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Living in a small town

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Comments

  • #32
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 32,956 ✭✭✭✭ [Deleted User]


    Honest opinion. You sound like the type of dude who may go out on Junior Cert Results night.


  • #33
    Buona Fortuna
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,507 ✭✭✭Buona Fortuna


    Hi OP

    Have these couch surfs ever been resulted in any bad experience for you? Stuff going missing or worse?


    Just came across this on Boards - was a mystery to me

    http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=54375887


  • #34
    Buona Fortuna
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,507 ✭✭✭Buona Fortuna


    Wow isn't the internet great:
    On 5 March 2009 in Leeds, UK, a man threatened with death and raped a woman from Hong Kong who stayed at his place through the Couchsurfing project.[27] He was sentenced to 10 years in prison
    In July 2012, a Couchsurfing host admitted to French police that through a specially-constructed peephole he filmed and spied upon showering female students he hosted, treating their soap with acid to provoke itching, and drugging their food with tranquillisers, sexually assaulting them in their sleep. Upon awakening, due to the drugs, they had no memory of the events.[29] Couchsurfing public relations personnel asked Couchsurfing Ambassadors to not comment to the press concerning these events
    In 2013, "a popular host in Chicago and a CouchSurfing 'Ambassador'" was excluded from Couchsurfing.com after a considerable number of women complained of his inappropriate behaviour. The case underlines the limitations in the site's safety measures, the excluded member having previously obtained special trusted status on the site
    A person "posing as a couch surfer" was arrested in the Jing'an District of Shanghai on 26 December 2013 after stealing goods from various hosts in Beijing and Shanghai
    At first confined to house arrest, a Padua police officer was taken into custody 29 March 2014 after evidence brought prosecutors to suspect his sexual violence was not limited to two known cases, and after he was discovered still seeking new contacts through social media, in defiance of a legal injunction. He is suspected of drugging and raping multiple victims encountered through the Couchsurfing website. A previous complaint had been filed with Scotland Yard by an American couchsurfer studying at Oxford.
    All from Wiki - so obviously God's own Truth


  • #35
    Daveysil15
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,301 ✭✭✭Daveysil15


    Nomis21 wrote: »
    I moved into an isolated cottage near small town in the country about 2 hours drive from Dublin, about three years ago. I didn't know anyone when I moved here (I still don't) so I joined couchsurfing so I would have some company to pass the time as I have retired from work.

    I only accept couchsurfing requests from females to stay at my house because I feel safer doing that and I have had over 200 girls stay at my house from 40 countries over the three years. Last week a garda car followed me and a chinese couchsurfing girl to my house and then asked both of us what we were doing, although we were doing nothing suspicious.

    Would you be concerned if a stranger moved into town and was continually seen with different girls less than half his age living in his house? Is this really a reason to alert the Guards?

    Not so much concerned, but brothel keeping would be one of the first things to come to mind if I'm been honest. Obviously the person who reported you was concerned but you haven't done anything wrong so its grand. I've heard good things about the couch surfing all the same.

    Edit: I've just seen the above post. now I'm not so sure lol.


  • #36
    CelticRambler
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,722 ✭✭✭CelticRambler


    ToddyDoody wrote: »
    And simply going down the pub was plan b?

    I thought all the pubs in rural Ireland had disappeared. :confused:

    Different location and a different programme but I used to do something similar for people in campervans/motorhomes till last year. Everyone within 5km knew that someone wandering around with "foreign" plates looking lost was probably looking for me and gave them directions. If the house was in a better state, I'd offer couchsurfing too though we don't see that many tourists round here.


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  • #37
    MRnotlob606
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,642 ✭✭✭MRnotlob606


    I thought this was going ted bundyish.


  • #38
    Nomis21
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,409 ✭✭✭Nomis21


    CelticRambler wrote: »
    I thought all the pubs in rural Ireland had disappeared. :confused:

    Different location and a different programme but I used to do something similar for people in campervans/motorhomes till last year. Everyone within 5km knew that someone wandering around with "foreign" plates looking lost was probably looking for me and gave them directions. If the house was in a better state, I'd offer couchsurfing too though we don't see that many tourists round here.

    Celtic Rambler, just to let you know that the condition of your house or where you are situated does not matter too much. Couchsurfers are mostly budget travellers who are just happy with a place to sleep and adapt to the place where they are and its more about the person they are staying with, a 'cultural exchange'.

