Page 18 | Strangest encounter with a stranger?

elevenspowers · 2022-05-30T20:22:22+00:00

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.

Orla83 · 04/06/2022 12:41

WhackusBonkus · 02/06/2022 00:21

There is a very clear message coming through in this thread. Don’t catch buses. Ever. 😳

Yes, I was thinking the same 😦. Such a lot featuring bus use. You'd possibly imagine them to be safer than train; smaller with the driver within view.

There's some wonderful stories here, though too many involve harassment from men.

Babyvenusplant · 04/06/2022 13:03

Oceanus · 30/05/2022 23:06

Some people are just effing cunts.

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They really are!

seaUrchinOne · 04/06/2022 13:09

Love reading the freaky coincidences of bumping into the same stranger miles away, and the homeless man that came to visit @Alcemeg from another country after only one meeting.

Icansleep · 04/06/2022 13:21

This was entirely my own fault...

I had a bt engineer come to my house to fit a new line in

I had a text from bt saying your engineer "Trevor" (not the name but it was a very old man sounding name) will be with you in the next hour

I assumed from the name that the guy turning up would be older, but the guy who actually turned up was around my age and very very attractive

I'm not entirely sure what happened to me after that, I've never acted so strangely around another human being before, attractive or not

I was awkward, uncomfortable and just very odd, couldn't put a sentence together properly, could hardly look at him

The guy was really chatty and friendly coming in but I could tell after a few mins he was starting to feel uncomfortable lol

He then needed to go and check something so went out to sit in his van, I needed to go and pick up my daughter from my mums house round the corner

There were two routes I could take but one involved walking past this guy sitting in his van, so I went the longer way round

Anyway half way round the guy drives past me and we awkardly waved at each other 🤦🏼‍♀️ making it clearly obvious I went the other way to avoid walking past him

I still cringe to the extreme when I think about the whole thing

poetrylover · 04/06/2022 18:02

Run4it2 · 03/06/2022 22:23

Had one yesterday! Had cycles into town for a change of scene and was sitting reading on a bench. A man walked up to me (looked homeless) and I shook my head. 'i wasn't going to ask for money' he said. Ok. 'do you know where I can get a needle kit - I usually get them from boots but they're closed.'. I've never even had anyone ask me if I need to buy drugs, so it was pretty random!

Ah, you see....I was imagining a little sewing kit, the ones with a threader, several threads and a thimble if you are lucky. Maybe he needed to sew up his trousers? Or am just too naive...?

letsallmeetupinthehyear2000 · 04/06/2022 18:23

KyaClark · 30/05/2022 21:58

I was stood at the bar in a hotel at my work Christmas party. It was a mix of a load of different companies.

I was waiting to be served while chatting. A woman was stood glaring at me and then said "you've got purity all over you!" No idea what she meant so I just said thanks. The person I was talking to said he didn't think it was a compliment. The woman then said "no, it's not!" and continued to glare at me. He then stood between us because it was just so awkward!

I didn't see her again. I've still no idea what she meant or what her problem was.

Sorry this just really made me laugh - the way you said “thanks” 😂

letsallmeetupinthehyear2000 · 04/06/2022 18:51

Thanks for making me laugh out loud some of these are just brilliant ! I’ve got Covid so can’t go and celebrate x

TargusEasting · 04/06/2022 18:59

I was on my way to a small town in Cambridgeshire, when I passed this odd bloke from some religious organisation. Not just him, but seven women and they were 'polyamorous' or 'polygamous' or something and worshipped cats IIRC. They carried them around in hessian sacks and I heard them 'miaowing'. I called the RSPCA who came out immediately, but when they got to my destination they said I was talking a load of bollocks. I get teased about it to this day.

Fernticket · 04/06/2022 19:00

letsallmeetupinthehyear2000 · 04/06/2022 18:51

Thanks for making me laugh out loud some of these are just brilliant ! I’ve got Covid so can’t go and celebrate x

Hope you get well soon💐

QuestionableMouse · 04/06/2022 19:02

AchatAVendre · 03/06/2022 19:04

I had one a bit like that and it was always stuck in my mind because it was so odd.

I was driving along a suburban street one mid morning, when I realised I'd gone the wrong way, so I indicated and pulled over into a really large layby intending to turn. A woman in her sixties was walking along the pavement and so to be extra polite, I waited briefly before starting my turning manouvure, but not very near her and not looking at her or anything. As she walked past my car she stopped, banged on the bonnet 2 or 3 times really hard and started shouting at me. I couldn't hear what she was saying so rolled down my window and she came over and started screaming at me, really angry and in an absolute rage, what did I think I was doing, it was terrible, and she was going to report me to the police.

