[ SECRET POST #2948 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #2948 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 00 pages, 000 secrets from Secret Submission Post #421.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

Weird encounters

[kallanda_lee]

So, I had this strange encounter this week.

I'm on the tram, old dude gets on, and sits next to me, despite half of the tram being empty.

dude: I tried to swipe my pass card, but it's not working - do you know what's causing it?
me: nope, sorry, I have the ten-rides card
dude: well it's the one for pensioners, you see...
(dude, do I look like I'm 65....how do I know how pensioners cards work...)
me: I don't know how that works.
dude: Are you Jewish?
me: Uh, no...
(fair enough,I've been guessed pretty much ever ethnicity except black African and Scandinavian..but this is a bit...direct)
dude: Lots of Jewish people in Antwerp...
me: Yeah, I know...
dude: Do you know the Appelbaums?
me: Uh, no...
dude: The Schwartzes?
me: don't think so.
(dude, I just told you I'm not Jewish, and even if I were, pretty sure I wouldn't know ever family by name)
dude: *continues to sum up a bunch more Jewish names*.
me: don't think I know any of them.
dude: well, you see, I know a lot of people.
me: uh-huh, well have a good day, I need to get off now.

He was actually quite cheerful and friendly...it was just very odd.

F!S, what are your bizarre encounters with strangers (or not-so-strangers)?

Re: Weird encounters

[snowcipher]

While I'll admit he asked weird questions, he reminds me of the seniors who will talk to anyone about anything because they're lonely.

Re: Weird encounters

[(Anonymous)]

That's what I thought too, haha. Friendly old people, just gotta smile and appreciate them, no matter how random they get.

Re: Weird encounters

[kallanda_lee]

Oh, that's probably what it was. I mean, I don't think there was any malice. It was just that, for someone who seems to like making random connections, he's not particularly good at making conversation?

Re: Weird encounters

[(Anonymous)]

This didn't happen to me but I witnessed it. I went to a local department store and I was at the checkout paying for my stuff. There was an employee nearby folding stuff -- she looked maybe 17 years old.

This well-dressed older gentleman comes up to her and asks if she's from Nigeria (I think? I don't remember which country it was exactly). She says no, not making eye contact, clearly not wanting to talk about it. He then starts talking to her in another language, like she should understand. He then goes back to English and asks if she's from some other country. She says she was born in America. He goes back to asking her questions in some other language.

She's clearly so uncomfortable and he just wouldn't let it go. He's asking her about her thoughts on a war going on in Africa and stuff like that, and she's clearly trying to get him to move on without outright saying it. I finished my transaction before I saw how it ended. It had a very creepy vibe though.

Re: Weird encounters

[(Anonymous)]

That's so weird. Not sure what I would've done. Would it have been a bad idea to try finding a manager or something?

Re: Weird encounters

[iceyred]

This might turn into a rant.

This lady comes in on my lunch break. I don't like to keep people waiting for something that will take two minutes so I took her back to my office.

Her: They called me about this and they were so MEAN.
Me: I'm sorry but...
Her: I mean, I made those signs myself! I'm already barely getting by! Those businesses there aren't making any money and it's so mean.
Me: I'm sorry about that. Let me get you the form and you can...
Her: They're just signs! I painted them myself! And the guy who owns the big sign (note: that is the only one that is legally allowed on that property) charges $2,000 dollars to use!
Me: That's a private matter and the city doesn't have anything to do with that. Let me get you the form. You can have one temporary sign on this property.
Her: I mean, they're little signs. And there's just two. And my former business partner is trying to steal my business name! And I'm gonna have to get a business id number!
Me:....Do you not have a business license?
Her: Of course I do, but she's trying to steal my idea! And I don't understand why I can't have two signs right there! And I'm probably gonna be diagnosed with MS soon. This is so unfair.

I swear to God. It doesn't matter if you're the most unlucky person in the world. You still have to follow the same rules as everyone else. Maybe if you worked harder and quit bitching about how unfair the world is and how the big bad ol' city is pickin' on poor li'l ol' you, your business would be more successful. You're an adult. Grow up.

90% of the people who come in to my office are wonderful, awesome people and I love working with them. That 10% though. Lord, that 10%.

