Entitled dickhead in beauty spot

[grizzlyoldbear]

I was sat on a bench at a beauty spot in a nature reserve I’d never been to before, really peaceful, very quiet, no one else around. A man turned up with his dog and just stood there, it was very unnerving and I think he was waiting for me to move. “Lovely view, isn’t it?” he said in a pointed, hovering way.
As soon as I scrambled away from the bench (couldn't get out of there fast enough), he sat straight down. It was obvious he’d been waiting for me to f* off so he could have the bench to himself.
I found it really intimidating and creepy, especially as it was so secluded. It completely ruined the moment , I just wanted a quiet sit in nature, not to be silently pressured off the only bench.
Am I overreacting or would others have felt the same?

Agree. I live within a 5 min walk of a beautiful view through local woods.
A guy got his dick out in front of a woman and her child a few days ago!
WTAF , so today I only walked there when I could see an elderly couple entering the woods,just why should us females feel so vulnerable?

Stating a point detached from reality or resorting to hylerbole never strengthens any argument

It feels almost like some posters want men to apologise for just being "there"
I don't think his behaviour was particularly odd or a power play.

He wanted to admire the view, maybe didn't feel comfortable sitting next to op so he stood by the bench, which is probably a prime spot for the best view which is why the bench is there

Presumably he was hovering because he made the trip to that spot purposely to sit on that bench. Maybe he does it every day. You say hovering in a “bullying” fashion but that could be entirely your interpretation. He could have just been standing there waiting.
Should he have moved on? Yes and no. Entirely up for him at the end of the day.

@novalia89 Hmmm. Actually I'd already seen him on a previous bench further down the hill, so i know he'd already sat once. I can't describe why it felt off, it just did and it pissed me off that I had to move. Yes I could've stood my ground, ,but wasn't feeling like making chit chat.

he didn’t creep up on her, or startle her! He likely had no idea she was even remotely perturbed give they were in a public place frequented by walkers (with or without dogs).

She said quite clearly he was staring at her.

If you’ve never been made uncomfortable by a man staring at you (not glancing) then you’re very lucky.

It’s understandable that women are even more wary in isolated spots.

YABU!

But only because I'm a petty bench hogger myself. Hubby and I have "claimed" a bench at our favourite local beauty spot and darn right I'm going to hover if someone else is there 🤣🤣🤣

However, YANBU that it would feel creepy as a lone woman in a secluded spot.

Yes, let’s all pretend that a man standing near a seated woman and staring at her isn’t at all unnerving.

This. ^

My (young adult) DD and I were at a famous beauty spot some weeks ago, and there was no-one there ... We had walked from the car park - it was 10 minutes walk...

We looked at the wonderful view for a few minutes, and then thought we would take some photos. A few of each other, a few joint selfies, and a few self timer ones. We both wanted to take 3 or 4 videos too.

We had taken 2 photos, and this man popped up out of nowhere, and started chatting shit. 'Oh it's nice here isn't it girls?' We were like 'err yeah, it is.' We tried to carry on with what we were doing, but he would not STFU. He kept babbling on and chatting, even though we were trying to take photos and videos. I had to keep restarting my videos, as he kept talking over them. I was thinking 'oh FFS!'

DD and I were trying to take selfies and self timer pics and he was standing there, no more than 10-12 feet from us, just watching. It made us so uneasy, and gave us the collywobbles. So we just left and walked back to the car. 15 minutes later, he walked past and went to his car and drove off. Fucking weirdo.

So we waited 10 minutes, and walked back, and did what we should have done before the creepy man came along.

The 'oh dear men can't do anything' posters can just jog on honestly! How fucking dare he just intrude like this? He would never have done it if my DH had been with us.

So had you left plenty of room on this bench for him to also sit down?

Or was your entitled arse plonked in the middle leaving no room?

Oh my goodness, he wanted to sit down more than once? 😱 Call the police immediately the scoundrel.

Indeed. There’s a reason why men are 95% of the prison population

I've gone back and re read OP and can't see her saying he was staring.......?

@KickHimInTheCrotch I am not wary of strangers at all, I think staring at a lone woman in an isolated spot is very weird behaviour. It is a massive nature reserve, there are many benches with views to contemplate, he was just being an entitled dick.

Was he staring at her?

Unless the OP's 'entitled arse' is 6 feet wide, it's highly unlikely she would leave no room by sitting in the middle of the bench.

Ludicrous post!

Are you serious? True, not every man is a freaky perv, but a lone woman dare not take the risk!

Always listen to your gut. You felt uncomfortable, that’s enough reason to want to move away. Don’t worry about being polite. Any half decent man would know a woman is liable to feel threatened in such a situation. I hike on my own and go out of my way to avoid such encounters.

Maybe he was just hoping to chat. Maybe it's his daily spot.

I would have said, "Yes, very lovely." Then allowed a long pause. Then pleasantly said, without moving, "Would you like to sit?" and gesture to the bench. And if he said yes, I'd have moved over.

This. ^ And some creepy men like to take advantage of this fact.

Well she hasn't said how big the bench was has she, and lots of wayside benches are just wide enough for 2 non obese to sit.

So not "ludicrous" at all.🙄

It’s under OP’s first post:

I felt uncomfortable with a man staring at me and i was on my own and it was a very quiet place

I hope I'd have said "yes it's so peaceful, I could sit here all day!" And carried on sitting there.
But maybe there was something unnerving about this man specifically?

It’s under OP’s first post:

I felt uncomfortable with a man staring at me and i was on my own and it was a very quiet place