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.

Oh my goodness I did exactly this - except to a shifty-looking teenage boy with his hoodie pulled tight to his face, on the street at 11pm at night!!!

I had been in Cornwall with toddler and baby and had driven back late at night with masses of luggage, buggy etc. We lived in a London townhouse with very steep, narrow steps and a door that slammed, and I was so tired I simply couldn't figure out how to get screaming toddler, baby, buggy and luggage up the stairs - it was like that chicken, fox, corn conundrum.

This boy walked past just as I was about to dissolve in tears (I was existing on about 4 hours of sleep at the time due to baby's awful sleep habits, hence why I was driving at night) and I literally forced him to help me... but rather than asking for help with the luggage I handed him my apopletically overtired 9 month old.

He was absolutely brilliant with her - clearly looked after his younger siblings - and could not have been sweeter, he held her for about 5 minutes and chuckled away at her until she calmed. Shows how wrong my first impression was - but also that I was so desperate that I STILL asked him for help despite my first impression!!

Two for me:

I was kicked from behind several times by a guy in a group of lads as a young farmers night out once. I found it really confusing and upsetting. I couldn't understand why you'd want to hurt a random stranger and laugh about it with all your mates.

I was at a country fair once and entered a tent with different stalls in. As I entered I walked passed a dog curled up in a basket under a table and didn't really pay any attention to him. But I did notice a man the owner of the dog and stall berating a child for approaching his dog who by the sounds of it was nippy and unsocial. As he was saying this the dog weaves through the crowd and came upto me like I was a long lost friend and stretched up my legs to reach my hand to lick it. I stroked and make a fuss of him and then he went and sat back in his basket. The whole time the guy watched gob smacked but didn't say a word - I thought I was going to be in trouble.

Reminds me of a time I drove to the supermarket and started looking for somewhere to park. It wasn't super busy, but I spotted a place started to move towards it.
All of a sudden a car screamed round the corner and into the space. As I looked at the driver, her face was screwed up angrily shouting at me and she was gesticulating and giving emt he finger. She was apoplectic!
I couldn't figure it out, there wasn't especially a shortage of places.

@TargusEasting @NewBootsAndRanty

I don't know if one or both of you are joking about meeting a man with seven wives and cats in sacks, but both of those places (Cambridgeshire and Cornwall) have a St Ives.

Ah yes, Audi driver syndrome. Sometimes affects drivers of other large vehicles.

I remember spotting a space available in the row right near to the store for once, approaching the space from the left and indicating to drive into it, when all of a sudden as I started to turn the wheel a Range Rover appeared from the lane on the right absolutely flooring it, shot straight across the lane I was in (she can't have looked left or right at all- you are meant to give way at the end of her lane, it was absolutely my right of way) and into the space, missing the front of my car by millimeters. Absolutely crazy and scary. I got the impression if there were small children in front of her she'd have mown them down to get that space. There were loads of other spaces too. Pathetic.

I often wonder whether drivers see these markings or know what they mean, or do see and know what they mean and just ignore them entirely!

Yep, that was the joke!

Was the Range Rover pink?
Was this in East Sussex?
Did the vehicle end up upside down or right way up?

Got to be Katie price?!

I got on the bus and noticed a man staring at me. After the initial eye contact I didn't look at him again but I knew he was still watching me. I got up to sit downstairs and he did the same. It was a bus that opens in the middle as well as by the driver so I quickly decided to pretend I was getting off. I planned on going to the pub I worked in and getting help. I went and stood by the driver and he stood at the middle. My house was right by the next stop but I didn't want him to see where I lived even though I could have legged it (which was my plan b if absolutely necessary). I stand up, so does he, I get my backpack and shopping bag and act nonchalantly. He stands at the middle door and a wave of inspiration hit me. I could see no one waiting as we were pulling up so I stepped forward to exit the bus and he does the same but I quickly jumped back on and said " Oops sorry next stop please". The driver was nonplussed and just drove on. Giddy with relief I got off at my stop but to my horror I could see him in the distance running to catch the bus up (it was a busy bus route in Manchester and the stops were every 500 yards give or take so I could see it was definitely him). I ran as fast as I could and ran into my house. I kept the lights off and ran upstairs to my bedroom. I could see him walking up and down peering in windows. I lived alone at the time so I called the police. Of course he had left by the time they arrived. I had nightmares for weeks though.

I had a similar experience on a Manchester bus in the 90s. It was on the 192 going from town to Stockport. This pissed up bloke plonked himself next to me despite there being other seats and decided that I was a stuck up bitch because I wouldn't speak to him other than short yes/no responses. He then put his arm around me and I got really upset with him and told him to leave me alone. These two lads could see what was happening and told him to leave me alone. He got up to argue with them and I took the opportunity to get away when one of them gestured at me with his eyes to go. I hope those guys realised how grateful I was. I waited for the next bus and made it home without further incident.

That's horrifying @ThatSharonCurleysUpThePole 😧😧😧

I used to work in a market town, and would pop out for lunch to get a break from the office. (Married about 28 months at this point).

Was approached by a woman, claiming to be a Romany Gypsy, who offered to read my fortune. I politely declined and got the “never look away from a gypsy pitch”, then started to move away.

