To get an overwhelming sense of danger from a stranger?

[ThisIsCheese]

The weirdest thing just happened. I’m in the supermarket and as I’m stood selected and bagging vegetables I suddenly feel very uncomfortable.
There is a man about 50 something stood with his elderly mother a few feet away to the side of me and I felt very sick and uncomfortable when I looked at him.
Absolutely no reason for it but it was overwhelming, like a sense of fear he was not a good man.

Completely clueless why I felt that way I moved along quickly but I crossed paths with him again in another aisle and knew he was there before I saw him because the sick / anxious feeling returned.

Anyone else ever had this? I don’t have anxiety or anything but this feeling was so odd, like I could sense he wasn’t a good person.

Never met him before, he could be perfectly lovely but my physical reaction to him was so strong

This happened to me years ago.

Late 90s, I was at uni and myself and three friends decided to take a cab home from central London at the end of the night. We waited at the official taxi rank for about 20 mins until our turn came. One of the girls had to sit in the front passenger seat and the rest in the back. As soon as we got in and the driver started looking at us I said to my friends we have to get out this car. I asked the driver to pull over and he ignored me. We were all pretty drunk, it was 4am. The driver just kept saying you’re drunk I’m not stopping. I was getting more and more hysterical. In the end I opened the door at a traffic light and screamed at the girls to get out. He literally sped off without even asking us for any money.

The girls were so annoyed with me and thought i was just really, really drunk and paranoid. We ended up having to walk almost an hour back home.

A few months later we saw in the paper he wasn’t a taxi driver at all. He was posing as one and had been linked to a number of sexual assaults and also kidnapping. So glad I insisted we get out. Just the way he looking at me through his mirror, with a smirk, gave me the chills.

@Cherryblossom23 I always jam a chair or anything else I can find up against the door in hotels. I always have this feeling someone is going to come waltzing in. It happened to my friends mum these group of pissed up lads got into her room somehow one night (their key card worked for her room) and she was naked in bed and just sort of had to sit there hiding in the duvet whilst they sat on her bed talking to her being pissed but it was really intimidating and they tried to take the covers off etc. I'm not sure what actually happened in the end but I dont think she was assaulted but it always made me wary in hotels.

Famalamaringwrong

This happened to myself and dh years ago. Luckily we’d put the inside chain on but they were really drunk and getting more and more annoyed that they couldn’t get it!

@TinklyLittlelaugh. What was it about your son's orthodontist that gave you the creeps?

I get this from a relative of my dhs always gave me the creeps, it later became apparent they weren't good people. and this person's child does aswell sadly, my DGrandma (89) once remarked upon meeting them what a sinister child ..... Well we came across a family birthday video, where said child was screaming at my mother in law to get a phone case calling her a bitch, effing and blinding

There is a Dad at school (children are in a different year to my children). He really really gives me the creeps. He walked past my house when I was working in the front garden. My first thought was ‘oh shit, he knows where I live’. I told my husband that if I get murdered that it will probably be this person who does it. Totally bonkers I know.

.... calling her by first name, shouting at people to turn the effin music down etc this child is 8 , no one telling her off,. incredibly bizarre but it was like wierd confirmation.

Trying to make this very vague so bear with me. I have animals who require specific attention from a professional. They have always loved this man and behave perfectly for him. Then one year he arrived and they were terrified of him, literally shaking with fear. I couldn't understand it and neither could he. A couple of weeks later he was diagnosed with a viral infection that affected his brain. It was a long haul but he recovered and his relationship with my animals was back to normal.

If animals can sense a problem I am sure we have the same capability if we allow ourselves to.

Some of these posts are incredible, window cleaners sacked because of instinct, one poster said she hated a child since he was 4 , being unable to look at someone.

Instincts are frequently wrong, and it’s unfair to tarnish someone reputation without evidence.

This happens to me so rarely that I tend to listen to my gut instinct. A few years ago I was a member of a hobby group and a man joined, who outwardly seemed like a nice bloke. However I remember one day he looked at me and a shudder went down my spine, it was a pure visceral reaction that ive not exprienced before or since. From that moment on I kept out of his way, but would feel a physical revulsion whenever I saw him. It ended with him being kicked out of the group for sexually harassing another member. I really feel that was only the tip of the iceberg though, and he is capable of real physical harm to a woman. I'm sure I'll see him on the news one day.

Also, Ive really taken a dislike to the DP of a family friend. It's different to the man mentioned above. He's not a sexual predator I don't think, but there is something off.I'm yet to find out what it is. Ive tentatively mentioned it to other people and have been slapped down though.

