Having a man flirt with you unwantedly is one of those things that starts out maybe a little flattering, but can quickly escalate to OMFGSTOP—particularly if he's not great at hearing "no."
Men who can't take "no" for an answer or lash out at rejection have literally killed women before. It's happened so often, in fact, that women tend to come up with all sorts of ways to reject without rejecting in an attempt to not die.
Which, let's be real, is tragic and disgusting and if men could just stop killing and/or attacking women who reject them, that would be dope and super appreciated.
Until then, we have Reddit.
Reddit user weird-n-nerdy asked:
"What are some effective ways to get a man to stop hitting on you?"
It's a heartbreaking fact of who we are as a society that women have to think this way ... but honestly, some of this stuff is genius.
Invitation To Negotiation
"Actual advice: never give a reason."
"Any reason is an invitation to negotiation for some people. It also gives them a sense that maybe they have an entitlement that's being blocked by 'reason.' "
"All the following work, depending on how nice you want to be, none give a reason."
" 'No,' 'not interested,' 'thank you, but no,' 'how nice, but not thank you,' 'I'm flattered, but no.' "
"If someone says 'why not?' Just repeat that you're not interested but move from polite to simple no."
"If someone persists past that simple no, then consider them a danger."
- dan_jeffers
Giphy
Baby Runs For President
"There's a user on tiktok who shares a method called 'Baby Runs for President', where you basically ask them very blunt questions with the just shy of rude honesty that a toddler uses."
"You just keep asking stuff like 'what do you do?' 'what's that?' 'oh really? What's that?' and pretend not to understand a thing until the person gives up and leaves."
"The goal is to annoy/frustrate them into giving up while feigning interest to avoid bruising the ego."
- BossVal
"You don't want to seem interested. Ideally, you embarrass them."
"One of my friends had a perfect moment like this once. She was ringing up some creepy old dude, and his total ended in 69 cents. He tried to be all like: "
" 'That's lucky. It's my favorite number. You know why?' "
"She replied, 'Because it's your age?' "
"The people behind him in line died laughing."
- knitwit3
Grandma Burps
"Once a man was trying hitting on me in a bus."
"I was feeling very bloated and gassy... and burped aloud right in his face, like a huge grandma burp."
"The look on his face was priceless. He didn't bother me again."
- clementine-1017
Boss Babe
"Ask him to buy into your MLM scheme."
- virgilhall
"This is true."
"Had a girl tell me about this job she worked at called world financial group and it was such a turn off that I ghosted her."
"Little did she know I have been invited to 3 of them already and I only went out of boredom for the free snacks and drinks."
- alognoV
"Dude this worked on me! A very attractive girl tried to sell me on some weight loss shakes or something. Bye, bye!"
- CrazedInventor
"Can confirm it works."
"I was stuck on a ferris wheel on a date with her trying to sell some shady pyramid scheme."
- HowtoCrackanegg
Just In Case
"Tell the story of how your last boyfriend broke up with you, and how it was crazy of him to freak out just because you stored some of his semen in your fridge 'just in case.' ”
- ChrisChrisBangBang
"I would be appalled at this."
"A refrigerator? A home freezer isn't even cold enough to store it safely and you're talking about a fridge?"
"Good day, madam!"
- MackLuster77
"Jesus f*cking christ, what is wrong with people?"
"Semen won't keep in the fridge for much longer than a few weeks, it needs to be frozen in a sterilized container and stored pretty close to -200o C, because that's how cold it has to be to get biological activity to stop."
"Ugh."
- Secret_Autodidact
Giphy
A Lightsaber
"One time all it took was the guy seeing my Star Wars tattoo. That was amazing for me."
"I have a lot of tattoos, one is a lightsaber. He was bugging be for several minutes before he noticed it, but he stopped and asked, 'Sorry, what is that a tattoo of?' "
"It’s nothing elaborate, just a small blue lightsaber. My brother has a matching green one, we got them together."
"So I said, 'it’s a lightsaber.' ”
"And without saying another word, he turned his back to me and walked away. It was awesome."
- Barfignugen
Makin' It Weird
"Get really weird, really, really fast."
"Weird them out so much that they think you're a freak - definitely don't do it in a sexual way."
"A friend of mine once did this to a guy who sat at our table on a night out. She went right down in conspiracy theories, asking him why his shoes think he's orange, all sorts of really weird stuff just to make him uncomfortable enough that he got up and left within a few minutes."