    Based on a referencing system, people will stay according to the references left by others and this is a small island in comparison with most countries and nearly everywhere is less than three hours from anywhere else and often less, which is not far in the scale of things for travellers who come often from thousands of miles away. To get the first references one can go and stay with someone or go to a couchsurfing meet up in one of the cities and meet people.

    As for the horror stories above. Yes they can happen, usually by travellers who didn't follow couchsurfing safety guidelines on the website and 6 incidents in over 20 million successful hosting and surfing experiences, although deplorable it is extremely rare. People don't usually publish a photo of themselves on the web before committing a crime linked to that photo.


  • #39
    Annasopra
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 41,236 ✭✭✭✭Annasopra


    Yeah its suspicious

    A 60ish year old man who refuses to engage much with local people constantly bringing foreign women in their 20s into a cottage in the middle of nowhere.

    It was so much easier to blame it on Them. It was bleakly depressing to think that They were Us. If it was Them, then nothing was anyone's fault. If it was us, what did that make Me? After all, I'm one of Us. I must be. I've certainly never thought of myself as one of Them. No one ever thinks of themselves as one of Them. We're always one of Us. It's Them that do the bad things.

    Terry Pratchet



  • #40
    John_Rambo
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2, Paid Member Posts: 11,733 ✭✭✭✭John_Rambo


    Joeytheparrot wrote: »
    Yeah its suspicious

    It looks suspicious and it sounds like Nomis is sort of proud of that fact. I'm pretty sure there's nothing untoward happening.

    Nomis is getting some company I guess. From reading his posts he seems to get a thrill out of the locals thinking he's some sort of stud or a sex trafficker.


  • #41
    Daveysil15
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,301 ✭✭✭Daveysil15


    John_Rambo wrote: »
    It looks suspicious and it sounds like Nomis is sort of proud of that fact. I'm pretty sure there's nothing untoward happening.

    Nomis is getting some company I guess. From reading his posts he seems to get a thrill out of the locals thinking he's some sort of stud or a sex trafficker.

    Well at least he's not doing it in Dublin.


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  • #42
    John_Rambo
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2, Paid Member Posts: 11,733 ✭✭✭✭John_Rambo


    Daveysil15 wrote: »
    Well at least he's not doing it in Dublin.

    Doesn't matter where he's dining it. He's doing no harm. He's accommodating people.

    Silly post.


  • #43
    ytpe2r5bxkn0c1
    Closed Accounts Posts: 32,688 ✭✭✭✭ytpe2r5bxkn0c1


    Nomis,
    As a 70 year old living in rural Ireland I can tell you your operation would not only seem suspicious, it is downright odd. You are 3 years in an area and didn't socialise with the locals but went to seek strangers on the web? Downright peculiar way to go about things. You cannot honestly think that people would be anything but suspicious of you.


  • #44
    beano345
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,105 ✭✭✭beano345


    Emmet Most Widow wrote: »
    Nomis,
    As a 70 year old living in rural Ireland I can tell you your operation would not only seem suspicious, it is downright odd. You are 3 years in an area and didn't socialise with the locals but went to seek strangers on the web? Downright peculiar way to go about things. You cannot honestly think that people would be anything but suspicious of you.

    That's typical small nosey Irish town mentality,let the man live whatever way he wants,maybe he prefers the company of foreign people with different cultures and life experiences


  • #45
    CelticRambler
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,722 ✭✭✭CelticRambler


    Nomis21 wrote: »
    Celtic Rambler, just to let you know that the condition of your house or where you are situated does not matter too much. Couchsurfers are mostly budget travellers who are just happy with a place to sleep and adapt to the place where they are and its more about the person they are staying with, a 'cultural exchange'.

    :D Ah, it matters to me ... I do have people to stay quite often (big house, lots of beds) and they come back again, but it's hard work explaining the quirks of the house (no door handles, trailing cables, dodgy toilet flush, etc) - I don't want to do that three times a week. :pac:

    Good tip about getting references, though. I'm mostly a "provider" rather than a "user" but maybe I need to leave my own campervan at home for a while! :cool:


  • #46
    Nomis21
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,409 ✭✭✭Nomis21


    John_Rambo wrote: »
    It looks suspicious and it sounds like Nomis is sort of proud of that fact. I'm pretty sure there's nothing untoward happening.