We work with vulnerable people and always tell our care coordinators if their hair stands up on end when they knock on a door or they ‘get a feeling’ to just get out and leave ASAP. I firmly believe in instincts

Bertrand, are you confusing Joanna Yeates (landscape architect) with Claudia Lawrence (chef, still missing)?

“Ive tentatively mentioned it to other people and have been slapped down though.”
Good. Tarnishing someone’s reputation on no evidence is pretty crap, don’t you think?

“Bertrand, are you confusing Joanna Yeates (landscape architect) with Claudia Lawrence (chef, still missing)?“

Yes I am- thank you for correcting me. Not a true crime fan.

I remember being at my future mother in law's house when I was a student. She had some handyman in doing some work. For some reason I was extremely wary of him. I had to go out to be somewhere and he immediately offered to give me a lift there. I declined his offer as my gut instinct was that he was not to be trusted. However dmil said 'oh Lisette wouldn't that be great'. I had to stand my ground. I can't explain why but there was something about him.

A couple of months ago we went for a family walk through a very popular National Trust woodland. It was very busy and getting parked was difficult but we found a space. I noticed a man in the carpark in waterproof trousers and top, just hanging around looking at people. I thought he was a bit off but nothing more. It was a very warm day for the time of year and he seemed overdressed, but otherwise he wasn't doing anything really odd.

We spent about three hours walking. On our way back to the car, my DH went a little ahead of me, DS1 (9) and DS2 (7). We were picking our way over a muddy path that was quiet but led back to the car park. I heard someone approaching from behind me (not unexpected as we weren't going very fast and it was a busy day, but the path had been very quiet up to then) and I suddenly felt an absolute sense of fear/evil. I looked around to see the car park man coming up behind me. I looked back the way we were walking and my DH appeared at a bend in the path, having come back to say something to me. The man went past me quickly and disappeared down the path, and by the time we went around the corner there was no sign of him. Nothing happened but I was absolutely terrified. I definitely felt scared before I looked to see it was him, though whether it was the sound of his rustling waterproofs that made me feel uneasy or just his aura I don't know. DH is a police officer and had noticed him in the car park too. He gave him a proper police officer look as he went by - never been so glad to see someone scuttle away!

DH has had the feeling of evil a couple of times, once on a domestic violence incident, once at court when dealing with a paedophile. Some people are evil; don't ignore your feelings! Better to be unfriendly than uneasy.

@Northernparent68 I didn't just sack him on instinct, there were a few situations involving him that really gave me the creeps, including insisting on hugging me close when I was pregnant and also coming down the garden when my friend was over with her DS and ruffling his hair and trying to start a game of tag.
I haven't shared this with anyone that might use his services so no reputations have been tarnished. And I felt he was "off" before the above two incidents, they just gave me the welly to listen to my gut. My husband thought I was being odd beforehand and didn't want me to fire him.

I've seen that paedophile light up face before too. My youngest dd was an extremely cute toddler, big eyes, fluffy hair etc.
When she was about 3 we were in the waiting room at the vets. The vets room door opened and out walked a scruffy middle aged man with an animal carrier. He immediately clapped eyes on my dd and didn't take his eyes off her. Normally you'd go to the reception desk after seeing the vet, but he walked straight past it and over to us and started trying to speak to dd, asking her what pet she had and trying to show her his cat. She turned away and didn't speak. I replied to him to be polite but it was like he couldn't hear me, he was totally fixed on her and practically salivating. It was really creepy and luckily we got called through the the vet. His eyes didn't leave her as we walked off. Im as sure as you can be that he was a paedophile.

I think it’s fine to keep your distance etc based on instinct alone. You don’t have to gossip etc about people - you just have to do what you need to do to keep yourself safe. I do follow true crime (some of it links in with my profession and it find it interesting) and the amount of near misses based on instinct alone is enough to make me think that being a bit standoffish and rude is fine. You can apologise later if you need to.

Two people, first the week of my 19th Birthday an acquaintance of a friend on a night out. Without a trigger warning I won't go into detail I wanted to leave but couldn't immediately find my best friend, I ended up with my drink spiked (which I never left unattended) and it didn't end well.

Second is a regular salesman we have to deal with, ddog agrees on this. I've told Dh I will never have him in our house alone

It is your intuition (or psychic ability) and you are right to listen to it. Always.

I had a sports umpire greet me over enthusiastically (I manage my DCs team)
I'd not met him before but he was all hugs and hellos.
My first thought was - you have no boundaries, mate.
I later found out he'd been in prison for serious fraud.

I was a trifle concerned with the caretaker at our school. He was overly friendly to me, when I took the girls over to play, just a little bit 'off'. We stopped going there.

Got done later for raping his son's girlfriend.