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‘Old people are not as kind as the general public likes to think’: Woman signed up to ‘adopt a grandparent’ in college. It didn’t go as planned

‘I work at a nursing home and I approve of this message.’

Photo of Jack Alban

Jack Alban

Woman signed up to ‘adopt a grandparent’ in college. It didn’t go as planned

Just because someone is old, doesn’t necessarily mean they are nice or aren’t capable of some deplorable things. That’s the point comedian Olivia Vida (@oliviavidacomedy) drove home in a viral TikTok that, despite its shocking and disturbing subject matter, still manages to pack a few laughs.

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In her nearly 10-minute video, she delineated how she learned firsthand that a harmless little old man wasn’t so harmless.

“When I was a sophomore in college I joined something called the ‘adopt a grandparent’ program which was this little program they had to, you guessed it, match you up with an older alumni who lived in the area,” she explained.

Vida, who was 19 years old and living in her dorm room alone at the time, highlighted some of the colorful characters she met at this generational-connecting alumni event. One of them was a “very old” man she called a “scene stealer.”

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She added that she was paired with an elderly woman who she said was very sweet. The older man, Vida said, ended up getting paired with a guy friend of hers, and when all of them got to talking, this older gentleman asked these two college students if they wanted to meet up for coffee sometime.

Eventually, Vida said the man decided to give her a ring and ask if she was available to hang over a brew. She figured she could meet him while she picked up some “overpriced textbooks.” This way, she could kill two birds with one stone: get price gouged on a degree and hang out with a lonely senior citizen.

The two met up for a coffee and the elderly gentleman, who Vida said could barely walk, told her his life story, urged her to date his son (she declined), and learned that she was staying in the same dorm that he used to live in during his university days.

They talked a bit further until Vida said she ended their conversation to buy her books. She said she watched the man “shuffle” away and thought she wouldn’t see him until the next alumni event.

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Fast forward to Vida’s dorm room: she recalled one evening after coming home from her waitressing job that at around 5am, she heard very loud and “powerful” banging at her door. Because she didn’t have a peephole, she didn’t know what was going on: was there an emergency or was it a friend of hers who was “toasted” and just causing a ruckus?

She said that upon asking who was at the door, all she heard were “mumbles.” She added that all of the doors in her dorm had the names of the students who resided in them. When she opened the door she saw it was the “little old man” who surprisingly had some “power behind him.”

Vida said he rushed past her into her room. She couldn’t believe how strong he was to not only hit her door with such force but also make it up multiple flights of stairs when he, according to the TikToker, had difficulty even walking on flat ground.

After breaking in, the old man launched into a religious rant, according to Vida, that takes a very dark and disturbing turn.

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“He says, ‘Jesus spoke to me. Jesus sent me here.’ And so that’s more crazy information that I’m processing,” Vida recalled. “And so I’m just staring at him and he’s staring at me and he says, ‘Jesus sent me here to help you have a baby.’”

Vida, who reminded her viewers she was still a teenager, said she had difficulty understanding just what this old man meant. After telling him she could help him find a loving home for said “baby,” it clicked that he meant he wanted to have a baby with her.

So Vida said she decided to “meet crazy with crazy” and tell the man that she was “barren.” The man “wasn’t buying” her response, so Vida said she switched gears and went “ballistic,” screaming and rushing at him while cursing him out.

Vida eventually was able to scare the elderly man out of her dorm room, all while he repeatedly told her how “disappointed” Jesus was in her actions, she said.

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After shutting the door and effectively scaring him off, she said she called her dad who told her a bit of information she said was the main takeaway from her video: that she should never write off an older man as a threat, because at the end of the day, they’re a “young man in an old body,” with identical thoughts, desires, and willingness to go to lengths to try and manipulate those around them.

The next order of business for Vida, however, was to discover just how this guy was able to gain access to her building as there’s no way for someone to get inside without a code.

Vida said she called up campus security and found out that not only did they let the old man in the building but they walked him to her door because he claimed he was her grandfather and was taking her out for an early breakfast.

What she found especially shocking was campus security’s lack of concern over the issue, stating that they did “nothing” in response to the dorm breach with a vague promise they would keep an eye out for the man. The aftermath of the incident was rough: Vida said that a number of her fellow students didn’t believe she was potentially nearly assaulted by a 90-year-old man, something she thought was a bizarre story to make up in the first place.

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Those sentiments changed some two weeks later, however, as Vida said the elderly man was caught on campus “harassing” another girl he had followed into a classroom. The TikToker said it was only at this point that the school decided to ban him from ever stepping foot on campus again.

She ended her video repeating what she thinks the main message of the video should be and it’s that “old men are young men in old bodies.”

@oliviavidacomedy Proud to still be a profound disappointment to the manipulative and opportunistic. #stitch #storytime #safety #susi #susistitch #susi #campuslife #collegestories #womensafety ♬ original sound – Olivia Vida Comedy

One commenter expressed their disappointment that the story wasn’t as wholesome as they initially thought. “I really wanted this story to be… he bought your books, was a great grandparent, came to your graduation, and had you in his will,” they wrote.

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Others thought Vida’s lesson she learned from her father was one worth repeating. “Your dad is so right! I’m gonna remember that, and tell my daughter the same,” they shared.

Another agreed that just because someone is old, doesn’t mean they aren’t capable of some terrible things.

“My mom used to work in retirement homes: old people are not as kind as the general public likes to think,” they commented.

The Daily Dot has reached out to Vida via TikTok comment for further information.

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The Daily Dot