This makes me happy. (Fireteam Builder Events)

by iconicbanana, C2-H5-OH + NAD, Portland, OR, Wednesday, March 25, 2015, 14:25 (3313 days ago) @ Robot Chickens

I know you were joking, but have we really gotten to the point in society where a male adult cannot express affection for spending time with another person's children without it having a connotation of pedophilia? Even the phrasing was pretty natural. When kids have fun, they generally call it playing. To say "I enjoy playing with kids" shouldn't be automatically affiliated with deviant behavior.

At the same time, I understand that adult males are the chief perpetrators of the type of crime connoted. Given that, I understand why the stereotype exists for males, but it seems like we ought to have better ways to react to this without going down that road. I read North's post and took it for what it meant. Perhaps I'm naive.

I hope this doesn't come across as too knee-jerk, but it is something that has bothered me for a while about our culture's language and how innuendo limits the ability of cross generational friendship.

Your thoughtful reaction, I mean.

Maybe the sad thing is that my reaction was so immediately the opposite of yours, and not necessarily abnormally so. Maybe it's the word "play"? It's normally associated with "playing a game" in the video game context but also has become synonymous with deviant behavior over the past decade? This could also be regional, or at least communal, too. Not a word that's okay to use in the context of where I grew up.