She grabbed my arm and said “I never do this but your sister is not your friend and you need to be very careful of her”. Smiled and told her I don’t have a sister, and she went on to give a description of someone who looked like me, and that I spent a lot of time with. My sister in law. Anyway told her again I didn’t want my fortune read and that I didn’t have any money in my purse. (I didn’t confirm or deny SIL just that I didn’t have a sister).

She replied “I don’t want money I want you to be careful of this woman. Keep away from her, she’s not trustworthy, she’s evil, she will destroy your life”. Managed to get away from her, thought no more about it.

Within 6 months there was an incident involving my SIL that could have blown my life apart and as the years have rolled by I have understood this woman’s warning.

We’ve never had a “bust up” but I’ve systematically removed myself away from her and her mother only seeing them at weddings, funerals etc despite the fact we live in the same village.

**I don’t believe in palm readers, fortune tellers, people with a gift.

This was not so much strange as lovely. Gosh I’ve had so many! I lived in NYC for a long time and took the subway from Queens to Grand Central. It was a lovely sunny day. When I came out of the subway tunnel in Manhattan it was pouring rain. I walked out the doors to 42nd street and stood under the bridge with countless others sheltering from the biblical style rain. I had no jacket or umbrella there obviously wasn’t a cab to be had and I was against the clock for a meeting. As I stood contemplating arriving late or as a drowned rat a man walked up to me and said ‘You need this more than me’ and handed me a huge, very fancy umbrella. I was so taken aback I barely had time to thank him before he walked through the station doors.

On the tube one evening, minding my own business on my way home. Not busy, I pick up a discarded newspaper to read. Only me and one other bloke in the carriage but I do see a couple in the next carriage.

We pull into a station and the doors open and he gets up from where he is sitting and sits next to me and puts his arm around me. I stand up and am like 'what the hell do you think you're doing!' drop the paper and get off and move into the next carriage as I know a couple is in there. Bloke is like 'what's wrong with you, I only wanted your paper' but I am off like a shot and the couple are kind enough to check on me as they heard my voice from the other carriage.

Bloody weirdo

When I as a teenager I had a Saturday job in a paper shop. A man came in and asked if there were any magazines with 14 year old girls in.

I was also stopped once by a man in a car it was November and he asked me if I knew anywhere that had an outdoor pool.

Just remembered another story... A few years ago I was waiting on the tube at Stratford with ds2 to go into London to the theatre... Ds2 is deaf and autistic and was being slightly more noisy than usual as he was excited... A man got in and sat opposite us.. He proceeded to lean forward in his seat and kick ds2 on the ankle and tell him to be quiet... I totally lost my shit and told the bloke what I thought of him and his kicking... Ds2 then started to make the air raid siren type noise that he makes when he gets stressed.. The bloke then implied that everything was OK. I made it very clear that it was far from OK and he had spoilt our trip to London.. Needless to say he and the rest of the carriage were silent till he thankfully got off four stops later!!

This feels so karmic.
Like you both owed each other time.

Here is DH’s strangest encounter with a stranger..

Over his latter teen years he went ski-ing with his best mate to Austria every year. They saved all year and off they went, for those few years, always staying at the same small hotel.

On the second year they went, alone, they were 17 and they had some terribly drunken episodes (probably on all the years in fact!). One night, DH got rather drunker than his mate and needed to turn in. His mate saw him to their twin room, got him into bed, gave him a bucket/bowl to throw up into in case needed and went back to the bar, locking him in their room and taking the key with him in his pocket.

Well DH WAS very sick but the first thing he was aware of was being turned onto his side by a young woman who said she’d heard him choking and found him on his back choking on his own vomit . He was sick for ages and was aware of her with him and remembers her telling him she was a nurse. At some point he went back to sleep. He doesn’t remember anything else.

He and his mate and now in their 50s and still good friends and still tell the tale. They still have no idea how this even happened because the door was locked. They asked everyone in the bar the following night and nobody knew of any such person that it could have helped DH.

I suppose DH could have dreamt it but as he remembers it, it wasn’t the choking that roused him, it was being rolled over onto his side.

Lucky stranger encounter to say the least.

One that always sticks in my mind was when I was driving to work one Sunday morning. It was around 7.30, so the dual carriageway I was on was very quiet- almost empty. I became faintly aware of a car driving beside me, slowing to maintain the same speed as me. I glanced sideways to see 3 people ( all fairly young) just staring at me. One of the passengers then calmly held a camera up and took my photo. Their faces remained expressionless. It was a most bizarre and surreal experience and did freak me out somewhat. I wondered if I’d actually imagined it. I came to the conclusion it must of just been a silly prank or some sort of college project!

We need more stories!!

Giving this a bump! I was enjoying these, unfortunately I have none to add 😄

Well I can add a little one. An elderly man walked up to me in the greengrocers and informed me that all American policemen are gay, then went off on his merry way again.

The Village People prove that this is true...

Over ten years ago now: shopping in a city centre and accosted by a traveller selling little sprigs of gypsophila. My sister was with me and having none of it and before she managed to pull us away the lady said to me ‘do you know you’re going to be moving soon?’ Wished I’d stopped and spoken to her because I was househunting at the time, and we moved into our first and hopefully forever home three months later!

Love how it was specifically policemen.

I don't have any good stories to add. Although there was that elderly gentleman in Sainsbury's who clearly must have been deaf as he kept farting really loudly all the way round the aisles, thinking no-one would notice.