To find this man in park suspicious

And by rude obviously I don't mean saying "fuck off you creep" or something when there's been no provocation. Just saying "no, ask a man".

There probably are plenty of oblivious men out there who never think about how their actions are perceived but I'm sure that most decent men KNOW not to put women in the position of having to be 'kind' or 'rude'. Just asking is a red flag.

I'm glad so many parents are making sure their children know that it's always OK to be rude in these kinds of situations.

I'm glad you discussed it afterwards with your daughter OP, so she knows she does not have to be kind/polite in that type of situation. As has been said many times, it did put you at risk. There were other people around including men that he could have asked for help.

I live in a rural area where couriers sometimes find it hard to find specific properties. Last year I was out on a walk when a courier stopped to ask me for directions to x property, I gave him directions, it was a few hundred yards away. He then asked would I get in the van and show him the way. It was a hard no from me, he didn't even get a 'sorry'. It absolutely is NOT okay for any man to ask a female stranger to get into a vehicle with him. Any man who makes that sort of request almost certainly does so for nefarious reasons and they rely on women being too polite to say no.

I think he was wrong to have asked, I asked DP as well and he said he would have maybe asked if OP’s sister was watching but only if he was desperate and couldn’t walk himself at all.

Years ago we went for a family walk in a local forest. It was my mum, dad and me and my sister who were 7and 9 years old.
We were following a trail but somehow wandered off it and ended up walking in circles until eventually we started to panic as it was getting dark. We managed to get to a road at the edge of the forest and waited until a car came along so my dad could ask the driver for directions.

When a car stopped it was 2 women and 2 small children so he asked my mum to approach the driver first so she wasn’t nervous about being stopped by a man. My dad had been driving and knew the area so he listened to the directions to get back to the car (my mum was hopeless with directions!) it turns out we were 3 miles in the wrong direction so the woman offered one of my parents a lift to go to get the car and then they could come back for the other parent and me and my sister.
It made sense for my dad to go but he was really reluctant to get in the car with the women in case they were uncomfortable, we couldn’t all fit and if my mum went as well then me and my sister would have been left alone in the dark.

In the end the women reassured my dad wasn’t dangerous and they were happy to do it and felt safe enough as they could see we were genuinely stuck, they were very appreciative though that he’d considered that they might be uncomfortable with driving a man they didn’t know down a dark isolated road.

Whilst we were waiting for my dad to return my mum talked to me and my sister about how dangerous it was to get in a car with a stranger and how being nice and helpful wasn’t as important as being safe. I’ve never forgotten that conversation and I think it sank in more after such a scary day.

About 6 months ago I was walking at night to a local supermarket and the roads were empty, I live in a rural area and needed something urgently before the shop shut.
A white van pulled along side me and a man stopped and asked for directions to a fuel station, I could see he had a phone on a phone holder in his van so I stood as far back as I could and suggested he use maps on his phone.
The man said he couldn’t use his phone but then a couple approached walking their dog and he suddenly said he’d go and look and drove off. The couple agreed it had looked and seemed dodgy and my gut feeling was that I had escaped a dangerous situation, I’m a big believer of trusting your gut as other posters have mentioned.

I was angry with myself like OP for putting myself at risk and rang 101, they logged it and warned me against walking around alone at night.

Its always better to be safe than polite.

Never let a stranger In your car. He could have had serious mental illness and attacked you. It’s not worth the risk

Were there other people around at all that he could have asked?

Why disconcerting? He was trying to decide what to do, waiting to see if you were actually leaving etc. Honestly, you're overthinking but just make a boundary that you don't help strangers in future. Not a world I want to live in but would stop all this stress for you at least.

I've been driving with a broken foot

As someone with mobility issues and DH with the same it sounds fully believable. Someone can walk a bit then be struck with bad symptoms/fatigue. It sounds weird to someone mobile but suddenly a few steps could take an hour or even render them gravely unwell. Driving is obviously possible as it's not putting pressure on the same bones/muscles.
He did nothing pervy and sounded honest. It was nice of you to help him. Not everyone's an axe murdering paedo. Some people are just disabled.