"It was impressive, actually."
- 64gbBumFunCannon
A Proper Bank Robber
"Wearing a mask has really cut down on my appeal to older conservative men, which has been great!"
- musclebarbie22
"That’s because those guys can’t use the 'smile' opening. The only opening those butt wipes know is to refer to your mouth."
"50 years ago those old dudes had dad’s that said, 'Son, if you compliment their smile, it’s in the bag.' And never learned another pick up line."
"Now you’re wearing a mask? Their brains cannot compute."
"It’s a miracle of science!"
- averagejanecitizen
"My wife told me that this customer told her 'it’s hard to mentally make love to you with that mask on, you should take it off.' ”
"She told me that she made a retching gesture and walked off then refused to serve him anymore."
- broken-not-bent
"Mask has been an utter blessing, but then I started getting 'I wonder if your smile matches those beautiful eyes.' "
"So, now I wear sunglasses with my mask and look like a proper bank robber at all times."
- BrownSugarBare
All Along The Watchtower
"My sister learned this from a friend and started doing this as well."
"She carried a couple of issues of Watchtower in her purse and when the guys started hitting on her, got a very earnest look on her face, pulled them out and started saying 'Have you been saved? Have you accepted Jesus Christ as your personal savior?' "
"It worked better than mace."
- JustinChristoph
Giphy
"I'm A Mother"
"Saying 'Sorry, I’m not interested, I’m a mother.' then showing them (many!) pictures of my kids made miracles happen."
- quietdiablita
"This is great. And if they try to leave just say 'no no wait! I have more photos!' "
- Ok-Story-3532
" 'I’ve got some court dates scheduled because their dads aren’t paying child support, so it’s hard to find time...' ”
- DrinKwine7
"I don't really flirt with women. But this would definitely work for me. I despise children."
- Blood-Lord
"Tried this once, dude actually wanted to be a father and had an impregnation/pregnancy fetish. Fail."
- AlessiaRS18
Have you used any of these techniques?
Is there one you'd like to add to the list?
Let's get to it in the comments.
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I once had a guy ask me if I was willing to follow him into the woods, depending on the price of the meal.
Yeah. No steak is worth that.
Plans After...
Wait What Wtf GIF by Saturday Night LiveGiphy"Thanks for the ride but I have a date with someone else, I figured you wouldn't drive me if you knew I was going on a date with someone else and I really needed a ride."
"Online dating, talked to her for a while, finally got the courage to ask her out and then she said that as we got there."
iareyours
Mirror Image
“'You look just like my wife!'”
catalinachild
"I did have a guy tell me I reminded him of his son. I don’t believe English has a word to adequately describe my feelings at that time."
UnicornMagicRainbow
"That would definitely do it."
chaotica78
Third Wheel
"'Hope you don't mind if my mother joins us.'"
ofsquire
"Actually had a girl do this on a first date because she had anxiety issues. Honestly wasn’t bad except that 90% of the time she was silent and her mom talked over her."
"I didn’t mind that much and wouldn’t have minded trying again when she was more comfortable except that she was let go at the company we worked at and she deleted her social media profiles and she never responded on her number. Ah well."
Seightx
Liar
Lying Simon Rex GIF by Simon Rex / Dirt NastyGiphy"'Hey bro aren't you gay? I made out with you last night.'"
"Random dude I've never seen before in front of my (f) date."
JHXC16
Was he lying though?
Filter Issues
"'You looked better on Tinder.'"
waqasnaseem07
"Isn’t it basic knowledge that everybody looks slightly worse than the worst picture you can find?"
no_user_ID_found
The Past
"'My ex used to do that too.'"
xxIvyOF
"Yep. I’ve definitely had two otherwise-decent-guy date-situations sour because the ex-comparisons just would not stop flowing. No woman wants to be seen as interchangeable—I’m not here to perfectly fill that ex-sized hole in your life. Focusing on the present moment and a future we could build together is a courtesy we need to grant each other in earliest dates of dating."
LarkScarlett
Powerless
"'I'm an alpha, you cant handle my top energy.'"
Midnightgay28
"I actually left a dude in the middle of dinner, in part, for saying this. I ordered an Uber under the table while pretending to listen to him. Went to the bathroom, and never came back. That was when I was young. Now I’d just say, 'How about we enjoy this meal in silence, before we head our separate ways.'”
UnicornMagicRainbow
Mommy...
"'Mother says I should be back by 9.'"
