What is creepy and what is friendly is a question that most women find difficult to navigate when interacting with a new person; courtesy, the fear of falling in the stereotype of 'women overanalysing things.'
Something similar happened to a 24-year-old Kochi woman who turned to Reddit to ask whether she should consider the nature of a bus conductor, who ended up blocking her way for refusing to share her number, as 'creepy' or 'friendly'.
The woman shared a post on Reddit where she wrote that she takes the same bus every morning to work as it is the most convenient for her to reach on time. "In the bus there are 2 conductors and the one who usually gives me the ticket is really chill. However, there is another conductor who, once he realised that I was a regular would come and say hi," she wrote.
The woman further detailed the behaviour of the conductor which she considered "friendly" initially. "Initially I thought he was being friendly so I would say hi too," the post read.
However, according to the woman, things got a little serious over time as the conductor--in his late forties or early fifties-- started asking her random questions like "have you had tea and breakfast?" "I thought to myself that these are harmless questions," the woman wrote.
The man then started to "search out" the woman to speak to her every morning. He even started "poking" her to get her attention.
"This then went on to him to him poking me to get my attention or to wake me up from sleep just to ask 'are you sleeping?' He would randomly poke me on my hand and then ask what am I doing my phone and who am I speaking to," she added in the post.
Finally, the last straw that led the woman to recount her ordeal was when the conductor asked for her number. "I said no. But the whole thing just made me feel really odd."
The next day, she shared, the man again came up to say hi, to which she just nodded. However, later when she was trying to get off at her stop, the conductor, "blocked the way for her to get out of the seat." Another female passenger sitting next to her had to push the conductor for the woman to get off the bus.
"In whatever interaction he has had with me. I have been polite and mostly replied in one word or so. Also he’s not a young man. He is for sure in his late forties or early fifties. Should I be concerned or am I just looking into things too much?" the woman ended her post with the query.
The post has garnered more than 250 upvotes and over 130 comments in three days, with most users labelling the conductor's behavior as "creepy".
One of the users wrote, "The starting didn't seem creepy but towards the end of what you described, it surely is. If he blocked your way nd someone else had to push him out, thats suspicious af. Stay safe mam."
"Very few men would touch/poke a girl unless they were friends. And a 40s man asking for your number is definitely crossing boundaries. Stay clear of this guy," commented another.
One of the users also suggested the woman take another bus and wrote, "Yes, he is being creepy for sure. Probably avoid him by taking another bus." The user later changed their stance and wrote, "No need to take another bus, confront him next time and make it clear hes being intrusive."
Some users also shared similar personal experiences under the post.