I was 19. Walking in the city. I think I thought I looked good that day. I may have tried on clothes in some place on fifth ave. I worked in Greenwich, CT as a waitress/ shift manager. I had my first day off in like a month. My bff and I went to New York to explore and be city girls that day. And we were.
We had just left a store. I think it was Armani Exchange. I fit in their medium. I was living my life.
I was walking down the street and this man walked up in front of me and just stood there. And I stopped. We stared at each other… And I looked at him wondering what to say. My friend came back and grabbed my hand and pulled me away. It’s a weird thing to do to someone. Just stand in front of them. So this story still pops up in my mind occasionally.
I’m not sure what it meant. Maybe I am amazing and beautiful and that guy needed to meet me. Or my friend saved me from getting kidnapped or attacked by a crazy man.
Another time I was in New York and my boyfriend/ future husband was on a job interview so I walked across the street to the out door market and poked around. While I was walking I made eye contact with some guy and I smiled and kept walking.
I was really surprised when someone tapped me on my shoulder while I was looking at some apples. I turned around and it was the guy I smiled at.
I was like “Hi!” He said “Why did you smile at me?” I said “We made eye contact. I don’t know. I am happy.” He said “you should be careful who you smile at and you shouldn’t just smile at random people.” And he walked away.
I thought, weird…. and then I went to get a manicure. I think about this encounter too. usually when I smile at people. What a weird thing to say to someone. Why not smile at people when you’re happy?
Do you have any stories of strange encounters?
Moving forward 
I tend to smile at people when I make eye-contact too.
Just last night I walked by a man and I didn’t make eye-contact because I wasn’t feeling well and I was tired so I didn’t want to smile and most of the time people look at me funny for doing it any way. So it surprised me when I heard him say “hey, what’s up?” to me and I didn’t respond. After all, I was already walking by, trying to get home, and I didn’t know him.
He actually yelled at me for being rude. Like, swore at me.
So if smiling at people is weird and not smiling is rude, then what’s the right protocol? Why can’t we just be kind and understanding to each other?
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These two things would have completely freaked me out. I’m generally avoiding of strangers and I definitely don’t smile at men unless I want to talk to them. I come from the south where people are pretty cordial all the time and I’m from a small town where everyone knows each other. I had to learn quickly though that in the NE that’s not how you do.
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That guy would’ve totally freaked me out!
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The guy would have freaked me out!
I am a smiler, I wonder how many people I have smiled at that thought WTF is she doing!
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I am the type that smiles at eveyone and makes eye contact like crazy. I am not a city girl by any means but can see how it could be trouble in big cities! Glad nothing terrible came from your experiences!
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What an interesting encounter! I was once away (like on the other side of the world to where I lived) on my gap year and a girl tapped me on my shoulder and said she knew me from somewhere. Turned out her cousin went to school two years below me and she’d seen me in a picture! Just shows how small the world can actually be. |Meera-Abroad
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