I did a solo bike trip across the U.S. a few years ago. There was one day in Kansas, in the middle of nowhere, where the wind was so high that I had to just buckle down. I spent the entire day in the hallway of a rest stop that connected two bathrooms.
I was posted up in there with my bike and everything, so it was pretty clear what I was doing. There was no cell service, so I was just sitting there with nothing to do.
Every time an older person came in to use the restroom, they would talk to me when they came out. We would talk about where we were headed and what I was doing, make jokes, and banter. They would usually ask me if I needed anything like help or food before wishing me the best of luck with my trip.
But the young people (people in their 20s, like me) looked at me with actual fear. They would glance at me, immediately avert their eyes, and speed-walk into the bathroom even when they were in groups. It was a horrible feeling to have people be afraid of you for just existing. While the older people stopped to make jokes, the younger crowd seemed paralyzed by “stranger danger.”
I did make friends with the woman who came by twice a day to clean (she was in her early 30s). When she came back that night, she surprised me with dinner and unlocked the back storage room so I could sleep in there instead of the hallway.
It was reassuring, but the experience stuck with me. You don’t realize how much young people have isolated themselves from the world until you are on the receiving end of it.
I did a solo bike trip across the U.S. a few years ago. There was one day in Kansas, in the middle of nowhere, where the wind was so high that I had to just buckle down. I spent the entire day in the hallway of a rest stop that connected two bathrooms.
I was posted up in there with my bike and everything, so it was pretty clear what I was doing. There was no cell service, so I was just sitting there with nothing to do.
Every time an older person came in to use the restroom, they would talk to me when they came out. We would talk about where we were headed and what I was doing, make jokes, and banter. They would usually ask me if I needed anything like help or food before wishing me the best of luck with my trip.
But the young people (people in their 20s, like me) looked at me with actual fear. They would glance at me, immediately avert their eyes, and speed-walk into the bathroom even when they were in groups. It was a horrible feeling to have people be afraid of you for just existing. While the older people stopped to make jokes, the younger crowd seemed paralyzed by “stranger danger.”
I did make friends with the woman who came by twice a day to clean (she was in her early 30s). When she came back that night, she surprised me with dinner and unlocked the back storage room so I could sleep in there instead of the hallway.
It was reassuring, but the experience stuck with me. You don’t realize how much young people have isolated themselves from the world until you are on the receiving end of it.