Rude or polite

You're fine.
I can't stand being approached in public by men.
It's never anything important.

You can tell by their body language.

People asking for the time or directions do just that. They just say it.

People have phones, so there is no need to ask the time or directions 99% of the time.

It’s presumptuous to assume he was coming to chat you up. Isn’t that quite big headed?

OP, you don't sound very intelligent yourself, if the way you communicate is anything to go by, and yet you fancy yourself intelligent enough to spot that he was coming on to you?
You have no idea what he wanted. You assumed, because you're arrogant (and a bit thick, by the looks of it).

@Dullardmullard when he first said excuse me, what was your reason for immediately shutting him down?

if you’re so confident you are correct in your response, why have you thrown it open to mumsnet to decide.

You're clearly not very intelligent or observant, then, because you're wrong. I'm female, and I just can't bear women who think that every man is out to chat them up. It's arrogant and ridiculous.

Rubbish. This site is full of women who hate other women. Yes, we can tell.

Regardless, OP was fucking rude IF this bloke just said ‘excuse me’ without any cause for her to be suspicious. We await more info.

I'd presume that OP would mention any warning signals that would indicate that the interaction needs shutting down before it begins such as drunkeness, or a chugger's clipboard, so therefore to immediately shut down with "no" is rude. OP's friends/ colleagues seem to think it was and they'd have more awareness of context and location.

Yes it was rude, but if they were obviously begging or scamming - the most common reason I’ve been approached at bus stops - I’d say the same.

What is with the vitriol here? This site is fucking rammed with men who hate women these days. Yes, we can tell.

Is it bad that I really hope it was, after how rude she was?

For me even just the “excuse me?” then waiting a beat for engagement before continuing gets my back up.

You’d just say whatever you wanted to say, wouldn’t you? Sorry, do you know what time the bus is? Oops, I think you’ve dropped your purse. You don’t need the excuse me to lock them into the interaction.

Or she's just a Samantha Brick who assumes everyone with a penis fancies her. Far more likely from her OP.

A woman doesn't need to think she's 'all that' to think a man approaching at a bus stop is likely to be chatting her up. Its just identifying a pattern of behaviour from experience. It happens a lot. You can also tell from their body language and facial expression as they approach, as well as the staring beforehand where its heading.
I think the single no was rude though as he sounded polite enough.

It isn’t in your own best interest not to even find out what they want first. I was recently quite dismissive towards two men who tried to speak to me while I was faffing about with a parking meter- told them I was busy and to leave me alone. Realised in the end they were trying to tell me I didn’t need to pay as it was Sunday. Felt like a bit of a twat.

How rude. Hope you’re pleased with yourself.

@queenofcruises , thanks for the laugh when I misread your :

“he may have been wanting to tell you something such as, your lace is undone, your lable is hanging out”

For a second I read “your labia is hanging out” 😅

Extremely rude to just cut someone off with no if they are asking the time. Or if this is the bus to x place etc. I think you have to hear what they want first

Depends. Those awful bloody Chuggers on the high street always start by saying Excuse me (often followed by love or darling, that really fucks me off). I sometimes just say no, sometimes I say 'i don't want to talk to you'. Almost always they say something dickish like 'give us a smile love'. Just fuck off. There is no reason for me to respond to your unsolicited chat at all.

Extremely rude, you could've heard what he actually wanted to say before shutting him down?
Clearly you knew you have been rude to even ask on here?

I've lived in big cities with a lot of homelessness and addiction problems all my adult life, and you can always tell when someone who says 'Excuse me' is going to ask for money. It's obvious even before they've said anything. So in that situation I wouldn't hear someone out.

Just like I wouldn't hear someone out if they were obviously missionaries, or carrying a clipboard and clearly trying to get people to sign up for a charity direct debit.

But as the OP doesn't mention the person's behaviour/appearance or say why she didn't want to speak to him, I'm assuming he wasn't obviously any of those things.

Sounds pretty rude to me, but I think we need more context, he might have been asking for the time or directions or something wholly innocuous but you seem to think not. Would you have reacted the same to a woman?

I am with you OP, I am so hot, like super model hot that I know for a fact all the men that say “excuse me” between the ages of 11 and 99 are only after my luscious curves and I will give them the death stare and say “no” to be polite or “fuck off” if I’m being rude. Even men with their partners and kids, I’m not going to be a home breaker! So every man gets a “no” or “fuck off” before they can trot out their pick up line.

I would just have shaken my head at him and otherwise ignored him.

Random men do not have the right to my attention and if they approach lone women they should know better.

That he came back and had a go at you shows he was not a decent man.

I think it entirely depends on his demeanour and appearance when he approached you. In my opinion, it's fine to make an immediate judgement on the threat to your safety on the basis of that. If he looked drunk/high then I would have done the same. Probably not if he looked like a normal, sober bloke in the middle of the day.