    Nomis is getting some company I guess. From reading his posts he seems to get a thrill out of the locals thinking he's some sort of stud or a sex trafficker.



    I would say that it was more a side effect than a reason to do couchsurfing but yes, I suppose I do get some amusement from it though I don't cultivate suspicion and didn't expect or want attention from the Guards.


  • #47
    Satriale
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,998 ✭✭✭Satriale


    Nomis21 wrote: »
    I would say that it was more a side effect than a reason to do couchsurfing but yes, I suppose I do get some amusement from it though I don't cultivate suspicion and didn't expect or want attention from the Guards.

    The guards were probably just being nosey fcukers. It was a pretty weak excuse to ask you questions (and dare i say, an abuse of power)


  • #48
    dellas1979
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,128 ✭✭✭dellas1979


    Im from a small town. And agree with live and let live.

    But if yer man down the road had 200+ females coming through, I would want to know what was going on. For my neighbourhood.

    At the end of the day, its all about safety, right? Well, your guests want to feel safe. But your neighbours do too.

    Therefore, seeing as not one person in the village is aware of your couchsufring endeavours, yes I do think it is right for them to check out what is going on.

    Imagine if something really dodgy was going on, and noone checked it out? Would be uproar then that the Gardai did nothing.

    PS: Your reviews/feedback sound like counseling sessions.


  • #49
    ytpe2r5bxkn0c1
    Closed Accounts Posts: 32,688 ✭✭✭✭ytpe2r5bxkn0c1


    beano345 wrote: »
    That's typical small nosey Irish town mentality,let the man live whatever way he wants,maybe he prefers the company of foreign people with different cultures and life experiences

    What about that was nosey? The OP stated "I didn't know anyone when I moved here (I still don't) so I joined couchsurfing so I would have some company to pass the time". Of all places a small rural area is the easiest to meet people if you have a mind to. I couldn't care less what he does in his home but he asked how it might look. I think he knows rightly how it would look - be it in a small rural area or a housing estate in a town/city - and he's quite chuffed with himself about it.


  • #50
    kneemos
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 22,605 ✭✭✭✭kneemos


    You can't be anonymous or go unnoticed in the countryside.People will talk and want to know your business,if there's a lack of information it'll be filled with assumptions and rumours.

    The Guards themselves also probably live locally and will be curious about your movements,so it may not be a case of somebody reporting you.
    If I know anything about rural Ireland I bet you're quite the mystery and a popular topic of conversations.


  • #51
    alroley
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,297 ✭✭✭alroley


    I'd be so creeped out by you to be honest.
    It would just look so odd and suspicious to see an older man constantly have different young women in his house.


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  • #52
    John_Rambo
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2, Paid Member Posts: 11,733 ✭✭✭✭John_Rambo


    Nomis21 wrote: »
    I would say that it was more a side effect than a reason to do couchsurfing but yes, I suppose I do get some amusement from it though I don't cultivate suspicion and didn't expect or want attention from the Guards.

    Well, you only accept females, you are a bit boastful about the amount of girls that have stayed with you. You admit you don't know any of your neighbours, have you made an effort with them?

    And then you ask us this;
    Nomis21 wrote: »
    Would you be concerned if a stranger moved into town and was continually seen with different girls less than half his age living in his house?

    They aren't really living with you are they? Living with you implies they are cohabiting, or having a relationship with you. They are just staying with you for a couple of nights for free. You obviously have built up a reputation on the couchsharing website as a trustworthy harmless elderly man that likes young girls staying with him.

    To be honest it sounds like you haven't made much of an effort to get to know your neighbours. You like the company of young women and you like the mystic that you imagine surrounds you as you are spotted here and there with different girls. But, I'd say your neighbours reckon your either a people trafficker, a pimp or a creep, word has gotten around you have come to the attention of the Gardai.


  • #53
    Chucken
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 9,459 ✭✭✭Chucken


    I wonder would the Op have as many visitors if he lived in, say, an inherited Motorhome? :)


  • #54
    Satriale
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,998 ✭✭✭Satriale


    Put a B&B sign up outside your cottage. It will quell the rumours, and as a bonus you may earn a few quid in passing trade...


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