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There are a lot of threads like this. Random/meaningless inquiries.
I think that people are lonely. Our responses might be a substitute for legit human interaction.
I don't think it's loneliness... I think that a significant proportion of young male posters here have extreme difficulty interpreting benign social discourse and are confused by nuance, banter and sarcasm.
It would have been a bit odd for me, because in my family, the older person always paid for the younger person. Growing up, whenever I'd visit my uncle, he'd always slip me a little spending cash. My dad always, and I mean always, paid for me when we went to dinner or the movies, even when I was well into adulthood and earning a good living. The one and only exception, ever, was when I took him to dinner for his 80th birthday. And even then, I had to ask the server to hand the check directly to me.
That said, I see nothing wrong with what the OP has described, unless it was the precursor to the older relative sponging off of him over a long period of time. Which, apparently it wasn't.
Read the book "Our Inner Ape" ... it will open your eyes to human social interactions and hierarchies. If you want to learn why people behave the way they do instead of pretending that we all have free will... a certain percentage of humans, like other posters have said, young males, never learned basic reading of body language or group social dynamics among our species because they were raised on a diet of screens with no father figure.
Loneliness is a symptom of the underlying cause. I've come to see introverts tend to be more "serious" than extroverts because they are more insecure about their social status because they don't interact with their peers enough to get a good idea where they stand in the social hierarchy. Being an outcast drives fear.
I think it might've happened to me to me a long time ago, but I don't remember if it's true. I think he said it playfully, but probably it was also an actual request. Only time I hear someone asking this is from a homeless guy. A part of me says he was testing me. If I do buy him a coffee, then in the future he'll ask again or for other favors. It's like people who want to use other people, they first test the person to see how much they can get away with. Maybe I'm just pessimistic
I remember my stepdad always paying for everything when we went out. That's another. That supports my theory regarding what kind of man he is. Is it just a innocent question or is there a more nefarious agenda behind it?. What do you think it means?.
Without knowing more about your uncle I can't say. Was he the playful type?
Without knowing more about your uncle I can't say. Was he the playful type?
I think he was kind of a charismatic guy. He might've been joking or playing around. Maybe I'm looking into this too much as others have commented. I accept I'll never know his intentions since I didn't accept his request. He could've said that as a way to break the ice
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