I (20M) have just been out to the supermarket to buy dinner and a couple of guys approached me on the way home, one of them stuck his hand out for a “high five”. I tried to ignore it and then decided to cross the road since they seemed drunk or at least wanted a laugh at my expense. Problem is that one of the guys started to try and follow me across the road which is the part which legitimately scared me. Eventually he stopped and went back to join his friend on the other side of the road.
I don’t think my response was very good albeit it was a knee jerk response and I didn’t think it through. I think my brain just perceived them to be a threat in that moment. But I find it scary when people approach me and it does sometimes happen, it feels like I’m an easy target for them. These guys were bigger than me and I’d estimate a few years older (though still under 30). Also seemed like the macho bro type group whereas I appear a bit more feminine.
How do you deal in these sorts of situations?
4 comments
smile and go on
Always go with gut feeling
Been in these kind of situations before too and also don’t know what to do at times.. just ignoring them is all i can think of. I’ve been using speaking my second language as a tactic too to pretend i don’t understand and can’t communicate
I train and fight in contact sports since I was 16. You did well not escalating the situation and you shouldn’t be too hard on yourself. The only thing I will say is if something like that happens and the person gets in punching distance to you just hit them don t hesitate because they probably want to punch you. if you re not a tough guy there s no shame in hitting someone and running away if they re a threat to you.