Strange Behavior Question

[Faramir2]

Strange, unclear title, I know, but I was having trouble coming up with a better one, and the question requires describing a couple of scenarios to even ask it.

Here's the scenario: End of last week, my mom and sister were in the grocery store with my one-year-old nephew. My mom was letting him walk around in the aisle while my sister shopped. A couple stops to comment on how cute he is and narrate his thoughts—normal behavior from a middle-aged couple. Another lady passes and says, "I might just pick him up and take him home with me." Wasn't a cute tone, either, in the ooey-gooey, "Oh, he's so cute, I could just take him home and enjoy having him be cute" sort of way some people do. Everyone looks at her aghast, my mom ushers him away. Then she passes the lady later—and this is when it got weirder. The lady looks at him and makes this chewing, chomping sort of motion with her bared teeth at him, leaning toward him a bit. My mom made tracks elsewhere.

Couple of days later, we're sitting outside at a coffeeshop. I'm along this time, and I had seen this crazy-looking tall, skinny black dude trying half-heartedly to look like a lady come walking up the ramp to the front door. Wide eyes, unpredictable expression, looked like he was randomly falling over, grabbing the fence, and pulling himself back up with this flamboyant flourish. A little while later, he comes back out, as my mom is walking my nephew about. He says my nephew, stops to interact with him, and picks up his foot. Tells my nephew to pick up his foot, too, then says it much more sharply, when my infant nephew obviously doesn't get it. My mom picked up my nephew and skirted about this weirdo—as she does so, weirdo leans in and makes the same teeth chattering, chewing motion.

Does anyone have any idea of what the teeth thing is about? I can't find anything online about it but am convinced it was not coincidental. Two people behaving perversely and acting thoroughly as creeps, both doing that toward a little child? Too strange a set of circumstances to dismiss. I didn't intervene in the second scenario, but if weirdo dude had moved much closer to them, I was going to go hands-on and direct the dude elsewhere. Didn't actually do so, but it was exceedingly strange. Anyone got a sense of whether this was a drug thing, something else? The dude looked like he might be possessed, his expressions were that odd and contorted. Looked too healthy to be a regular tweaker, although it crossed my mind.

Sent from my moto g power (2022) using Tapatalk

[Dorkface]

My gut says a couple of socially awkward people trying to be cute and failing. Your mom made the right call by bugging out. Hard telling these days.

[chad newton]

I would say, you never can be too careful. They are probably harmless but you never know.... I don’t even let homeless come near me or mine, call me a dick I don’t care. I let them know to get the fuck away from me....

[Gabriel Suarez]

My POV...it is perfectly fine to be an asshole to people. In the first scenario, "Walk up and say only loud enough for the crazy bitch to hear, "Do you have a problem? ARe you trying to kidnap my kid...because I will end you slowly and painfully if you are...have a nice day".

Second scenario - and mine were taught from day one that some people are bad guys...they knew it at three. "Bobby...come over here now". Mine never questioned that. Coupled with a "I will rip your head off your shoulders and fuck the hole before your eyes fade" look. That would do the trick.

Moral of the tale - stop being so fucking nice to everyone. I am not there to be everyone's friend.

[LawDog]

Looked too healthy to be a regular tweaker, although it crossed my mind.

Tweaker teeth take time. They don't all fit the visual image that we expect. But whether it is drugs or mental illness really doesn't matter from our perspective. We aren't looking to treat them; just to avoid them.

I'm trying to visualize the teeth chattering/chomping but having difficulty seeing it in my mind. There are too many variations. My own twisted mind goes immediately to cannibalism, but I realize that's pretty low odds.

I think people are often too trusting with strangers who approach their kids. Even if somebody isn't evil or high, they might just be really clumsy and hurt your kid accidentally. I wouldn't advocate for people to be helicopter parents, but it's reasonable to place yourself like a wall between your kid and other adults. If I walked up all interested in someone's child, I'll bet their protective instincts would kick in. But when a woman or an old man does the same thing, they don't act. In one sense, that's reasonable. There are very few female pedophiles. But women are just as likely to be idiots. Until you know that someone is safe--which includes both a lack of malice and also a certain minimum level of competence at life--they should be kept at bay. My own approach is a bit more gentle than Gabe's, but it's closer to Gabe than to Mister Rogers. I can smile with my mouth and still communicate with my eyes that I'm prepared to decapitate someone.

Encountering this bared teeth thing twice in a short time is weird, but probably still coincidental. If it really became widespread, I'd start worrying that we're at the beginning of World War Z.

[chad newton]

It’s the vaccinated.........

[jlwilliams]

Seeing a weird behavior like that twice in a short time is odd. My brain thinks "coincidence" but my gut doesn't believe in coincidence.

[coastalcop]

In the grocery store we they perchance near the fava beans or chianti ? ;)


I havent seen "chomping" around here, however jaw motion , thrusting of the jaw, and various tics are all side effects of several psychotropic drugs

[Redbug]

I knew a guy at work years ago that would do the chomping bit at times. It was anxiety.

But I could see how it could be psychotropic drugs since they are prescribed a lot.

[Gunstore Commando]

MDMA ("molly", some call it) can make users grind their teeth like that. That's why attendees at raves often are seen chewing on children's pacifiers. But the individuals described don't seem to fit the profile.

I almost wonder if it's not a side effect of some mental health medication that is actually prescribed to them.