To get wound up by random men making stupid, rude comments when I’m visibly struggling in public?

'smile' that's so annoying but don't think people just communicate any more, some comments are just ice breakers but people don't want to talk.

Had ‘Where’s your sheep?’ shouted from car window when I was wearing a tiered floral dress

The general level of twattishness among these arseholes never improves. Many years ago I was on my motorbike, set off, hit a patch of black ice, and went over, with the bike on top of me. It's dark and cold, and I'm obviously in distress. A car slowed down for the sole purpose of a man to shout "woman driver!" at me then sped off. Pig.

I once finished shopping in a large supermarket and had loaded the groceries into my car when my phone started ringing. It was the hospital (my husband was in there, very, very unwell at the time). I propped the now empty trolley in front of my car (not blocking the path in any way) and got in the driver seat to take the call, A man suddenly banged on my window and when I wound it down he screamed in my face “put your FUCKING trolley away, woman 😱”. I’ve never seen anyone so angry, he was literally purple with rage and spit landed on my face. I was always going to put it away but was too scared to get out then! Some seriously messed up men out there. I’m sure a lot of them harbour deep misogynistic views, and it needs to be stamped out in the same way as racism.

I increasingly believe that a significant number of men are, for want of a better word, dickheads.

no you not unreasonable it's the smile love it might never happen 🙄 and yet "fuck off" doesn't seem to be a reasonable response!

Yet that type of idiot expects people women to be grateful for their "advice".

what a creep! urgh. The shit we have had to tolerate is outrageous and makes me so mad!!

Both horrible, horrible experiences.
I can remember being in the South of France before I was a teenager and an American battleship was in the port. We were having lunch and this very charming officer of some sort invited my parents and I onto the ship.
My dad couldn’t wait.
I had sensed something and put together the dowdiest outfit I could find. Put my hair in a plait, ankle socks, Clark’s sandals.
The minute we got on there, there were whistles and stares. My mum was 40, long dark hair, very attractive and my dad was a bit proud - different times.
Naval officer apologised and said sorry ma’am they are whistling at your beautiful daughter they haven’t seen a woman for months.
A had on a Ladybird blouse, a skirt past my knees, socks and sandals. I was completely flat chested, a beanpole with stringy legs and a metal brace. Ew.

When my DCs were young I waitressed casually. I was squatting down getting some small matching cups and saucers off the lower shelves. I had a lapful of saucers and the cups were on the floor. An older chef came to pass me by and went to touch my bum. I just stood up quickly and broke most of the saucers and some of the cups. He called me a bitch and I glared at him. He was a partner in the catering company, bang went the profits from that dinner.

Cars, I've just remembered one about cars. I have a reasonable size family, 3 children at the time and we like camping plus I do a lot of motorway driving due to living miles from anywhere but reasonably well connected for motorways, because of this I drove a large estate car. In the middle of winter we get snow, as long as cars are parked on the main road at the bottom of the hill its generally OK, only known once it to get so bad we were completely snowed up.

On a snowy day I drove to work, I was working with a guy to retrain him following a long absence due to ill health so he always started later than me due to a staggered return to work. He came in and commented on a car in the car park with a load of snow on the roof I said yes its mine, he responded no its a really big car, I said yes mine but no he disputed it again till I gave make, model, colour of car and I'm not even convinced he believed me then. I'm just a woman I couldn't possibly drive a car like that. God knows what he'd think if he saw my current vehicle 😄

This thread is jogging my memory of more and more! Too many to list!

Being on holiday when I was about 10 years old and going to the same place for dinner every night because my parents like it there. The waiter every single time I went saying “beautiful [my name]” and saying he was going to run away with me. My parents thought it was hilarious but I kept saying I didn’t want to go back there.

Sleeping on a pull out bed with my then boyfriend as his mate’s house and waking up to his mate groping me and me being too scared to do anything so pretending I was asleep.

There are so many more, I can’t remember them all, but it’s it bloody depressing that nearly all women have these types of experiences universally!

Aren’t some people strange?
The couple in the car are giving Fred and Rose West vibes. That is not meant in humour. Why any woman would want to go kerb crawling with a man I’ve no idea.
I can remember being 18 and we got a new fitness centre at the top of my road. It was council run. All brand new.The classes were reasonable.
There was a boot camp style one on a Thursday and I loved it. Very mixed bunch.
The male instructor was about 30, he introduced himself knew my dad from a boxing gym. He was quite reserved but now and again would ask how my dad was.
One night I was waking home I could feel a car behind me which was odd as it was residential, not much traffic.
It was the gym instructor and I stopped and he started explaining there were lots of uncouth males in the class and he was following me… so none of them didn’t! Sold it to me as doing my dad a favour.
Nobody in the class ever approached me or followed me. I never told my dad and stopped going and I was so upset. I had made a few female friends in the class and looked forward to it.