"Saying 'mother says' just feels weird."
bunnyrut
"That gives me Norman Bates vibes."
Werewolf_lover20
"'Mother says alligators are aggressive because they have an overabundance of teeth, but lack a toothbrush.'"
sodaextraiceplease
Obvs...
just kidding jk GIFGiphy"'If you were going to be murdered, what method would you prefer. Purely hypothetical. Obvs.'"
Specific_Tap7296
If it looks anything like a Dateline NBC episode... RUN!
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Or so you would think.
Do people still knit to pass the time? Are people actively collecting stamps?
It depends on who's asking.
Curious to hear about hobby trends, Redditor gizehgizeh asked:
"What are once popular hobbies that are slowly dying these days?"
Before we've become conditioned to living on our phones, these activities used to keep people occupied.
Before Texting, There Was This
"Letter writing."
– littlekingMT
Literal And Tangible Joy
"Well the internet killed pen pals for sure. I do remember I had a Japanese girl for a penpal maybe back in 2007 or so. I honestly don't remember how it started, pretty sure some website, but that was a fun experience. But now I can just straight up talk to foreign people real time, lol. But yea getting a physical letter that someone took the time to write and mail still is hard to beat feelings wise."
– skyburnsred
Model Trains
"When I was growing up, every town had a model train store in it. Now I have one in region and everything else has to be bought online."
– Hairy_Effective1172
Pretty Rocks
"Don’t see anyone playing marbles anymore, I had an awesome collection in school."
– sheeple85
"I had some marbles as a kid in the 90s. My grandma got them for me and I had no idea what I was supposed to do with them. I always imagined them as a thing kids in the 40s played with."
– Ryoukugan
People Were Moving Canvases
"Paintball has been dying a slow death since 2006. Sad, really."
– hobo_recycler
Before the general population began hating clutter, collecting was once a "thing."
Precious Coins
"Coin collecting... I'm a silver/gold nut and I'm always hunting for precious metal coins. whenever I go into a shop they get all excited because 'no one under 70 collects coins anymore.'"
– ThatFishySmell99
Post It
"Stamp collecting."
– spooky_scully_mulder
"Collecting in general, really. Of course there are still prominent collectors but it's slipped more into enthusiast and niche territory than being a popular hobby that you might expect anyone to have."
– iuytrefdgh436yujhe2
What A Gem
"Rockhounding was immensely popular back in the 1950's and 1960's. Personally, I think it's a fascinating and fulfilling hobby, but when I go to a meeting at a rock and gem club, I'm usually the youngest one in the room by several decades."
– filthy_lucre
People once enjoyed making things.
Admiring The View
"Stained glass. I learned how to make it from my old man, and my junior high art class teacher also taught it. Very few artisans are still around."
– brobeanzhitler
Metal Vocation
"Black smithing."
– kenworth117
"I bought a forge to try. It’s insanely hard work, and crazy expensive. I still haven’t finished a piece."
– DSentvalue
Scrapbooking
"Yeah. I'm watching the arts and crafts stores around me completely uninstalling their racks for specialty paper. Now the only thing they have is mega packs of repeating colors/images. To boot all the inclusions like papercraft/die-cut things, washi tape, scissors, stickers, etc have gotten so expensive I would rather go buy $5 bags at value village to get an assortment of things versus buying anything new. I really, really miss yard sales for the same reasons."
– Phantasmai
I envy people who have jobs that are basically their hobbies.
Not everyone gets paid doing what they actually enjoy and have a profound level of passion for.
If they do, kudos to them.
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While the process could take time, some people make our jobs much easier after spotting instant red flags.
Curious to hear about our general radar of people, Redditor xxFluffie asked:
"What is something that makes you immediately dislike someone?"
Some people just think they are absolutely hilarious and never realize they're the only ones laughing.
Next In Line
"They laugh about having screwed someone else over. If you think you're not next, well, you'll learn."
– whiznat
Unfunny
"when you mention you don't like a thing and they immediately do that thing 'as a joke.'"
– wayfinder
Playing Devil's Advocate
"Kneejerk contrarians. People who, no matter what you say you like or believe, just have to dismiss it and say they like or think the opposite."
– BubbhaJebus
People who put others down get slammed here.
Bad Parents
"When they treat their kids sh**ty in public. I don't mean handling tantrums, setting a rule, having to hurry to the train etc. I mean perfectly normal-behaved kids getting in trouble for trailing along peacefully, looking at things, asking questions etc."
