this happens in a public park.

first time this happens to me afaik. I was just stretching with black leggings and a t-shirt. I noticed him 100 yards away walking around but always looking at me. Upon making eye contact he would look away but as soon as I turned to stretching, he’d look at me.

He started slowly approaching me and at one point stood at like 15 yards from me, but still separated by a fence. At that point I decided to cut my work out short and left avoiding eye contact.

I consider myself lucky because he didn’t follow me.

What scared me the most is he was bigger and taller than me.

If this ever happened to you, how did you react? How do I react next time this happens?

  • Dark Arc@social.packetloss.ggEnglish
    0·
    2 months ago

    I’m not sure there’s any other good reaction than the one you had.

    Maybe he was just “checking you out” and being very untactful and impolite about it (i.e. he’s just awkward).

    Maybe he was looking at something else near you … but probably not.

    But also maybe, he’s not right in the head and was thinking about doing more than just looking…

    My advice (as a guy) is either:

    • Look for another person nearby (or a couple/group), voice your concern, and ask them to walk with you away from the situation.
    • If that fails, just do your best to leave but stay situationally aware.

    I’m also going to add, that “look for help thing” includes looking for random guys that weren’t creeping you out that might be walking by. I know there’s the whole stranger danger thing that most of us were raised with, but … most guys are not rapists. If you just look for a normal looking dude (or someone that really looks like they’ve got their shit together) and ask them… I’d say 9/10 they’d be more than happy to get you out of that situation.

    We need to (as a society) normalize women letting guys know about problematic men.

    • scsi@lemm.ee
      1·
      3 months ago

      If you just look for a normal looking dude (or someone that really looks like they’ve got their shit together)

      A bit of a weird but I think true add-on to this in 2024: look for the one dude (or lady) with arms full of ink (tattoos). A person who spends countless hours in a chair and thousands of dollars on their work is highly recognizable and identifiable, things a would-be creeper does not want. Even if maybe their work looks a little gang or biker, people know who they are and are not the scary ones in this park at this moment. $0.02

  • Shortstack@reddthat.com
    0·
    3 months ago

    Lots of people giving advice here, but I’m not seeing the most important advice being emphasized.

    Always trust your gut. Listen to that uneasy feeling and act on it.

    We developed this intuition over millennia for a reason. Your subconscious will pick up on cues even if you consciously aren’t catching it.