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I read it differently.

I agree the basic offer was probably sincerely from kindness. What seems creepy is her continued insistence, her inability to relate to the human in front of her.

I suspect she is just not used to anyone acting genuine towards her, let alone contradicting her. She always gets what she wants, even when it’s a whim.

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HN guidelines say: Assume good faith. We should apply it to Sheryl here as well.

In Europe several of my acquaintances shared a bed with their professors/superior for various non-sexual reasons. It’s also a cultural thing.

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Coming from a European, this is definitely not normal.

I would examine why your acquaintances are normalizing such creepy behaviour.

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I agree it’s awkward. But I don’t find it creepy per se. It was a tradeoff to which all parties consented.

In one case there was just that one room available stranded in the middle of nowhere.

In other cases it was due to lack of financial resources.

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< In Europe...cultural thing.

Go on, which culture is that? Most "cultures" in Europe I know of it would be a breach of many stated and unstated rules and norms (Germany, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Poland, and Belgium).

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Example Finland. Could you end up in a nude Sauna with your superior? Yes, especially if it is same sex.

Example Germany. Which law would be broken? Internal compliance rules, yes, that would be often the case.

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definitely not a cultural thing in United States.
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