I was walking near Yishun MRT and a man in his 60s approached me and complimented my short haircut. I said thanks and the guy was not giving off red flags on the approach.
Then he started walking with me… I suppose I should have stood still and not kept walking- first thing I could have done differently. He said he hoped he wasn’t bothering me and I honestly said that he wasn’t.
Well then he wanted to touch my hair and I was so… idk.. surprised? by that I actually said okay… and while I didn’t like it.. I felt like maybe that’s the end of it or maybe he actually cuts hair for a living. (He doesn’t, I asked.)
Then he wanted to know if he was bothering me and again I said no ( I was starting to be a little panicked and hoping it was over) at which point he asked if he could ask me a more personal question. oh boy.
He wanted to know if it was shaved down there. When I said I preferred not to answer he was like why not?
I said I prefer not to answer. He said the correct answer is ‘yes.’ At which point we came to an intersection and he said he was going one way and I said I was going another.
I hate to think he had gotten his jollies and was running for home at that point. And now I’m at home thinking about how he knows where I get my haircut and feeling gross.
Reading this I see many things I could have done differently, but specifically, I need help with getting the courage to act differently.
My whole life I’ve been afraid of not being liked by others when I need to get out of a potentially unsafe situation, my instinct is politeness.