What can I tell this knob?

[mnpeasantry]

So on a late night crowded train full of drinks from xmas parties. Fair enough.

So some guy comes and sits next to me and looks at me intently and says 'thank you'. I say 'I haven't done anything'. He gives me the most ridiculous look and raises his eyebrows and says ' not yet'. I say loudly'that's weird and not appreciated'

He ignores me then tries to squash me. What can I say to him?

Say "will you please leave me alone and stop harassing me" in a very loud voice and see if any other passengers look interested/concerned. If not, you're completely on your own and I wouldn't continue the 'discussion'.
You're completely right though, about this but unfortunately sometimes it's just not worth the hassle.

Getting into avoidable arguments with unpredictable people isn't safe.

I normally just stare people down, but I can appear quite intimidating.

We shouldn't live in a world where people are afraid to speak out about inappropriate behaviour. But we shouldn't live in a world where that behaviour exists anyway.

You can argue that while people are encouraged to not speak out things won't improve but if safety is a concern it's not worth it. Pick your battles. Drunks are notoriously unpredictable, trains are enclosed spaces with little chance to get away if trouble brews, these things should be considered.

You are completely justified in your anger. You are absolutely right that he is an example of a wanker we've all met. You would be totally within your rights to confront him and some of the comments are uncomfortably close to victim blaming.

However, you won't change him so just stay safer by avoiding him. Arsehole.

Donny, so sorry to hear about that. How awful, hope you've recovered now although I expect it will be hard to ever forget Hope OP sees sense.

Never move. Never get up. Tell the cunt to fuck off.

Its about assessing a situation.

Self defense is about getting away - if you can do that without confrontation its the safest route.

That doesnt mean your accepting if the situation.

You should only have a fight if you know you'll win.

This isn't about victim blaming or internalised misogyny. My advice would be the same to anyone of any sex. If you were a well-built guy and the drunk was a small woman he still should avoid confrontation.

Thank you domani I have indeed recovered. It was a few years ago.

Pick your fights, OP. I generally don't let people get away with things but it is frankly stupid to start a fight with a drunk and even worse in a train full of drunks.

I'm trying to imagine how one "agressively squashes," someone. Did he put his feet on the wall for leverage?

I think drunk people behave foolishly and it's best to ignore him. Discretion being the better part of valor and all that.

It would be really unwise for anyone posting here to egg you on about getting into it with a random drunk on a train.

Can't you see why?

I'm not sure the OP could to be honest, which made me wonder if she'd had a couple of drinks herself?

OP, I hope you got home safely.

Why the fuck should they?! Minding your own business and someone invades your space. Advice - keep the peace at all costs. Ffs.

Discretion is the better part of valour.

You can't argue with stupid (or drunk).

Actually, I think the time to intervene is when you see someone else getting harassed by a drunk dickhead. If one bystander says something to the abusive drunk, then it's more likely that additional people will offer support to whoever's being abused. if you're the one being annoyed by the drunk (and yes, he was annoying but hadn't yet escalated to abuse) and you escalate the situation, you're taking more of a gamble that someone else will have your back, and you could get hurt.