A man who offered a 14-year-old girl a lift home when he saw her walking alone late at night was accused of being ‘creepy’ by his wife – but not everyone agrees.
The 34-year-old man was driving home from work when he saw the young girl walking alone in a ‘not particularly safe area’, so he kindly offered to drive her instead.
‘It would have taken her a while to walk. She was at a party and her ride left without her… but nobody she knew was sober enough to drive,’ he said online.
The man eventually arrived home after dropping the young girl off, only to discover his wife waiting for him – and she wasn’t happy with what he had done.
‘My wife asked why I took so long and I explained everything and she said it was wrong and creepy to offer a girl her age a ride and that I should not have done it,’ he said.
‘I don’t think it’s wrong… I think it’s better she had a safe way home rather than potentially getting hurt or being picked up by someone with bad intentions.’
The man said the girl’s safety was more important than his reputation and thousands of people on Reddit agreed with him.
‘What’s wrong with your wife?’ one asked.
A man who offered a 14-year-old girl a lift home when he saw her walking alone late at night was accused of being ‘creepy’ by his wife – but not everyone agrees
‘Optics are all the court of public opinion cares about,’ another added.
‘How is helping another person get home safely ‘creepy?” a third chimed in.
Many argued that doing the right thing when there was a risk of getting in trouble for it made you a good person.
‘I don’t want to a live in a world where you’re looked at as an a******* for this. I 100 per cent get that accusations could be thrown around so I’d be reluctant to help, but (like you) I’d rather know they’re safe,’ one said.
‘Thank you for being brave enough to help someone in need. We need more people like you,’ another added.
Many parents said that while the thought of their child getting a lift with an older man was ‘uncomfortable’, they would rather that than them walking alone in a dangerous area at night.
‘I would NOT be happy with my kid for being in this situation which could have been really dangerous, but I would be very grateful for the original poster,’ one said.
A few suggested that the man should have recorded the drive as a precaution, or had the child call their parents to ‘establish a line of trust’.
Others said the situation showed why it’s important for kids to be able to contact their parents to rescue them from a dilemma, without them getting into trouble.
‘I would like to think my kids would call me to pick them up rather than risk walking/riding with a stranger. If they don’t feel they can call us that’s probably our fault,’ one parent said.
A few people asked why the wife didn’t trust the husband in the first place.
‘I’d be more concerned with the state of your relationship. Why would your wife ever assume YOU would be creepy, you know?’ one said.
‘Next time call her an Uber or call your wife. This could have gone sideways very quickly,’ another said.