.
After about 10 mins or so, I was going along the path at the edge of the lot when three little boys that were with the family at the shelter came up and asked what I was doing, they couldn't have been older than 5 or 6. Not wanting to be rude, and also because I don't mind when anyone comes up and shows interest in detecting, I explained to them that I was hunting for lost coins and jewelry.
One of the kids said, "there aren't any coins here". He wasn't trying to be a smart butt, it's just they way kids minds work sometimes, and they say what they think. I said "sure there are", as I pulled a dime from the mulch, and held it up to show them.
Then a guy comes up, I'm assuming their dad, and said "boys, get away from him, what have I told you about talking to strangers, that is how kids get taken". Of course, the boys ran off, I stood up and said that they weren't bothering me. He didn't reply, didn't even look at me, and stomped off.
I get it, I have kids and grandkids now, and I don't want them talking to strangers either. I was a little disheartened, was this the vibe I'm giving off? I should have walked over and introduced myself, and told the parents that I didn't mean to get the kids in trouble by talking to them, I just didn't want to ignore them, but I didn't. I did not want to get into a confrontation if he was just having a bad day or something. I was now agitated myself, and couldn't concentrate on what I was doing.
I have never had this happen before, usually, people are curious and will come up and ask questions. I just felt bad after this encounter.
Have any of you had anything similar happen and how did you handle it?
I went to a local tot lot to metal detect, it was vacant but there was a family having a picnic at one of the nearby shelters. I walked by and wave to them on my way to the playground and they waved back.
After about 10 mins or so, I was going along the path at the edge of the lot when three little boys that were with the family at the shelter came up and asked what I was doing, they couldn't have been older than 5 or 6. Not wanting to be rude, and also because I don't mind when anyone comes up and shows interest in detecting, I explained to them that I was hunting for lost coins and jewelry.
One of the kids said, "there aren't any coins here". He wasn't trying to be a smart butt, it's just they way kids minds work sometimes, and they say what they think. I said "sure there are", as I pulled a dime from the mulch, and held it up to show them.
Then a guy comes up, I'm assuming their dad, and said "boys, get away from him, what have I told you about talking to strangers, that is how kids get taken". Of course, the boys ran off, I stood up and said that they weren't bothering me. He didn't reply, didn't even look at me, and stomped off.
I get it, I have kids and grandkids now, and I don't want them talking to strangers either. I was a little disheartened, was this the vibe I'm giving off? I should have walked over and introduced myself, and told the parents that I didn't mean to get the kids in trouble by talking to them, I just didn't want to ignore them, but I didn't. I did not want to get into a confrontation if he was just having a bad day or something. I was now agitated myself, and couldn't concentrate on what I was doing.
I have never had this happen before, usually, people are curious and will come up and ask questions. I just felt bad after this encounter.
Have any of you had anything similar happen and how did you handle it?