Just remembered two more occasions; both when I was 16 mind, so back in the mid 80s.

Worked in an estate agents, some bloke wanders in and starts chatting to my male colleague, looks me up and down and says to my colleague 'cor, must be lovely waking up to that every morning'... At 16 I had no idea what to say but my colleague did and the bloke left with a flea in his ear.

Around the same time, I was walking to work when a man stopped his car, wound down the window, i thought, 'oh he's asking for directions' when he said 'i see you every morning and felt I just had to stop and say what a stunning young lady you are'. I just backed away and walked off very quickly. Told my boyfriend and the following morning, my boyfriend drove slowly behind me in his car and when I saw this random bloke coming towards me I indicated to my boyfriend who then subsequently jumped out of his car and politely told the man to never approach me again. The following morning, I see the bloke again and he has a women in his passenger seat and as they approach me, she winds the window down and i hear him say 'yeah, that's the one'. It was such a weird, creepy vibe. (and I had to walk the same way because going any other way meant adding on at least 30 minutes to my walk to work every day; it was horrible). I was so glad to pass my driving test not long after!

That’s awful! Tossers right enough 🤬

Yes. I think for some of them it’s actually flirting! Sad gits 🤣

Oh, God, that’s awful. How horrible. And what a stupid remark to say to anybody who is in a hospital. 🌺

To be clear, no one should ever make stupid/rude comments to people in the street, no matter what they do.

This is an interesting one for me, because I've had a lot of bad experiences with men, but I've never had them comment negatively at me in the street. I've had a few really nice comments - like an older man encouraging me when I was running and very red in the face, or a man complimenting me on catching something that fell of a shelf in the supermarket - but never anything rude. I've only had women comment negatively at me in the street - the standout moment was when DD was about 2 and she ran ahead of me, then fell over. A woman passing said 'I could tell that was going to happen.' Without thinking I said, 'Thanks that was very helpful,' which hit the mark.

Even more oddly, I have a friend who I only see once or twice a year and every single time I've been out with her on the street a man has said/shouted something rude at her - only her, not me. She's much better looking than me, maybe that's it? One thing I know for sure is that I never make eye contact with anyone on the street, or even acknowledge their existence really, so that might make a difference?

I had one of those a while back.

I have a tiny hatchback, reversing into a parent and baby bay at Tesco (toddler in tow, before the pile on)

Air Traffic Control Nigel as he shall ever be known, pops up out of fucking nowhere and signals me in like an Airbus 380 coming in at Terminal 5. <Gestures like to me, to me>

I've been driving 20 years ffs. 🙄

They do, they bond over making inane remarks to and about women.

Every time!

Once while at a very posh dinner I was sitting next to a young woman who confided in me quietly that is was her first time in that sort of occasion and wasn't sure of herself (fine, we all start somewhere, I'm old and had been doing them for years) So, main comes round, menu is in culinary french so she asks me what the meat is, twatty bloke sitting next to her says very loudly, 'oh my god, how did you get to your age and not know what 'meat' is' The words all spilled out of my mouth before I had time to think 'Did you really just say that?, How did you get to your age and still be a cunt'

Room went rather quiet and he didn't say much after that. NO regrets from me at all.

Maybe shout back "I win!"
However in my 20s I would never have thought of a good answer. Nowadays I tend to just say 'dickhead' to any stupid comments.

We had a man who lived on the road with his wife - both naturists. He looked like Rolf Harris.
He used to sunbathe and walk around his garden naked with a girls’s secondary school next door - and very low fences.
He used to stand at his garden gate leering at any girl who would walk past. He was always asking me where I was going and did my dad know. I was about 12.
Nobody did anything it was just like, he is the neighbourhood perv.
We had a feminist living up the road - neighbourhood Germaine Greer. She was a curvy lady, used to wear skin tight tops with no bra, boobs flying, see-through skirts. And do you know what? She didn’t give a toss and walked like she had a purpose.
Every man in the area was terrified of her, including the perv. I had a few conversations with her and just loved her.