I don't really know where to post this so I'm putting it here.

Today I was doing some shopping when I saw a little girl who looked lost and scared on her own in the store, she must've been 4 or 5 years old. I debated with myself in my head if I should ask if she was okay, knowing that if I did I risked looking like a creep or pedophile simply for talking to her. I kept walking down the aisle and getting what I needed when I looked back at her again and she looked like she was on the brink of crying, so I decided stigma be damned, I'll see if she's ok.

I asked her where her parents were and she said she didn't know, it is a pretty big supermarket so I told her let's go find them. I started walking with her to the cash registers so we could ask the cashier to call out for her parents over the stores speakers. She grabbed my hand as we were walking which made me uncomfortable but I didn't want to push her away because she was seeking comfort. By the time we got to the end of the aisle her mother, somewhat frantic, came running up behind us and grabbed her daughter. She asked me what I was doing with her daughter and I said "She was alone and looked like she needed help, I was bringing her up to the cashier to help her find you". The look on this woman's face said it all "why are you touching my daughter, what is your intent, creep". She didn't thank me, she didn't try to excuse her negligence, she just grabbed her daughter and walked away.

I understand why people have a prejudice against men with children, we've all heard the stories, but I felt like a creep even though my intentions were nothing but compassionate. I saw a kid who looked like she was in trouble so I tried to help and my thanks was a dirty look and an unspoken jab at my intentions.

Anyway, it made me mad and feel like I had done something wrong even though I knew I didn't. I feel like if a woman had done the same thing I did the reaction would've been very different. Just made me upset because what I felt was a good deed was turned into something that made me feel guilty and wrong for doing it.