I have name changed for this! Apologies for the length.
In the summer DH and I attended a church bbq. It was directly after Mass one Sunday so we dropped in to be sociable. We know a few people to say hello too and it was pleasant enough. Towards the end we got talking to a guy we didn't know and had never seen before but who seemed perfectly nice. The conversation was fairly brief, a bit of "Nice day isn't it?" and "Do you live far?" etc etc Then he saw some kids walking through the park with tennis rackets and said "Oh, my wife and I love to play tennis but hardly do it anymore" to which I said "Oh, yes, us too - it's hard to find time isn't it?"
He then suggests DH and I join him and his wife some time for a game (we hadn't even exchanged names at this point) and I sort of smiled as you do with strangers and said "Ooh, I'm not very good I'm afraid", and started to feel a bit uncomfortable. He then started chatting to DH and asking really personal questions about where we live, what we do etc etc then got his phone out and said "Can I have your number? My wife and I are new round here and it'd be great to know more people." DH was totally put on the spot and gave him his mobile number as everyone was sort of smiling nervously at each other at this point and he didn't want to appear rude. Plus, the guy seemed nice enough, just a bit lonely, and I suppose we did feel a bit sorry for him and, after all, we had just been to Mass!
He then started cooing over DS and told me rather randomly that he and his wife were having difficulty conceiving (they are a good ten years older than us) and he was sure she'd love to chat to me if I had any advice in that area. WTF? Remember, ten minutes earlier the guy was a total stranger. I just mumbled "Oh dear, I'm sorry, it can be hard sometimes."
Anyway, we quickly forgot about the episode until about a month later when he started texting DH to see if we fancied going round to theirs for dinner some time? We decided to ignore it as I felt a bit weirded out by it and we hadn't seen them at Mass again since then so just decided to put it out of our minds.
Then, shortly before Christmas, he and his wife suddenly started appearing at church on Sunday and afterwards making a bee-line for us and acting as if we are long-lost buddies. And every time they go on and on about getting our diaries out and organising to have lunch or something. Last night he texted again to say please tell us a Sunday in Jan when you are free to come to ours after Mass for cake. They are French and divide their time between the two countries (I think she is a lecturer at a French uni and he might be a writer) so that explains why we have only seen them sporadically.
DH thinks this is all quite funny and says he doesn't mind going round to eat the cake, smile, let them coo over the baby then head home and move on. But I feel it will only be the beginning. I really feel a bit creeped out by them. They are much older than us and are little more than strangers. We hardly know them, I don't even know his wife's name and whilst I am always happy to make new friends, I do think you need a little bit of time to get to know someone before you start having dinner with them.
AIBU not to want to be forced into having a friendship with people just because they really, really want it? How do I get out of it? Am I being a bit precious to feel aggressively befriended? I'm no great shakes, honest, not really sure why they like us so much actually! I'm just happy to say hello and smile for now. We ave such a busy life and lots of people to catch up with that we hardly see as it is I just can't be bothered forcing a friendship out of nothing.
But how do I get out of it? Do I just have to go along with it? Would it be very rude and unchristian just to ignore them? I don't want to be a bitch but I just can't be arsed. And, like I say, it does feel a bit creepy.
WWYD?