Strangest encounter with a stranger?

[elevenspowers]

Today I went to the cash point outside Tesco and a man walked in front of me diagonally and we almost clashed and so I moved back (assumed he was walking to the entrance) and he just stared at me.

He was on the phone talking, with his back to the cash point, staring at me carrying on his conversation. So after about a few seconds I was like “are you using the cash point” - he responded yes but then still carried on his conversation. I was just like 😬 ok ….

Probably not that weird, but it’s fresh in my head.

Hitching in France my friend and I were given a lift by a man with a raw egg on his head. It gradually slid down his hair as the journey progressed and dripped onto his shoulders. How didn't speak so we had no idea what it was all about.

Also a man in a suit running into the train station while dry shaving his beard.

Which town/city did you work in? I did a parents' evening once and the mum was a bit overly friendly, continually laughing and too familiar - making up for the fact that her husband was exactly like you describe. Black, staring eyes - no expression. I felt like he could see into my soul and that he wanted to hunt me down and kill me. I found it wholly unnerving and disturbing.

I was in a McDonalds after a night in the pub in a European city years ago when I was a student.

The man who served me asked me where I was from and I replied "Ireland". He slid me my junk food with the words "I'm Palestinian. We are both fighting for our freedom". That was all he said.

I found it quite touching to be honest, but also quite strange.

I was sitting at the lights earlier and they started going amber. The last person crossing saw this and sped up to a fast walk/jog. They managed to get across the crossing just as the lights changed and I wasn't delayed.

Sorry if I'm missing something but why is that strange? Everyone round here does that - complete with a thank you / apology wave.

Another one - we had recently moved countries. It was springtime, warm and sunny, and I had one year old DD in her buggy. She was wearing a dress and socks.

Suddenly I was accosted by an older lady, who proceeded in a heartfelt tirade directed at me. Being so new in the country I hadn't yet learned the language, but it was evident that I was in big trouble for taking out my child without woolly tights and a hat.

I did learn later that people there were afraid of children getting very ill from catching a chill, so that explained it. Was pretty intense at the time though, getting told off so thoroughly and not being able to explain that we are from a cold country and that the weather was actually quite warm for us!

Many years ago when the children were younger we went to Warrington IKEA and the kids went in the soft play. I got chatting to a Dad who was waiting for his daughter to finish playing. Eventually his partner arrived and we said Goodbye. The next day we decided to go to Southport and walking along the road came across this couple again. We said Hi and laughed about the coincidence. The next day we went to Chester and who should we see but the partner with her Mother. "This is the lady I was telling you about" she told her. It was so spooky and I often think we should have all gone for a coffee and chat to see if there was a reason we had met in different locations 3 days in a row.

Would it have made a difference if it was Catholic or COE?

Wow, now that is very strange.

@JemimaPuddlegoose Please don't be offended. I'm a weirdo with a broken brain but weird is good if it is kind and well intentioned 🥰.

Working abroad I was back in England for the summer & hoping my brother’s third child would be born before my leave ended.

Brother & sister-in-law had two sons, really wanted a daughter, but had chosen not to know from the scans. S-I-L was saying things like “I don’t think we know how to do girls”.

The day before I was due to fly out, I was on a crowded train. A ladybird landed on my jacket - I shook it off & it came right back, twice.

An old guy sitting opposite leaned forward & asked “Who in your family is expecting?”

He was Iranian & told me there’s a Persian superstition that a ladybird that won’t fly away means the next baby born in the family will be a daughter.

The next day, when I landed back where I was living, my bro texted me that his daughter had been born.

She’s 20 now.

I visited IKEA when I was 9 months pregnant. We’d parked in the basement car park so I was dragging myself up the stairs to the entrance. A man coming down the stairs on the opposite side crossed over to deliberately barge into my shoulder almost knocking me down the stairs. The only thing that stopped me from failing was the fact that I was holding so tightly to the handrail to heave my heavily pregnant body up the stairs. I ended up sitting in the bathroom sobbing until I’d calmed down 😥

A happier encounter happened when my then toddler daughter lost her favourite pink teddy bear. She had it one minute then suddenly it was gone. I retraced my steps but couldn’t find it. About two years later a lady stopped us in the street to ask if we’d lost a toy. I initially said no, not thinking of this particular toy, but something just told me to explain about the pink bear. She told me to hang on and about 5 minutes later she returned with the bear. She’d found it right after my daughter dropped it and had kept it for two years hoping to see us again!