I was so astonished. I'm a particularly mild looking individual whom people sometimes mistake for a pushover, I wasn't on my phone, I was literally being polite and letting her go past on the pavement before turning, in case I alarmed her or part of the car intruded onto the pavement. It was a really obvious place to turn and it would have been obvious what I was doing.

I still have no idea why this happened. Imagine if I'd wanted to ask her for directions or something. There was literally nothing to set her off.

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Not in the North East are you? Might be the same woman! It was genuinely odd! Makes me wonder what she'd have done if I'd have been a boy racer type!

NewBootsAndRanty · 04/06/2022 19:09

TargusEasting · 04/06/2022 18:59

I was on my way to a small town in Cambridgeshire, when I passed this odd bloke from some religious organisation. Not just him, but seven women and they were 'polyamorous' or 'polygamous' or something and worshipped cats IIRC. They carried them around in hessian sacks and I heard them 'miaowing'. I called the RSPCA who came out immediately, but when they got to my destination they said I was talking a load of bollocks. I get teased about it to this day.

Exact same thing happened to my cousin's friend's sister, except in Cornwall.

FabFitFifties · 04/06/2022 19:31

Too many to mention! The first I can remember was when I was 4th year Junior School (yes, I know I'm old). The teacher used to send my friend and I for her shopping at lunchtime. It was quite a walk, through a housing estate. On our way back one day, a very tall man ran past us and dropped a pair of pink ladies knickers. He then jumped over a 6 foot fence into a garden.Minutes later he was behind us, asking if we'd seen anything. We said yes some knickers, and walked away. The teacher was incredulous "knickers!". It didn't stop her sending us to the shop though.

AchatAVendre · 04/06/2022 20:25

QuestionableMouse · 04/06/2022 19:02

Not in the North East are you? Might be the same woman! It was genuinely odd! Makes me wonder what she'd have done if I'd have been a boy racer type!

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Yes I am!!

She was so completely irrational and in such a rage over absolutely nothing at all! Surely she isn't a driver as well as a pedestrian? I don't live there any more but there are a lot of boy racers there and I certainly don't look like one or drive a car commonly associated with one!

littleorchard45 · 05/06/2022 15:30

I went to Paris for a bank holiday weekend on a last minute whim - just split up with husband, everyone else was busy. Walking in the gardens below the Eiffel Tower, I was happily minding my own business when a cute French guy walking in the other direction to me said ‘hi’ I responded and he asked if I was French (no, and my spoken French not great but passable). He asked if he could buy me a drink and I agreed - we sat in the park with some cans and chatted, and then he said he had that he had to go to work, but would I meet him afterwards. I said yes and we exchanged numbers.

After he finished work that night, he collected me from the arranged pick up and gave me a tour of Paris in his car; we then bought wine and sat on the banks of the Seine beneath the Notre Dame, and then we went to an amazing salsa club and danced all night.

We stayed in touch and I went back to Paris to see him, but it fizzled out in the end. Randomly he called me 3 years later when I was happily in a new relationship and pregnant!

Moomoo2o22 · 05/06/2022 21:07

NewBootsAndRanty · 04/06/2022 19:09

Exact same thing happened to my cousin's friend's sister, except in Cornwall.

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St Ives by any chance? 😉

Alcemeg · 05/06/2022 23:05

@littleorchard45 What is it with these French guys in the street??!? At least yours paid for the drinks! 😂

Chocaholic9 · 06/06/2022 09:53

impossible · 02/06/2022 11:11

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.

This really made me laugh! I can't think of a plausible explanation for that one. Maybe some sort of raw egg fetish?

littleorchard45 · 06/06/2022 11:05

Alcemeg · 05/06/2022 23:05

@littleorchard45 What is it with these French guys in the street??!? At least yours paid for the drinks! 😂

Yeah you have a good point there 🤣

CulturePigeon · 06/06/2022 13:08

I used to go running in the very early mornings (5 am-ish) around a series of lakes - nature reserves with lots of woodland etc. My husband wasn't happy about it and used to worry, but I just laughed off his concerns and carried on.

