That’s it really. I’ll be working on my garden and if I’m anywhere near the road, random middle aged men will stop their cars to say hello and then quickly go into long ass monologues about their issues with their wives, their land ladies, their bosses, whatever. I don’t know these men, sometimes they start dumping on me before even introducing themselves to me, they’re certainly not interested in my name or anything about me.
Yesterday it happened again, with a man who I haven’t seen in months. His car drives by, he waves so I wave back then he stops his car, gets out, takes my open gate as an invitation and comes into my garden to talk to me about all the work he’s doing at his place and how his wife just left town. I cut him off after a time and just said, “well I should get back to work, take care” and thankfully he left. I don’t want to be known as unfriendly but the eagerness in which this grown (supposedly married) man bounded out of his car and walked uninvited up my driveway just didn’t feel right. It has gotten so bad sometimes I hide when I hear a car driving by.
I love living in the country but it’s ridiculous and somewhat infuriating that here in this space with so little people I still have to deal with random ass dudes trying to use me for free emotional labour. This is why I’ll always choose the bear.