Re: Weird encounters

[(Anonymous)]

When I was in middle school, I was in the bathroom when I turned around to see this girl giving me the meanest look. It was... really, really creepy. She was sort of hunched, and her fists were almost curling.

I never saw her again after that (thank God), and to this day have absolutely no clue what happened. Had she asked me to move/leave, and when I didn't hear her, thought I was ignoring her? Was she just trying to intimidate a sixth grader? I have no idea.

Also, this isn't so weird, but these kids used to yell something like "bee-dup" or "beedip" or "vreet" at me. I never figured out what exactly it was or what they were saying, and nothing I've found on Urban Dictionary explains it. Was I missing the insult of a lifetime, or were they just yelling out random garbage?

Re: Weird encounters

[lb_lee]

Enh, back when I lived in the Northeast, there was this old guy who was obviously a few slices short a loaf. If he saw me, he liked to come up to me and blather about whatever was on his mind--paper towels, JFK, whatever. He'd do it for a couple minutes, not really requiring much in the way of conversation, just nods and 'uh huhs,' and then he would be done and go on his way, obviously satisfied with his social interaction.

I have a pretty hair-trigger creepdar, and this guy honestly never gave me the creeps. He stood a little too close, but he never tried to touch me, never said anything untoward. Just blather for five minutes on paper towels and then on his merry way. I got the sense that he wanted to interact with other humans and just wasn't sure HOW.

Honestly, I'd take his eccentric, batty self over the creepers any day of the week.

--Rogan

Re: Weird encounters

[nyxelestia]

Amusing encounter, which took a turn for the weird at the end.

Me and two of my friends - a man and a woman, a couple - are waiting at a bus stop, when somehow I ended up striking up conversation with a rather drunk woman from out of town. She asked me something about how I knew them, and on a lark I said, "Oh, I'm dating them." (I had, before, but wasn't anymore). She was completely and utter flabbergasted by the idea. Like, not just confused or weirded out or disapproving, but flabbergasted. Amused, I even mentioned that I had another boyfriend who wasn't present with us right then (which is true), which left her downright shocked.

We got to talking about the nature of fidelity, monogamy, and polyamory (my own personal policy to try and change people's minds for the better when I can, even if I know it probably won't stick). We had a very typical conversation that I have a lot with people who don't get that consensual polyamory =/= cheating. What was strange, though, was that she kept trying to say things like, "I know some great people who will take care of you" and generally trying to set me up like somehow I was being cheated on - even though, in theory, I was the one cheating since I was dating multiple people? We went around in circles like this for a bit, me saying I don't need anyone to take care of me and that I don't like it when people try to, and her insisting she knew great people I could go out with and who would take care of me. It was a very strange conversation, but I am used to some weird ones in the process of trying to broaden people's horizons a bit.

Eventually, I just said something like, "Besides, maybe I like to be the one taking care of someone", and she was utterly confounded by the idea. She went back to trying to insist she knew great people to take care of me who she could set me up with (at this point, we still hadn't even traded names).

The part that was weird, though, was at the end when she turned to my guy friend and asked, "How do you provide for them?" (indicating to me and his girlfriend), despite the fact she hadn't been talking to either of them at all and I just said I liked taking care of myself and was coming off of work. She didn't even ask if he did, just assumed so and asked how. Before he could even explain that he didn't, she added, "I know you're Jewish, because of the nose."

That one caught us all off-guard, because seriously, who the hell assumes someone is Jewish because of their nose?

She...seemed to have trouble comprehending that he not only wasn't white, but was actually Hispanic and came from a Christian heritage.

The bus came right after, but that was a seriously WTF moment for all of us.

Re: Weird encounters

[(Anonymous)]

Once when I was visiting my grandmother I had to take the dog out for a short walk, so I just planned to go around the block.

As I left my grandmother's building, I noticed a woman staring straight at the building across from my grandma's and I just immediately got a really strange, uneasy feeling about her. But I just pushed it aside and walked by her. Just as I pass her, I feel her just turning to look at me and I briefly looked into her eyes, and she just had this extremely unsettling look about her. I honestly felt scared, but just kept walking. When I turned around the corner, I looked back to see her still just staring after me.