"If you don't like tiny humans who learn the world, why have them??"
– raxeira-etterath
Public Humiliation
"Treating people sh**ty in public for laughs. Like being rude to service workers because they think it’s funny. Big red flag."
– Ok_Personality_1080
Simply Uncalled For
"Someone who is a d*ck to other people or animals for no reason."
– xebt1000
Those with ulterior motives rubs people the wrong way.
The Scheme
"If they try to get me to join their MLM scheme."
– spazmcgee1
Hard Sell
"A guy I used to be friends with in high school reached out a couple of years after graduating about a business opportunity he wanted my opinion on because 'you've always been smart', then he set up a Skype call and brought some other dude into the call and they started trying to sell me on what was clearly an MLM scheme. The guy went from friend to 'I'm never talking to you again' in a matter of 10 minutes."
– Mental-Afternoon-164
A Timeline
"Good gawd, this! I've had more than one exposure to this abject bullsh**tery..."
- Back in the late 80's/early 90's I was invited to a meeting of literally the OG "Pyramid" where you're recruited to pay in, and then you go out and recruit others to pay in, and the last in line got f'kall.
- In 1995 I had a coworker try to reel me into Amway, which was a hard no.
- In 2000 it was Pampered Chef, though to be fair they did have useful products.
- In 2009 a coworker tried to get me into some stupid video calling service that was obviously stupid from the description. He even got offended when I called bullsh*t.
– Mystical_Cat
Too much ego is a no-go.
I Can Do Better
"Being a b*tch just to stroke their own ego."
"We get it, you can lift 5lbs more than the 12 year old, you don't have to rub it in their face just because you're slightly better"
– Livia_Pivia
Can't Top This
"Oh, you did <story that's been told>? That's nothing! I did <implausible story>.
"I get the whole empathy through relating common experience, and I'm someone who does that (which drives some people crazy on its own), but there's a big different by empathising through common experience, and one-upmanship."
– Tisarwat
Lacking Conversational Etiquette
"Starting to talk over me when I was already talking."
"Stop it you rude, arrogant jerk."
– R33Gtst
If one or more of these traits sound familiar to you, you're not alone.
We don't have time for braggadocios, pyramid-schemers, and conversation interrupters.
And that's just for starters.
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Pleading to deaf ears...
"My dad told me he had hearing loss and couldn't hear me if I whined because my pitch would get too high."
"Would completely ignore me until I asked him questions in a normal voice."
"Trusted him implicitly until I was 12 and he yelled at my younger brother for whining."- Tyrion_Stark.
Get it while you can.
"That they took everything off the shelves when the supermarket closed."- fgyfddg.
venezuela empty shelves GIF by euronewsGiphySilly superstitions.
"My grandfather used to tell me that if I played with the fire, I'd pee the bed."
"I believed him for a while, until I got older."
"I think he was just trying to protect me from the fire."- teddypa1981.
"Rain, rain go away..."
"That if it was raining where I was, it was raining everywhere in the world."- morningshartz.
Age is just a number.
"My parents used to seem really old to me, so much so I believed they grew up like cave people as children, wearing giant leaves for clothes and what not."- Laleena_.
Hammer Floor GIF by VPROGiphySo that's how they're made!
"That smokestacks from the power plant created clouds."- Scaniarix.
An instant cure.
"The sun gives you sunburns, therefore, moonlight should heal them."- velocipeter.
Better safe than sorry.
"Don't drink and drive meant all drinks."
"My dad was super confused when I told him he wasn't allowed to have any soda until we got home."- hulagirlslovetoparty.
Don't believe everything you see on TV.
"There was an episode of Mickey Mouse where Mickey couldn’t reach something at first, so he tried again and somehow his arm was long enough to reach it."
"As a small kid I believed that if I couldn’t reach something, I should just try reaching for it again and my arm would then somehow be long enough to reach it."- That-Dutch-Person.
love him one piece GIFGiphyThe miracle of childbirth.
"That babies are pooped out."
"When I was like 7 I was listening to my aunt as she explained that childbirth was pretty intense and painful for her, and I was all solemnly like, 'yeah, sometimes just my poops are painful, I don’t think I could get a baby out' and she went 'um, WHAT?' and her reaction made me realize real quick that I had f*cked up somewhere and I tried to change the subject while my mind was just reeling lol."- thesoundingfurrows.
Oh to be a child again.
And to believe literally everything you're told.
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