One early morning, I was approaching a wooded/bushy area when I heard heavy breathing and a man emerged, panting excitedly. I thought 'Oh God, husband was right...I'm going to die or worse!' But this chap was a fisherman who told me it was the best day of his life because he'd caught a carp the size of a big toddler. It was in his keep-net and he asked if I'd take a photo of him cradling this beast. I did, and he turned this poor fish round so he had both views. I know naff-all about fishing so asked 'Will you send this to a magazine?' and hes said that in those particular lakes, you are not allowed to send pics for publication but that very old friend who was a keen fisherman was dying of cancer and the pic would cheer him up.

The carp was huge - I had no idea such things lived in that lake. It was truly 3 ft across and must have weighed a few stone. He put it back, and apparently these poor things are used to getting hoiked out on a regular basis.

A glimpse into another world for me...! I just hope the photo was OK - I'm a terrible photographer.

Onlyhuman123 · 06/06/2022 13:52

IamtheDevilsAvocado · 31/05/2022 06:57

The sounds like the three identical strangers account...

Where separated at birth triplets - two randomly come across each other at college!

It's now on Netflix

www.theguardian.com/film/2018/jun/28/three-identical-strangers-the-bizarre-tale-of-triplets-separated-at-birth?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

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I thought exactly the same when I read the post!!

KisstheTeapot14 · 06/06/2022 14:26

@Justkidding55 What's the best way to deal with someone who has paranoia? If you deny you are part of the conspiracy that just confirms that you are one of 'them' to the person with paranoia.

JemimaPuddlegoose · 06/06/2022 15:11

I actually don't consider this an especially strange encounter since it was clearly art or drama or film students doing some student project, but I was walking near a big university once and a bunch of young men dressed like Smurfs walked by. Naked except for underpants, and completely covered from head to toe in blue body paint.

Memorable.

mamabear715 · 06/06/2022 15:46

Oh, lots.. walking under a subway with one guy at one side, leaning against the wall, and another at the other side.. the hair on the back of my neck stood up, but they maybe realised I'd got about 31p in my purse!

The coach driver on a day trip to Morecambe who thought I'd gone back to the coach to see HIM after an argument with my mum.. I was about 15, long blonde hair, legs up to my armpits, while he was middle aged & balding.. manged to talk myself out of that one.. never been back to Morecambe though.

The lovely old lady who sat next to me on a bus, I was with my two young boys, she was feeding them sweeties and chatting away.. when I got up to get off, she said she'd pray for me.. I've often wondered if she was some kind of angel, as I had a VERY rough life after that.

The guy in a shopping centre who kept staring at me.. I was cross as he was with his wife & family, how dare he be looking at other women? Until I caught sight of his wife, & it was like looking in a mirror.. :-0

They're just off the top of my head, many more!

pippinsleftleg · 06/06/2022 15:56

PinkPanther27 · 01/06/2022 23:06

I was in McDonald's with my daughter who was about 5 or 6 at the time. The elderly guy cleaning the table's started chatting to us and telling us about his sideline writing novels. I'm nodding and listening politely whilst waiting for him to go so we can eat our food in peace then he comes back with a bit of paper with his name and book title on it. He proceeds to tell me in detail (in front of my daughter) about his erotic novels and where I can buy them on Amazon 😳

You’ve reminded me of my own stranger story.

I was sitting in a bookshop coffee shop, DD was young and in nursery so I was enjoying a bit of peace with a couple of books. A man sitting near me was working on a laptop, when he started talking to me and told me he was a filmmaker editing a project, would I like to see it? I enjoy creative writing, including screenplays so thought it might be interesting as he was bigging it up and making it sound like an interesting project.

It was a homage to Dolly Parton edited in iMovie. Pictures of her, Dollywood, etc floating across the screen.

I’m a nice person so told him it was very good so he asked if he should send it to her?

I said I’m sure she would love it. Assuming she has people to look at things like this for her. Poor Dolly - she must be inundated with things like this from her fans.

FujiSakura · 06/06/2022 16:54

Years ago I was travelling on the London underground when a woman entered the carriage through a connecting door and started to approach me (the carriage was fairly empty I think). I assumed she was going to ask for change but what she actually asked was 'would you like to buy a kitten?' whilst opening up her coat to reveal several kittens in pockets in the lining (like someone selling knock off watches etc in old comedies). I was so surprised I just meekly shook my head and she moved on through the carriage.

I have lots of other stories of harassment etc as many others on this thread have also sadly recounted, but what its made me think is how passive I have always been in that situation and how I have just accepted it and never thought to report it to anyone. Seems the same for a lot of others on here (apart from the person who tried to the very uninterested station master).