When I got back from the walk she was still standing there, now staring at the building across from my grandmother's again. As I got nearer to the front door, she turned to look at me again, but I just got myself in in a hurry.

The first thing I did upon entering my grandmother's apartment was to just break down crying. I was just so unsettled, and I'm honestly not the type to just panic about people in that manner, but it's just was so creepy. I have never gotten such an unsettling feeling about anyone as I did that woman, I just really felt it deep down in my marrow. It almost felt like some horror movie.

A little while later I looked out of the window to see the woman still just staring at the building and she did so for at least 15 more minutes after I return.

TW suicide

[ginainthekingsroad]

I'm not sure if this belong here or in the telemarketing thread, but when I first got my cell phone in 2007, I kept getting calls looking for the previous owner of that number. Mostly banks, insurance, and debt/credit agencies. It became very clear that Sheri, the previous owner, was still using this number on forms and stuff, possibly in relation to some kind of scam. Once I was called by a Best Buy in my neighborhood (which makes sense, as it's covered in that area code) saying my order was ready to be picked up!

In the spring of 2008, in the middle of the night, I got a personal call for Sheri. I wrote down what happened a few weeks later, so this was our conversation:
Me: Hello?
Man: Sheri. Sheri.
Me: Ohh, you've got the wrong number. I just got this cell number recently.
Man: Sheri, I know it's you. I know your voice.
Me: Stop it, my name isn't Sheri.
Man: Sheri. Sheri, I'm going to kill myself tonight.
Me: What?! No!

I hung up and turned off the ringer, trembling. He called again; I didn't pick up. I dreaded getting a voicemail of a gunshot or the like. He didn't leave a message. I wonder if he got to my inbox recording saying "Rebecca is unavailable" and finally realized I wasn't Sheri.

I sat for a couple minutes, silently freaking out, debating what to do. That night I was very glad my dad keeps weird hours and was awake and at the computer. I startled him, coming into the study suddenly, but I explained what had happened and he said the area code was Seattle.

He called the Suicide Prevention Hotline and the Seattle Police. I hope they found him, but I'll never really know. It's the closest to being haunted I've ever come.

I submitted this story and it was printed in comics form for True Story in The Coast.

I got a voicemail for Sheri last fall, just a guy saying, "Sheri, it's me, call me back." I can't say whether it was the same man, but it was a different number.

Re: Weird encounters

[(Anonymous)]

It's hard for me to tell when it comes to this. Random strangers talk to me all the time, at bus stops or in parks or in queues or whatever. I think I just have a listening sort of face?

There was a very nice lady once who spent fifteen minutes giving me a potted version of her life story as an Avon sales lady at a bus stop. It was actually kind of fascinating.

There was an older gentleman in a coffee shop that had to sit at the same table as me because of seating shortages, and spent that lunch explaining some of the intricacies of WWI era battleships to me. He was really excited and happy about it, and kept sketching shapes in the air to show me how things fit together. I can't remember a goddamn thing he said about the ships themselves, but I remember that he was fascinating to watch speak.

There was a very nice homeless guy that I spent about half an hour talking with on a bridge one afternoon. I don't remember how the conversation started, but he told me a fair bit about his life as well, as well as quite a few random things about the city that I hadn't known before. I had to get to class after a while, so he asked me for a hug before I left. I never saw him again, and I walked past that spot pretty regularly en route to class. In hindsight, that kind of worries me. I hope he just moved on, and nothing bad happened to him.

There was a guy in a bar my sister insisted we stop into while waiting for a bus who had a ten minute conversation with me on the subject of holiday destinations and books before my sister came and gently explained to me that he was hitting on me, not talking about books. In my defense, I can be very dense about things like that. I suspect that was probably a lot more frustrating a conversation for him than it was for me.

More creepily, I took the cycle path by the river to class once, and this guy came up off the river and walked part of the way down with me, making what I thought was idle conversation. He asked me if I had a boyfriend, I said no, that my turn was up next for class, and wished him a nice day. He wandered off, I went in to class. I didn't think anything of it until news started going around that there'd been a spate of rapes around campus around then, and one of them happened on the river path (not the day I was on it). To this day I'm not sure if he was just a random weirdo with bad timing, or if I managed to avoid something bad by sheer dumb luck.