A few years ago, in my local Aldi.

I was picking up some groceries when a man approached. Like me, he had a basket in his hand.

He asked, "Do you work here?"

I replied, "No" but pointed to a nearby staff member who was stocking the shelves and said, "You could ask her."

He put his face right into mine and hissed "Well, you're no fucking use to me then are you?", dropped his basket to the floor and kicked it down the aisle before storming out.

This one is marvellous and stands out for me in the thread, and the way you've described it.

"missg00se
A man once approached me at a bus stop at 8am and tried to sell me a plastic bag full of meat. That was odd, even for Glasgow."

Right now, if that meat was still cold I'm not ashamed to say I'd probably bite his hand off lol, probably a shoplifting addict

Too many to count!
Walking through Edinburgh with DH we passed an old man in a huge overcoat. After we’d passed by we heard a shout ‘Hey! Doll! You forgot something!’ As I turned thinking I’d dropped something he gave me a huge toothless grin and said ‘Ma phone number!’

When I was about 19/20 I was catching the coach from Brighton and a guy had been pacing the coach station staring at me, sat a row in front of me on the opposite side of the coach. I tucked into my sandwich minding my own business, until I glanced over and he was furiously wanking. I was mortified, the coach was almost empty but to say anything to the driver would have meant walking up the aisle past wanking man! I’m afraid I was to scared to move and pretended to be looking out of the window for the rest of the journey.

I had a weird rude one last night - for context I’ve only really just started going out to local watering holes recently following losing my DP in January, but last night was an open mic session and one of the regulars birthdays so I went along alone after I’d shut my shop.

Also context - I’m a Goth and have a Gothic Witchy shop, so I tend to dress the part and wear one of those woollen witchy hats that are all over Facebook and alot of black - I’m used to, and not bothered by the attention it sometimes generates and all the locals know me.

Anyway, I got there early so had my first drink sitting alone at a table, smoking and scrolling on my phone.

Behind me were three chaps having a few drinks, one of whom was very - how do I say - loud and “jolly” and who was talking on his phone to a number of people giving them a blow by blow account of the “cracking night” he anticipated.

At one point he went past me to go inside for a wee I think, and on his way back, he shoved the phone, on a video call, into my face, said something I didn’t quite catch but sounded a bit sneery, then just walked away laughing….. I was taken quite by surprise, and just managed to turn round and sort of shout “Rude!!!” at him, which he ignored, which is probably just as well as I’m in my 50s and don’t want to become known as the sad old widow who picks fights!

God only knows what the person on the other end of the call thought when my ugly and bemused mug came into view….

Was a nice night other than that.

I always disliked coming out of Charing Cross Station onto Trafalgar Square but when DDs were young we’d do a lot of workshops at the National Gallery. I used to immediately head for the edges and walk around the sides. I was just scared of a terrorist attack.

What? Why? this is so weird. It's not some kind of nexus of terrorist attacks 😕

I appreciate that, StridTheKiller (and I love your username, I'm obsessed with the Bolton Strid!)

Just what I was thinking. And if it was going to be attacked, surely the National Gallery would be one of the prime targets?

Crying!!!😃

I don't think my comment ended up in the right place, I was laughing about the rouge attacker in the supermarket aisle, the luckily-just-happened-to-be-there-trainer and the oblivious husband :)

So sad to have come to the end of this brilliant thread. More please!

I can think of a time when the odd stranger was me. I was in a clothes shop just browsing there were two women in there chatting and nosey me was listening to them. one of them was going on holiday. They were looking for a white top to go with some trousers brought from another shop which they pull out and put against various tops. I had a lovely white top, the women hadn't because they were hanging behind other things at the back of a rail. It was at this point that I went into a weird auto pilot and completely against my normal very reserved character. I walked up to the women with the white top and declared how darling it would look with those trousers. I have never used the term darling in my life. I asked a number of questions about the holiday and generally chatted to the poor women as if they ha

Did not mean to post yet. My tablet is playing up. Anyways I chatted away to those poor women for some time and found them some other items of clothing. I think they may each have thought the other knew me. Eventually I came to my senses and made a quick exist. Leaving two very confused women holding bundles of clothes a looney stranger had insisted would look darling on them.