'I parked on public street to make phone call – then got furious reaction'

A woman's quick stop on a public street to make an urgent phone call took a dramatic turn when an irate local threatened to call the police.

She recounted her "disturbing" experience on Reddit, where she was confronted by a resident shortly after parking in a quaint side street. The woman told how she was "threatened by a homeowner" within minutes of starting an "important call".

She explained: "My car is a normal-looking compact car in good condition, and I am a normal-looking person who does not at all look intimidating."

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But things took a sour turn when an elderly man, thought to be in his 70s, came up to her car after "about five minutes", knocked on the window, and demanded to know if she "had any business" in the area.

Attempting to keep the mood light, she responded: "Do I look like trouble? I'm driving a Toyota Prius", as reported by the Daily Star. However, the man's response was far from friendly.

She recalled him saying: "He said, 'No, you don't look like trouble, but here in this neighbourhood we're a family, and we run people out who aren't part of the family'."

As she tried to clarify that she was merely "taking a call" and intended to head to a coffee shop afterwards, the man sharply replied, "Well there aren't any coffee shops over here,".

The situation intensified when he "threatened to call the police" on her for "loitering". Despite the pressure, she remained courteous throughout the encounter, consistently addressing the man as sir.

She recounted: "Eventually, after making it abundantly clear that I was not welcome in his neighbourhood and once again threatening to call the police, he walked away. I wrapped up my call and also drove away, bewildered.

"I had planned on spending some time enjoying the nice day and walking around the downtown that afternoon, but after this exchange I was too weirded out by the unwarranted paranoia of one of its senior residents. As I drove away, my emotions switched from disbelief to anger to pity."

She further commented: "I don't know that man, or what sorts of traumas he may have experienced in his life. But I saw him act absolutely insane to a normal person in a normal car who was doing nothing but quietly sitting and talking on the phone. If that is how he wants to live his life, through a lens of fear, then that's a real shame."

One Reddit user offered reassurance, saying: "Much better to park on a public street to take a phone call than to do it while driving. Even if you were just checking for coffee place, he was way out of line. It's sad the sis coming to this.."

Another chimed in: "This man was completely out of line to walk up to someone and tell them to leave. Stupid of him as well in the event someone was there to do harm."

A third added their voice: "Sure, if you had pulled into his driveway, that would be AH territory. But you didn't do that. You were on the street. That old dude can STFU."

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