I just ... I never remember afterwards how these conversations start. I don't start them myself, because I don't really talk to people unprompted. At all. They just seem to happen to me a lot.

Re: Weird encounters

[herpymcderp]

I tend to be in pretty close proximity to a whole lot of intoxicated people and people with dementia and other issues. These types of encounters would probably be classified as "weird" by most people, but they're pretty much routine for me now.

Some of my favorites though:

- extremely drunk early 20's male who told me that he thought there were demons trying to possess him and it was the reason his mother wasn't talking to him any more

- 87 y.o. woman with advanced schizophrenia who told me the staff had "stolen my jewels" (verbatim)

- homeless man diagnosis/age unclear who was convinced I was an "angel sent from god"

- sixteen year old female ecstasy overdose who tried to make out with me

Re: Weird encounters

[(Anonymous)]

One time when I was working for the college newspaper, I was assigned the task of researching our "market" and finding out why more people didn't read it. Well, when I asked one woman, she started yelling at me, going on and on about how she didn't have time for my stupid paper and I shouldn't bother her like that. You'd think I had asked her something really personal.

Re: Weird encounters

[(Anonymous)]

When I was in middle school, a boy much shorter than me (which was saying something, because I was really small even for an eleven year old) held up his fist at me, got up in my face, and yelled "you owe me a WD!" Then he walked away.

I still have no idea what the hell that was supposed to mean. This was in maybe 2003, so looking it up got me nothing. Even looking it up today just got me a bunch of contradictory answers. Perhaps I misheard him.

Re: Weird encounters

[feotakahari]

Well, there was the time I was walking from the library, and was approached by a very tall man wearing a yellow hat with bear ears on it. He got right in my face, screamed "I'm your nigger, bitch!", and then turned and stomped up the street.

Re: Weird encounters

[(Anonymous)]

I once had a guy swear I'd been in his class, and go on about how mean this professor was to me. I wasn't in that class, nor had any such incident happened - but the really weird thing is, apparently my campus clone and I had things in common this guy had no way of knowing also applied to me. (It was what the professor was mean to her about.) So, so weird...

Re: Weird encounters

[th0rns_n_r0ses]

When I was about six months pregnant with my second kid, I was at my local coffee shop with a friend. I was 22 at the time. We stepped outside for a cigarette. Random girl just walks up to me, interrupts our conversation, and asks if I'm pregnant. Apparently she had overheard me talking about it? I was showing a little, but not so much that you'd notice if you didn't know me, as it was December and I was wearing a coat.

Anyways, I say yes, I am pregnant.

Girl: "You know, you really shouldn't be smoking."
Me: "Probably not, but it's really between me and my doctor."
Girl: "I quit when I found out I was pregnant."
Me: "Good for you."
Girl: "You should quit too."
Me: "That's none of your business."
Girl: "I'm only 16, but when you have a kid your whole life changes and you should really put the baby first. That's why I'm finishing school and quit smoking and I don't drink coffee. It's bad for the baby."

At this point my friend is having trouble breathing he's laughing so hard. He looks at the girl and says "You do know she already has one kid, right?" and proceeds to tell her off for harassing me. We finished our cigarettes and went back inside.

What makes it a truly strange encounter, though, was about 6 months after I had my daughter. Same coffee shop: sitting at the outside tables, drinking my coffee, getting ready to leave for work soon. Random girl sits down at my table.

Girl: "Hi, do you remember me?"
Me: "Uh, should I?"
Girl: "You were pregnant and standing outside the coffee shop and I started talking to you about how I was pregnant and you shouldn't be smoking?"
Me: "Yeah, I remember now."
Girl: "I'm sorry I judged you that day. How's your baby?"
Me: (Thinking this is getting even weirder) "She's fine. Perfectly healthy."
Girl: "I'm really glad to hear that." She pauses. "I had a miscarriage."
Me: "I'm sorry to hear that."
Girl: "So I just wanted to apologize. Good luck with your baby."

And then she leaves.

Re: Weird encounters

[comma_chameleon]

I once got yelled at a patient (family member?) in an elevator at work once because she spoke to me in Spanish and I don't speak more than 'hello' 'how are you' 'I'm fine' in Spanish.

