People Describe The Moment They Realized They Were The One Being Creepy
You don't always know it in the moment. That's the worst feeling of all, just to get that out of the way.
Your day is going just fine. You've gone to your favorite coffee shop to order your usual.
You're on auto-pilot, not thinking about things around you, and before you know it, you're staring at the barista deep in their eyes for an unnecessarily long amount of time.
You've just fell victim to the "creep."
Much like the people in the stories below.
Reddit user, linseeded, wanted to know when the creepiness accidentally came out of you when they asked:
"When did you realize “oh crap, I’M the one being creepy”?"
A lot of these, as you'll find, is people doing something they thought was totally fine. Interacting on social media? Saying hello to someone you thought was your wife? All totally fine.
Until it's not.
Just Trying To Save A Pic Of You...Creepily?
"When Snapchat first came out, I didn’t know that screenshot-ing someones photo notified them."
gor8884
"Oh this made me cringe for you"
Crazylivykid
Can You All Get Different Haircuts?
"My wife and I were at her sister's house, and I walk into the kitchen, where I saw my wife talking to someone (I forget who). Anyway, I started caressing her ass. As she turned around, I was mortified to see it was her sister, who looks exactly like my wife from the back, apparently. We all laughed about it, but I was completely embarrassed."
sujal456
When Unleashing Your Sickest Dance Moves Doesn't Work
"I was about 18 at the time and went to visit a friend who was in Uni about 2 hours away. Caught the train there and we go out to the club later that night. I see a very cute looking girl and try to initiate conversation - it does not go well and I learn my lesson pretty quick and go back to the dancefloor. This is the part of the story I remember clearly."
"Turns out I had way too many jaeger bombs that night and saw on the club's Facebook page the next day a picture of that girl with me dancing roughly 3m behind and her face looked so concerned, clearly aware of me trying to seduce her with dance... Yeah glad I grew out of that one."
schofield101
Force Of Habit
"I automatically lock our front door when we’re home. Nice young man came to fix the internet the other day and I locked the door behind him and then immediately said “ok, that was really creepy. I do it automatically.” And quickly unlocked it."
Heath_and_Harebells
You're not trying.
You might not even be thinking about it, which usually how these situations spiral out of control.
Just Trying To Look Out For You And My Son
"27 year old female here. I have a 5 year old son. 6 months ago we hadn’t chosen a school yet and it was dwelling on my mind. I thought asking a random teenage girl on a train what school she goes to and whether she likes it was a good idea. I noticed she missed her stop and asked her if she was ok with getting home."
"I was in Mum mode but realised I came off as a creep when I looked away from her for a moment and looked back to where she was sitting to realise she was rushing down the aisle to the opposite side of the train to get away from me."
Maladaptive-muppet
Staring...Staring...Staring...
"At the gym I often look around between sets, not really at anyone or anything, but a few times I've glossed over and then realised I've been staring at someone. I then proceed to avoid all eye contact."
Jimcompetent
Got The Mental Rolodex Good To Go
"I remember most details people tell me about their life and I can usually quote it back to them a long time after. Someone at work pointed out that it comes across as creepy to remember details like this and having the ability to summon it so quickly, she said it might make people think I was targeting them and keeping notes, etc... (like I'm a stalker or something)."
"Nah, sweetie, I'm a socially-awkward people-pleaser with amazing attention to detail and I can't even do a push-up without needing to take a break half way through, I couldn't hurt anyone."
carmelacorleone
Biggest takeaway from all of these?
Stop trying to help people at night while driving down a pitch black road. Anyone out there wants to be out there.
Getting A Feel For The Area
"I was looking for a new apartment, and met this girl who lived in an area that I was interested in, and worked very close to where I worked. I was interrogating her about her commute, which route she takes to and from work, where she goes shopping etc... and not noticing that she was getting more and more uncomfortable."
"Finally one of my friends realized what was going on and explained that I wasn't some stalker, rather I was looking for an apartment and trying to figure out what my commute might look like. The look on her face made me realize how uncomfortable I must have been making her, and explained why her answers were getting increasingly vague and evasive as I went on."
"I apologized profusely and she was cool about it. I did end up seeing her often after that because I ended up moving into an apartment across the street from hers, and we eventually became friends, but bad first impressions to be sure."
MenudoMenudo
Just Trying To Be Helpful
"This was at the end of a 12 hour shift on my feet all day so I was quite tired:"
"I was driving home from a long day at work and decided to take the shortcut home which was a dangerous, bendy, dark, country road. It was about 22:30 and pitch dark, there are residential houses around the area so it wasn't completely secluded but quite secluded."
"As I'm driving, singing along to Taylor Swift on the radio I see a young girl walking by herself. People wouldn't walk this road during the day, it would be too dangerous, so this was unusual."
"I barely noticed her and could have hit her as there was no footpath on this very thin two way road, no road markings, sharp bends, no lights, and barely a speed limit. She had no reflective gear or lights on."
"There was no close call or anything as I was driving slow but I didn't see her until I was only a few meters away. I drive passed and then think to myself 'god she's either going to get hit by a car or worse, what the f is she doing walking down this road by herself this late'."
