I think another factor is involved in this incident.
In the, what, 70's and 80's, the fashon for men was tight pants with a bulge. For a mainstream example, Burt Reynolds. He was almost mainstream and usually had a bulge. It was OK.
Since then, something happened. On the surface you could say that fashon changed, baggy pants and big shirts came into fashion and with baggy, nothing much shows. [Rappers & their followers found a solution, wear them LOW with your butt hanging out of them, covered by your boxers, if not so descrete, at least the bare cheeks are not constantly mooning. Not mainstream, but it seems to be working for a lot of young men these days. But, I digress.]
With this new mainstream fashion for men of baggy with nothing showing comes women complaining that they don't like men who "show off" if they wear their shirt unbuttoned a button or 2, much less if something shows in their pants, or the ultimate in vulgar showing off, they wear a speedo at the beach or pool!
Where did his disgust of a man who dares to show that he is a man come from?
Meanwhile, how about the women? Nipples showing thru is OK for business casual and busines non-casual. On TV the norm is heavy makeup, cleavage and hair hanging sexily in the face. Even for "girl next door" Katie Couric, the "serious" journalist, not to mention those girls, uh, excuse me, young women on NBC reporting on the seriousness of the economic situation with Hollywood starlet curls all over the place. I guess the curls balance the false eyelashes needed to convey the seriousness of the economy.
So, where do the women with ther tits hanging out and bare middriff [that REALLY needs to be covered--even those spare-tired teens at the mall!] get off complaining what a disgusting show-off some guy is in a tight T or a bulge showing in his pants???
Is she afraid of the competition? She wants the men to look like a clothes hanger with nothing inside so she can stand out?
What does all this have to do with the incident described by the OP? It seems obvious that the double standard forced into place by women has been picked up by men. They too are horrified to see a VPL! [Especially the ones who find that VPL more interesting than they want it to be. More interesting than fits the lifestyle of a father in the park with his son. As if it is the OP's fault that the guy in the park made a lifestyle decision years ago that doesn't completely fit.]
Sorry to rant here, but this rant is not acceptible very many places.
Thanks! At least [although selfish] I feel better.
J