She went off on me about how it was a disgrace to my heritage that I didn't speak Spanish, etc etc. I didn't know what to do except stare at her wide-eyed and try and explain a) I don't speak Spanish because there is no Spanish ancestry on EITHER side of my family tree and b) pray the elevator got to my floor soon so I could run away.

Back before I drove I used to take the bus to one of my jobs in the next town over, and I don't know why, but EVERYONE always wanted to talk to me/tell me their life stories, despite the fact that I would always have my headphones on and a book in my hands. It was really weird...

When I was in college I misplaced my dorm keys so I retraced my steps to the mall where I'd just been, and stopped at the greeter in Wal-mart to get her to 'sticker' the DVD I'd just bought so they didn't think I was shoplifting--since I just had it in my purse, not a bag.

Her: Is this a return?
Me: ... no, I just bought it. I'm looking for my keys and I just don't want to worry about people thinking I stole it.
Her: You should have a bag.
Me: I know, I'm sorry, my milk was leaking so I left it with my dorm check-in desk.
Her: Well... you really should have a bag... *stickers the DVD reluctantly*
Me: Thank you. *starts to walk into the store*
Her: *mumbling under her breath* You really should have a bag.

I think that was the point where I got Mall Rage™. It was 30C, my keys were missing, my milk was pretty much wasted/spoiled, and I was honestly ready to throw my shoe at this woman's head. XD

On the topic of wrong phone numbers, we had someone call for nearly seven years for 'Claire' at 778-XXXX when our number was 775-XXXX. Regularly. Like, once a month. More than once I suggested they put the number on speed dial or something...

Re: Weird encounters

[(Anonymous)]

I had a guy on the T ask me what the meaning of irony was. Then he went on to tell me that he had gotten a tattoo in prison of some numbers, and that his mother died on the same day as the numbers (they could be written as a date I guess) Freaked me out.

Re: Weird encounters

[(Anonymous)]

Once when I was probably 13 or 14 I was with a group of friends with my sister, all girls mind you. We were all playing volleyball at the park, and it was getting late, the sun was setting, and we knew we had to leave soon, but we were all having too much fun. This guy walks up and asks us what the name of the park is. All of us began wondering, and the guy drops his pants and starts jerking himself off and says, "Are you sure it's not called masturbation park?"

We all start screaming and my sister totally is the loudest one as she runs to hide behind her best friend, and one of her friends begins taking down the volleyball net and tells the guy, "You're disgusting."

The guy ran off, I'm sure exhilarated at what he just did. I was mostly silent the ride home. Most everyone else was rambling about why someone would do such a thing, and began wondering if we should call the cops. We never did because none of us really got a good look at his face.

Re: Weird encounters

[(Anonymous)]

I was walking along with one of my guy friends in the city.

It was a really hot day - roughly 40 degrees Celcius, (not sure what that is in Fahrenheit for you Americans, but let's just say you can literally fry eggs on the pavement.)

This woman walked past us wearing a big puffy jacket zipped right up to the neck. The sort of thing you'd wear in a snowstorm. As we walked past, she hissed "Slut!" at me, and kept walking.

I think she had a few screws loose.

Re: Weird encounters

[(Anonymous)]

One guy telling me I smelled so good, and would I like to share his "coke" (in the bottle kind, but surely more than just cola). I could smell him from half a block away (of human waste and alochol) so I'm still trying to figure out how he could smell me.

A woman asked if I smoke (no) and offered me "a free cigarette" anyway. I was walking really fast past her perch the whole time. If I hadn't been late for a meeting I would have stopped and chatted a moment (she didn't enough to make me feel like I was going to re-experience lunch), but she kept talking trying to get me to come back and take the cigarette. "I don't smoke, thanks anyway, have a great night!"
"I was just gonna offer you a free cigarette! You don't smoke? Wanna free cigarette?"
(further and further away) "No, thanks, g'night."

More sad than weird, tbh

[(Anonymous)]

A woman I'd run into a couple of times while using public computers at the library showed me a Ziploc bag with a couple of small metal shelf brackets in it (like these: http://astore.amazon.com/ifmb-20/detail/B0037MIFUA) and said that they were proof that her landlord was bugging her apartment.