• RinseDrizzle@midwest.social
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    6 months ago

    Shit is scary out there. Had a situation recently that definitely reinforced how spooky it is being a woman in public.

    So I’m chilling with the crew at a bar, came out to catch a homie mixing originals. One of our friends is a cutie. She’s with 3 of us fellas. We’re in a booth, very obviously a group that came here together. One of the regulars kicks it with us for a bit, harmless banter, classic bar chat shit.

    He ends up chilling for a while. We’re cracking jokes & having fun, he says his dude owns the bar, etc. He gets a bit flirty (again, felt fully harmless at the time), goes to fetch us a round of brew. She only wanted a water by this stage in the night. When she finally gets around to taking a small sip all her internal alarm bells go off, thinks sum’m tastes off.

    We manage to pick up the vibe and dip before anything extra sketch went down and had a lil debrief, made sure everyone was ok etc… One of my dudes had also taken a decent gulp first and seemingly got pretty woozy off it. Now, I can’t for sure confirm whether it was truly laced or just shitty dirty bar hose water and a mild panic attack. Can’t say whether homie was chemically woozy or placebo woozy (very well could’ve been tired from long day and lots of brew + dancing), but either way, enough to be a scary situation! We’re like 95% sure shit was sketchy.

    Absolutely worth trusting the gut when you get an off feeling. Better safe than sorry, all that. As a dude, I’ve NEVER needed to think twice about a gift beverage at a bar. I circle lots of music scenes and almost every single time I’m out I’ll catch a random free drink, smoke, lol candy or whatever off a stranger randomly offering. I’ve definitely asked to confirm what these gifts are, but generally felt safe enough to take their answers at face value.

    Ladies DEFINITELY can’t be as cavalier about gifts from strangers though… That’s how they end up the subject of these crime podcasts.

    Idk, felt like a relevant story to share.

    Stay safe, stay frosty, y’all ❤️ Good weekends all around!

    • humbletightband@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      6 months ago

      This is a colorful perspective.

      Growing up as a man, I was told that I should be ‘alpha’, I should be a predator and girls like only such guys. I tried to question this, but I was surrounded by all this. Hell, even when I reached my mom on such a topic, she just stopped the conversation.

      Your post made me recall several situations where I made young women uncomfortable. Hell, I used to be such a dumbass.

      • RinseDrizzle@midwest.social
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        6 months ago

        Yeah dude, all that pick up artist shit is pretty toxic and counter productive imho. Especially these incel influencers talking about “deserving” goddamn anything. Like, being a “good guy” for a minute doesn’t mean you deserve a sex treat, you dirty dogs! 😒

        Now, I’ve thankfully been committed in a ship for a while now so can’t speak to modern dating scene (fuck it looks bleak for lads in them middle thirties), but I always leaned on my funny bones more than anything back when I was making moves. That and, now this is pretty obvious, just treating women like regular people – cause they are! (Duh).

        I never tried too hard to “have game.” I’ve just been a perpetually evolving amalgamation of shit I find cool. If you’re just naturally comfortable and confident in your skin, and visibly having the most fun in the room it’s way more attractive than trying too hard. Desperation reeks. Least that’s my take.

        Of course the rules are a smidge different when you’re 11/10 fine as helllll 🤣 I’ve seen the chat game on them Chads and it gets reckless lmao

        Good on ya for the introspective reflection though, truly! Not necessarily a bad thing to cringe at past you; that means you’re growing and improving.

    • WhistlingGhost@lemmy.world
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      6 months ago

      I know it shouldn’t need to be said, but as a woman, THANK YOU! Thank you so so much for being a safe haven with actual conscious awareness of the dangers women face. We need more men that will stand up to the stupid Alpha Bros and stop shit before we are in serious trouble!

      One thing that might help you help the ladies in your life is coming up with a code phrase that lets her tell you she doesn’t feel safe in a situation that requires discretion. Ex: “Janice texted me” (with a name yall never use). My fiance and I have a code phrase, and I’ve had to use it twice. It feels good knowing I have an out no matter what when things start feeling sketchy.

      • yeah@feddit.uk
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        6 months ago

        Oh wow. Memory unlocked. We used to have a code word for “get me out of this interaction”. The amount of times I’ve been the one to break off a conversation/situation with a man on behalf of my friends and the amount of time the interaction has been scary.

        Luckily I’m old and invisible now.

      • RinseDrizzle@midwest.social
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        6 months ago

        Juuust when you forget how dark the world is for a moment, someone gotta shake your faith in humanity all over again. No thanks necessary, of course, but appreciate ya all the same! 🤙 Even on a goofy night, squad ends up safe at home, every time.

        Oh yeah! We IMMEDIATELY began talking about safe words/phrases, like, while we were processing wtf just happened. Smart move having something extra inconspicuous like that! Definitely better than whatever dumbass tropical fruit phrase we semi joked about at the time. 😂😬 (Lol fuck, vaguely recall a phrase about needing to take a nasty shit, uff).

        Will for sure be on German Shepard Mode next time we catch a night out. Gonna be hard to turn that off for a minute…