Creeped out by what driving instructor said

[thisisthend]

I don't know if I'm overreacting. I was waiting for my driving instructor. It was evening, at around 6. He came and when I got in the car he said "it is dangerous waiting on street corners. Getting into a car with a strange man. The neighbourhood will be talking about you." I'm not sure how I feel about this. It was probably a joke, but it made me feel uncomfortable. What do you reckon?

Sounds like a bad joke to me. What else could he possibly mean by it?

Of course it was meant as a joke. A really really bad one, and not appropriate in any way. But what makes you feel it may not have been a joke?

Probably a joke. My driving instructor would probably say something like this but I've had him a while now and we joke around a lot so I wouldn't think anything of it at all.

definitely a joke I mean!

Just a bad joke- think you’re reading too much into it. It’s a bit of an old fashioned bad joke

It sounds like a joke from the 1970s. It wasn’t funny then either.

Meh.

Unless he has behaved inappropriately then I think you are reading too much into it.

Could you not tell by his tone of voice if it was a joke or not?

I mean, it’s the sort of daft comment I grew up with & would make, but it would obviously be a joke to someone of my generation (heading rapidly towards 50). Someone younger has most likely been brought up, sadly, very differently and possibly would see what I consider very normal banter as a threat. It’s a shame, as everything is getting so bloody serious and people are too scared to have a bit of a joke in case it gets misconstrued.

However, if you feel uncomfortable with him, ask for a different instructor next time. I seriously doubt he’s any real threat to anyone, as he presumably needs his job, but feeling uncomfortable isn’t going to help you learn to drive.

It's the kind of seedy 'joke' about you being a prostitute being picked up by him which would make me look for a new driving instructor.