BillQuickGates
Just Hiding Behind Lockers Like A Normal Person
"when i was 16 i used to follow a girl i liked around after class a lot but was acting slick pretending i wasnt, now that i think about it that was creepy as f-ck and im sure she noticed."
Catalonia_Sun
"As someone who got followed when I was 17, yes she absolutely did."
LoreCriticizer
"I was awkward and didn't have experience with girls or anyone lol. In my own mind I thought it was fine until a bit later when I went to college and realized how you actually hang out and date girls."
Catalonia_Sun
"In my sleep deprived state, I put the car in reverse and go back towards her. With hindsight the look on her face was pure panic- which is now completely understandable, I too would shit myself at this stranger reversing their car back to me on this dark secluded road."
"She takes out her phone to pretend she's on a call. I pull down my window ask if she wants a lift to the end of the road or anywhere, she just says no thanks and presumably prays she doesn't get murdered and I say ok but drivers can't see you on the road and I drive off home."
"Only realising then how silly that was of me and what a fright I must have given that poor girl, what was I thinking she was going to get in my car?!!"
BillQuickGates
Stop. Following. ME.
"I was walking home pretty drunk one night and I noticed a woman walking towards me looking uncomfortable so I thought I would just take another way home and took a left before our paths crossed."
"Then she took the same road. I was like ah man I don’t want to go this way now it’s creepy of me so I decide to stop and head back but as I am heading back she has disappeared. Awesome."
"Then I am nearly back to my original path and I see she has stopped in a phone booth as I am just about at the phone booth. I freaking pause a moment to work out how to avoid her but then think ok, just go home and I walk past her in the phone booth to go home."
"I just wanted to avoid this woman and made it so much worse."
FriedBeeNuts
Blind Date
"I have a friend who went on a blind date with someone, and neither of them knew that they lived not only in the same apartment complex, but on the same damn floor. He worked nights and she worked days so they'd just never crossed paths. They were both panicking like this the entire drive home in their separate cars, trying to kind of lose the other person while also trying to not appear like they were following the other person."
Much_Difference
"nice guy"
"When I realized how dangerously close I was to becoming a 'nice guy.' Glad I snapped out of it when I did, 'cause that is not a lifestyle worth pursuing."
zmixman
Walk About
"When I’m walking late at night and as I approach the person in front of me they start to pick up the speed."
albert2749
"As a tallish dude wearing all black, who also happens to walk very fast --- this. It's like... there's not much I can do about it though, apart from maybe switch to the other side if that's available."
NeutralGoodguy
"What are you looking at?"
"Former dancer. I was around 30 and just stuck in the mall with my wife. I spotted this girl that just had the perfect frame for swing throws. I'm just imagining hip and basket tosses getting lost in my mind and was just staring at her dead faced. Staring enough that I caught her attention. She asked me 'What are you looking at?' and I just dead pan responded 'I could just throw you around.' She looked terrified then when it all computed I looked terrified and I just grabbed my wife and told her we were leaving."
1284X
Cringe
"I used to catch women's eyes and then look away as if I was slick and I would do it a few times thinking that I'm making her think I'm slightly interested but not quite. In reality these girls were probably freaking out about some wierdo who keeps staring at them when they're not looking but looks away once caught. Makes me cringe."
lostbehelit
Sensitive
"When I asked my friend when she switched to a very specific shampoo and she just looked at me weird for a few seconds. I immediately explained it to her though; I happened to use that very same shampoo a couple of years ago, and I simply thought it suited her really well. She also knows I'm very smell-sensitive, so that helps I guess."
NeutralGoodguy
Dad Stuff
"When I kept asking the questions when I was texting someone they would be questions like what’s your dad's job, what are your plans for today, what are you doing, what did you have for dinner."
Designer_Drama_3714
"Yeah idk I do this too but wtf else I supposed to ask them? What color is your dad's shirt right now? Do people just talk and text differently these days wtf."
BlueBlooper
What????
"When I learned how to do phlebotomy for my job (med tech), I started finding myself staring at people's veins. And then I'm like, 'Okay, Self, stop it, you're being creepy!'"
coffeeblossom
"If it makes you feel any better, you could be the student nurse i got to draw my blood once. She starts by saying how my veins are so nice i could be a drug addict, which is??? What?????"
"So she has the needle in and goes to grab her vials, but I guess she didn't have a firmer press on the needle because I start squirting blood. She says 'Whoops, you're a squirter.' I laughed a lot during that trip. I hope she worked on her people skills because as much as i loved her comments, i cant see it going over well with some other people."
Niburu-Illyria
The Crush
"When I was in grade 5 I had a crush on this guy from the grade above. I would ask my friends to help take or find pictures of him and send them all to me. After 2 years I realized how creepy I was and damn was I embarrassed."
jocelyn_paradoxx
Magic Hug
"About 10 minutes ago. I have the flu just now, I just woke up and asked my daughter if 'Daddy could have a magic hug to feel better.' I half coughed as I said it so it came out creepy af. I even said straight after 'That was freaking creepy' to my wife."
I_Am_Flashpoint
Be ready to apologize.
Best piece of advice you can follow if you find yourself in a situation like any of the stories above.
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