Today I wolf-whistled somebody

“Am I the ahole” and Mumsnet is a forum, though I don’t go there so can’t say any more than that.

AIBU isn’t it? Rather than AITA which might be a subreddit :wink:

If you don’t know you’re lucky. I’d say it’s KiwiFarms for middle aged, middle class, white ladies from the UK but that probably doesn’t mean much either. Being a Mumsnet contributor is like wearing a MAGA hat or being a man who wears red trousers. The rest of the world has immediately got your measure :rofl:

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sounds like there are some wierd and wonderful folk about… whether they be mums or not I have no idea… but I seem to have been in blissful ignorance of 'em up until this moment…
and now I shall try hard to forget 'em… :wink: :wink:

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Good idea!

Although to be fair the most weird and wonderful folk in France all seem to be in your village if your tales are anything to go by so I imagine you have your hands pretty full already without needing to venture to the darker, more sinister corners of the internet to find more :joy:

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Oh, it’s not just in my village… I seem to find the most wonderful folk wherever I travel… :wink: :wink:

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Plenty of the weird ones too perhaps :sweat_smile::laughing:

Nope, thankfully not too many of those… :wink:

Difficult to know how to respond to your wolf-whistle outburst, which, from what you say, sounded as if it came from an inner unknown you, one you didn’t know was there.

Occasionally when I see before me someone who catches my attention in that breathtaking way, I in my early 80s, look, appreciate and feel grateful. But she, a complete stranger, doesn’t need to know that.

Who was that other inner self that coerced you into doing something you came to regret and confess? If that other self is still there then you should do something about it.

I don’t think a ‘senior moment’ would cover the approaching 60s.

You mention Alzheimer’s & Tourette’s - is that for real?

True, she does not need to know that, but would she like to know, I ask?

I have never liked wolf whistles even when I was in my ‘lad’ days. I put it down to my prep school, where we were drilled that on passing a lady on the pavement, we had to doff our caps and always walk on the outside…

But I do confess to passing a lady on occasion, more so this day, and giving her a compliment if desreved ’ you look very elegant’, ‘love your shoes’ and the like. I have never been arrested, kicked or shouted at, so I can only assume that a little bit of civility does not go amiss in the crazy world we live in.

And this is really the crux of the matter. Some women love to be complemented, while others take a polite appreciation like an offer of unwanted sex. Generally if you don’t know the views of the person to whom your observations are directed then it’s best to stay silent.

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There’s all the difference in the world between saying someone looks very elegant or that you love their shoes and demonstrating you think of them as a bit of meat.

By and large if you want to say something about a complete stranger’s appearance, you are safer telling someone a colour or outfit suits them. (And you might ask yourself exactly what your motivation is, because that’s what they will be asking themself).

Edited to add remarks about a person’s physique are best avoided no matter how innocuous they seem to you, even something like “haven’t you grown” which people say a lot to teens comes over as intensely creepy when you’re a girl and the person speaking appears to be looking at your tits.

OK I’ll try to analyse the situation a little further. I reckon I was in a general absent-minded daydream situation. As such I do notice a tendency to vocalise a bit. Usually its verbal, maybe a little bit of singing . However I rarely whistle. This was part of a surprise - that a whistle should have come out. A further surprise was the realisation that it was not just any whistle, but it was that double-note, two-tone whistle that’s generally known as a wolf-whistle.
Thinking back to the situation there are a couple of things that I could point out in my defence. Firstly the sound I made was not loud enough to carry to the ears of anyone else. Secondly I may even have begun/made the sound before anyone came into view, and if so, it’s only on its completion and the ensuing internal surprise that there came about an inaccurate causal link within my brain. By nature, I am not a wolf-whistler.
Senior moments are something that I am wary of. Alzheimer’s is something which is increasingly mentioned in the media, and indeed my mother had it before she died. I am aware that Tourette’s is a real, specific and complex condition. I should not have included it in the overly casual manner in which I did - so I apologise for having done so.

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Did you know that the chocolate shop in the film Amélie is in @Stella 's village kirstea?

:slight_smile:

@ricrom I sm going to get slated for this… but are you American?

No I’m not.

I think we’re all over-analysing/reacting.

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Good advice here, and a pleasant tale

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A few years back on the main street of a Pyrenean spa-resort my wife got wolf-whistled - she was then in her early sixties; and the whistling locals were probably in their late teens. She did look stunning in a white linen, off the shoulder summer frock - I was proud of her and and it made her day!

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Heard an interesting titbit today from a professor of French on YouTube (time on my hands). Apparently wolf-whistling in public is illegal in France under the harcèment de rue rules and can cost you a 90 € fine. Be warned!