''lovestruck student who was given a wrong number by a mystery girl''

[Thelnebriati]

How is 'persistent pest who won't take no for an answer and scared his victim into giving a false name, address and phone number'' a romantic story?
The only good thing is that many of the comments (even in the Sun) aren't buying it.

He is a third year psychology student. He is going to be working with vulnerable people. Should one of his tutors take him to one side and have a chat?

www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/uk-world-news/student-hand-writes-100-letters-18794615

It's more likely to be him isn't it
I meant did Amy get the story pulled from The Mirror.

@WinterIsGone

It's more likely to be him isn't it I meant did Amy get the story pulled from The Mirror.

I remember men chatting me up in my younger days...there was lots of men who assumed that polite = up for it, rather than realising women are often polite because they're scared. It shows a huge lack of emotional intelligence.

@WaxOnFeckOff

There was a comedian, I'm going to guess Ricky Gervais, who once said he had no idea how women managed to actually go out with men as he described it as similar to going to have dinner with a bear (or a similar analogy) as you really had no idea how this person, who is likely to be bigger and stronger than you, might behave.

We need to instill this to our menfolk really, that whilst they may have nothing but good intentions, women will no doubt be wary just by virtue of the uneven power ratio. They need to be aware and respectful of this in how they behave.

I think it was Louis CK - who seemed like he got it, but turned out to be the bear

Ah that might be right @MarkRuffaloCrumble as I've watched some of him. That's a shame. I think Ricky generally gets it though can be an arsehole from time to time.

It reminds me of another creepy story of a stalky man who targeted a woman:

www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/uk-news/man-playing-piano-park-win-13607171

She should go to the police. What a creep!

@PatriciaPerch, yes, I like him too and a lot of his views on things align with mine, just pointing out that despite all that, I know he can still be an arsehole at times

I was saying that I think he in general does get it, which is why when I remembered that "joke/anecdote" my guess was that it was him who said it.

This is disgusting

I think cultural differences may be at play here, too. He’s Romanian. They have different ideas about „romance“ and „chatting up“ in that part of the world, in my experience.

There was a guy hanging round our flats which are quite secure, trying everyone’s bells till someone let him in, he then went round all the flats. Day 2 saw him lurking in a car outside. Following day when challenged asked me if I knew young woman pictured on phone. At which point I said that she clearly didn’t want to know him, he was stalking her , and I would be calling the police (who round here take this seriously) never seen again..

In Gavin de Becker's The Gift of Fear he talks about how the media/movies have encouraged the idea of persistence as a rewarding strategy for men:

"This Hollywood Formula could be called 'Boy wants Girl, Girl Doesn't Want Boy, Boy Harasses Girl, Boy Gets Girl'"

It also teaches men wrongly that women's 'no' doesn't mean no.

Happened to me too. I'm being a bit vague here as it's outing but he saw me at an event and figured out my email address. He then sent me emails every single day for a month about how we were meant to be together. I ignored them all. A month in they turned seriously nasty and he told me he knew where I lived. Absolutely terrifying. It's incredibly irresponsible of the papers to be printing crap like this.

To be clear, it obviously wasn't the same man as pictured in the paper. But the story is very similar.

This is creepy as fuck. to anyone who has been affected by stalking behaviour.
Hope Amy knows to contact Women’s Aid, Suzy Lamplugh Trust or other organisations that will provide her with free advice and support.

When out and about and bothered by unwanted men, my friends always used to employ the old 'let' s pretend to be lesbians' trick. I found it annoying - just tell em you're not interested!

But actually, telling them you're not interested doesn't work.... And a lot of the time, neither does pretending to be a lesbian...

Dear creepy-guy, here's how it works. You give the woman your phone number. You make double sure it's correct. If the woman doesn't ring you then she is not interested. Do not contact a tabloid. Do not pass go. Get over it.

But actually, telling them you're not interested doesn't work.... And a lot of the time, neither does pretending to be a lesbian...

Of course it doesn't. Men like that believe only male ownership matters. And they think (thanks to porn) lesbianism is an act for their titillation to be cast aside when the right man (them) shows up.

There was a really good Cracked article about this trope in films, and how it teaches men that this sort of persistence is romantic and will pay off. I’ll see if I can find it and post a link.

She’s probably not even called Amy. In the late 90s and early 00s there were quite a few men in London who believed my name to be “Sarah” and my number to be 2 digits off what it really was.

When I was younger I often gave a fake name or number to avoid confrontation. I also used to go to the toilet to escape persistent men. On one memorable occasion I just stepped off a revolving dance floor and let him spin away from me!

Less funny was the time a guy showed up outside my friend's house where I was staying and shouted for me until my friend's boyfriend went out and chased him away... That was after dancing with him for a couple of minutes at a Hogmanay party 🙁

@SocialMedea

Dear creepy-guy, here's how it works. You give the woman your phone number. You make double sure it's correct. If the woman doesn't ring you then she is not interested. Do not contact a tabloid. Do not pass go. Get over it.

Yep, and people who think it's romantic and want to help should take his number and pass it on. I had a similar situation and ended up with a stalker in my final year at uni. He told people he had the wrong number, but I hadn't even given him a number, I had said NO very clearly.

On one memorable occasion I just stepped off a revolving dance floor and let him spin away from me!

Bloody brilliant.

The look on his face was hilarious 😂

One thing that really used to wind me up was men who just started dancing closer and closer without attempting any conversation or even eye contact 😡