My sister has ms and she once lost almost complete power in her legs whilst out for a walk with her dog. She didn't seem to have the cognitive ability to make a phone call and it was the beginning of a really serious relapsing phase for her. She basically lay on a bench trying to hold on to her dog but wouldn't ask for help.
Some wonderful people realised she wasn't well, took her home and contacted us.
She genuinely would have sat there all night otherwise as all functionality seemed to just vanish.
As a result I judge each situation on its merits but would try and assist where possible.

A decent man genuinely in that situation would’ve asked another bloke rather than make a woman uncomfortable.

Great advise …there is just so much more to a gut feeling than a feeling .. for me it’s inner wisdom , a warning , a guardian Angel

This story reminds me of going w Ted bunday used the diversion of having a fake broken arm to get women in the car. Maybe you had a lucky break but I certainly wouldn’t give a lift to a strange man daughter or no daughter in the car

The gift of fear. If it feels off then listen to your gut.

You'd get an Uber, not approach a woman and ask to go in her car.

Although, if you were hitchhiking at least to w person makes an informed DH o if e to stop, rather than being taken aback by such an odd request. Less chance of coercion.

So yes, you may well have had a similar response. Maybe not. Men should not be doing stuff like that, so ungentlemanly and inconsiderate (at best).

While I think you made a risky decision and probably shouldn’t have, I do think people calling the guy a weirdo and trying to insinuate nefarious intentions are ott. You and your daughter are fine, he didn’t attack anyone, he probably was just in pain and didn’t think about the potential consequences of a woman letting a stranger interesting to her car. Especially as you weren’t alone.

I wouldn't let an unknown man in my car. Unfortunately I've had a few bad experiences so I'm wary.

Who knows if this man was genuine. I tell myself that I don't have to be polite to strangers if I don't feel 100% safe.

I think the main thing here is that it has left you with a feeling of unease. The situation you describe is a little bizarre, and especially given that he didn't seem particularly grateful as you say, or acknowledge you as you drove off other than a small nod.
So all those small things together has made you think the situation may not have been as clear cut as you obviously initally thought, given you gave him the lift.
Like others have said, most men would ask another man for help. Unless the place was totally deserted, and there were no men anywhere in sight or likely to be along anytime soon? But then, surely someone who was desperate to get to their car and could not walk (even with 2 sticks?) would have shown alot of appreciation at someone helping them out of their predicament.

Unfortunately we live in a world now where we have to mistrust strangers because there are some truly awful people out there. And they don't some with a sign on their head. They often present as charming, kind and nice people.... until they aren't.

I'm glad you gave your sister the heads up.
Something felt 'off' to you. May have been nothing, but definitely listen to your gut if it starts sending you signals something doesn't feel quite right witht he situation.

I fail to see what he did wrong, but I might be biased. I was quite unwell a few weeks back and had underestimated myself greatly when I wanted to walk to the shop. It was a short walk but it took all energy out of me. Had I seen a car driving into the direction of home I would have asked for help too. Thankfully I didn’t ask anyone or else there might have been a thread about me on here as well 🙄

Unfortunately people need to be more vigilant.

Last year I bought a kids bag from someone on a local secondhand site, I went and picked it up from them all good, nothing unusual collected it at the door etc.
Met my friend for lunch afterwards and her phone picked up nearby airtag - after inspecting the bag a tag was well hidden in a padded area of lining, we took it straight to the police and reported him. Turned out to be the 2nd time he had done this, and no he didn't have any children he could claim it was there incase they lost their bag etc.

There are weirdos out there and I'd rather comment and have someone have a quick check of their car.

I think your sister thwarted him.

It was a strange request, he should have known not to ask to get in to a woman’s car. He could have sat and waited for his girlfriendetc. Did you say he wasn’t grateful? That’s because he was thwarted.

I may have an overactive imagination but better to be safe than sorry.

You should have said ‘give me your car keys, I’ll go to your car and drive it back here.’