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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

On edge about jogging

99 replies

snarplesgettingnosey · 12/02/2022 14:12

I'm more than prepared to be called a nosey neighbour but I'm starting to get a bit on edge about men walking down the road I live on.
About eight months ago I moved to a new area. Small town/large village vibe, small enough that strangers say hello if passing in street. Lots of dog walkers. I WFH and can see the road outside while I'm working. The first time I noticed a man in his sixties walk by it just struck me that he wasn't carrying anything but he was walking purposefully. Nothing unusual as I assumed it was someone who lived past where I live and was going to the shop. Then I noticed it more often again and again - not the same man - walking by, carrying nothing, often looking purposefully. I haven't noticed any of them returning back up the road although I'm not constantly looking out so they might have done. There are approximately no more than twenty houses past me before fields start and I now know some of the neighbours so I'd say it's unlikely that all these men can be coming from their own houses.
Yesterday was the first time I noticed a man come from the same direction but rather than walk past he got in his car which was parked outside my neighbours. He turned the car around to drive back in the direction he had driven from. Again, he'd not been carrying anything and I've never seen him before. With the exception of one man who looks to be in his thirties that I've seen twice, they're all in their sixties/seventies.
I'm starting to get paranoid because I go jogging in this area. Should I stop?

OP posts:
Pugtails · 12/02/2022 21:54

Unfortunately I used to live in a flat next to a ‘massage parlour’ which was actually a brothel. I got evidence by literary searching the address, name and the word ‘brothel! Try Googling it and you’ll probably find a gross prostitute review site 🤮

Chestofdraws · 12/02/2022 22:22

Why do you think elderly men are dangerous if they visit a prostitute, that’s such an odd thought, you can’t really think that? And you can’t think only elderly men visit prostitutes and are told to park up the road?

Are you thinking of a man visits a prostitute he is liable to attack a jogger? It’s hard to comprehend your thought process here.

Is there something else going on with you? These are very Illogical, irrational and odd thoughts.

FourChimneys · 12/02/2022 23:19

I don't know if this helps but I have walked and run past the house of our local sex worker many times and not come to any harm.

HappyDays40 · 13/02/2022 04:41

They are just exercising as they have a right to. Just have a jog and keep yer neb out.

OnaBegonia · 13/02/2022 05:02

Probably. visiting a chiropodist who has a home clinic 🤣
Have you tried to find out if there are any businesses other than a brothel, in the area?

AnnaK163 · 13/02/2022 05:17

Everyone goes out for walks. They look suspicious because they don't have a dog with them! I think they are just having a walk. It's like that where I live but I know them all now.
As for jogging alone no I don't do that anymore as had two very bad experiences in the last year running on a track through an old pit village a few miles away. I will run with a man, but not alone or with another woman. Once bitten twice shy.

PinkPinkPinkGreen · 13/02/2022 05:18

Surely men who visit a brothel want to do so with as little fuss as possible. They’re unlikely to want to draw attention to themselves by attacking the neighbours.

DropYourSword · 13/02/2022 05:18

What's the obsession with people carrying things?!

TulipsGarden · 13/02/2022 05:28

Have you tried following them OP?

Momijin · 13/02/2022 05:28

If it is older men visiting a sex worker, why would that be a threat to you jogging?

hellcatspangle · 13/02/2022 05:31

Men go out for walks. In fact for men in their 60s/70s, it's probably the most popular form of exercise.

Butchyrestingface · 13/02/2022 05:33

Even if these blokes ARE frequenting prostitutes and/or somehow dodgy, surely to fuck you can run faster than a bloke in his 70s? Just speed away whenever you see them. 😀

BordelDeMerde · 13/02/2022 05:53

My 80+ Dad walks around purposefully a lot. An hour's brisk walk is his daily exercise. I don't think he's ever sauntered anywhere in his life. He often switches up where he walks too, so as not to get too bored.
I'm pretty sure he's not visiting a prostitute, or is a threat to joggers but I suppose you never know. Hmm🧐

PinkSyCo · 13/02/2022 06:28

I doubt these 60/70 year old men will have the energy to be chasing after any joggers straight after a visit to the local brothel. I think you’re safe OP.

TicTacHoh · 13/02/2022 06:35

If they are walking to a brothel, why do they never return past your house (with the exception of the one man who parked?)

Is the madam bumping them off like Lorraine?

Looubylou · 13/02/2022 07:03

Hi OP, after reading your OP again, I see they are not just walking purposefully, but also looking purposefully. I suppose that would make you wonder what they were looking for, in fairness. As you have a close community, why not ask a neighbour? There must be a few older neighbours, who notice everything. Can you jog in another direction? If you don't feel safe, you won't enjoy your jog. It's easy for PP to belittle your concerns, when they aren't experiencing the issue.

Mintyt · 13/02/2022 07:05

Why don't you go for a walk after one walks by and see where they go. Also watch the film Rear view window, I think it's fine to wonder where they are going I would too but I would not be put off jogging

iRun2eatCake · 13/02/2022 07:19

If these random men were jogging instead of "walking purposely" would that be ok?

StScholastica · 13/02/2022 07:20

My guess is they are going to an osteopath/chiropodist, see If they are walking more purposefully on the way back! Wink
Or possibly they are using your street to park in all day, while they catch a train/lift share somewhere else.
Maybe men in sheds is at the end of your street. Or maybe there is something unusual (like a rare bird/rare funghi/rare plant) that they are going to see. DH is driving to Preston next week to see a belted KingFisher, he fits your demographic but he isn't dangerous.

londonrach · 13/02/2022 07:23

Yabu. My DH when wfh at lunchtime goes for a circle walk around the block and carries nothing....it's to stretch himself before he returns to work.

AuntieStella · 13/02/2022 07:35

Depressing when ageism is so ingrained that old people who don't fit the (wrong) stereotype, in this case by walking other than slowly, need explaining.

LittleSnakes · 13/02/2022 07:43

Follow one. Where does the street go? Are they going into a field or woods at the end of street?

whitewashing · 13/02/2022 07:44

Ask them. ‘Hey you! Yes, you! What right have have you to be walking purposefully past my window not carrying anything? You’re making me nervous you …you…old person going about your business! I’m a jogger don’t you know?’ See what they say and come back and tell,us…

lljkk · 13/02/2022 07:53

YADBU

picklemewalnuts · 13/02/2022 08:05

I think people are being unfair. Op has noticed a pattern that doesn't fit with what is usual in her area. She may not have explained it well enough for us to understand her concern, but that doesn't make her wrong.

And I think it's fair enough to wonder/worry if a nearby house is being used as a brothel. If it is, there could be trafficked women held there. It could attract other illegal activities. You could get men knocking at the wrong house.
I'd want to know, so I could be alert.

And I absolutely do judge men who use sex workers as being less safe to be around, among other things.