"Creepy men" at Walmart

In My Humble Opinion
1

There’s a post going around the interwebs, from a woman, who suggests, apparently seriously, that if there is a “creepy man” at Walmart, rather than complain to management, instead the woman should: spray cooking oil in his face, choke him out with a belt and/or hit him in the head with a can of beans.

Now, at now time was this mythical and alleged “creepy guy” doing anything other than perhaps following her around. And being “creepy” is not a crime.

But assault? Going to jail for a year? Because your “creep-o-meter” went off?

Women, men who look “creepy” arent as dangerous as the guys who don’t.

It’s ain’t that unshaven “creepy” dude in the smelly overcoat that going to rape your daughter, it’s that “great guy” who is your daughter’s swim coach. Stats back me out- it’s not "stranger danger’ it is a man you know and trust. :frowning:

And violence for alleged “creepyness” is wrong and illegal. But still, this little meme is being applauded like crazy: *“PREACH SISTER!” “This Lady just won the internet” “Love, love love”. *
Something is wrong here.

2

Um, cite?

Yes: namely, you’re starting a thread to complain about something that you allege exists but providing no cite for it. There may be something else wrong in this situation as well, but we can’t tell until you fix the first problem.

3

You can find it yourself if you like. But it was from a private person, not a celebrity so I am not posting her name. And it’s been shared and shared again, so the provenance is weak.

Does it matter?
“Go grab a can of green beans and smack the dude in the face” is a actual quote.

4

Where, please? I have googled “creepy men Walmart” and not identified anything that’s obviously the “post going around the interwebs” that you’re talking about.

Well, yes: if we’re going to have an opinion about something, we need to know what that something actually is, not just your summary and selected quotes from that something.

Edit: Is this what you’re talking about?

If so, my opinion is that the speaker was not being entirely serious in her recommendations.

5

We have no way of knowing whether or not the “advice” is serious and you’re not exactly a reliable narrator.

6

Just so I’m following – this is both “mythical” and “alleged,” and you allow that maybe whoever this guy is, he was following a female stranger around. But you still know enough to come to his defense, in that he didn’t commit any crimes and everyone else who is talking about responding to him is doing something wrong enough for you to comment on it?

In other words, this is a real enough event for you to be offended at the mistreatment this poor guy is receiving via words on the internet, but not real enough for you to have to actually ascribe any wrongdoing to him or even provide any information about what he did in the first place. Or provide any means by which anybody else could judge.

Do you think that’s significant at all to reaching your conclusion?

7

I read Kimstu’s cited quote and in my head I heard it in Wanda Sykes’s voice. Obviously just a bit of social commentary told with a dash of humor and hyperbole. Use your critical thinking skills, please.

8

Yes, that it, and yes according to followers she is being taken as serious.

If I, as a man, made a similar "not being entirely serious " post on Twitter or whatever, I’d be castigated, and rightly so.

9

Creepy looking guys rarely set off my creep-o-meter. Creepy acting guys do. And my first thought is “Get the Hell Away From Them.” If that is not possible, I get ready to talk my way out of it, or to beat the crap out of them in a surprise attack.

10

No criminal offenses were alleged by the 'creep".

If she had made up a crime that “creepy” guy was doing, fine, then you can make up ways to get back. If she had said some guy grabbed her, then fine, go for the can of beans or whatever. But being “creepy” is not a crime. And it’s entirely in your head.

11

You can see the post above and it matches what I said.

You can take *" you’re not exactly a reliable narrator" *personal insult and but it where the sun dont shine.

12

A further opinion: I think it’s possible that you’re getting your knickers in a bunch about this one (apparently) viral post that you happened to see, while being unaware of the sorts of posts it was responding to, such as this one:

Or this one:

For the record, I am personally opposed to initiating unprovoked violence against fellow customers, with guns, cans of green beans, cooking spray or anything else. But if you think that the belligerent tone of that viral post was just gratuitous aggressiveness that came out of nowhere in response to completely innocent behavior on the part of unfairly stigmatized “creepy” men, then you may need to take your head out of your ass.

13

DrDeth, you sound like some guy who is afraid that if they try and cop a feel on the trolley, might get stuck with a hatpin.

I find it hilarious that we can shoot black teenagers in this country because we feel threatened, but put out a hypothetical where a guy follows a woman around in the store and if she clocks you with a can of green beans “oh, the humanity! It isn’t fair. He was just innocently following her through the store.”

14

That’s nice, but nothing like that was attached in any way shape or form to the meme I saw- shared twice today on FB, and several times elsewhere.

If I man commits a assault, of course you can & should defend yourself. But no where in the meme was there any crime besides being 'creepY", which is entirely subjective.

15

And you know those followers are serious…how?

16

If a man grabs some ass, he deserves a hatpin and some time in jail. But not for “looking creepy”. Are we judging people on their appearance or their behavior?

Note the huge and wide difference between actual criminal sexual assault, and the totally subjective “looking creepy”.

17

I took them at their word. Why do you think they are lying?

18

There’s a vast difference between “lying” and “using hyperbole”.

19

If any ladies take the advice to mean that they should use physical violence when a man has *technically *not done anything illegal, they will soon learn that the law doesn’t necessarily favor those who are morally right but rather those who are legally right.

20

Well, if you do a little more looking around for reports of experiences on the general theme of “creepy guys at Walmart”, you may get a better idea of the sorts of the behavior that most of the people sharing and applauding this meme may be more aware of than you seem to be.

Here’s another:

I mean, it’s very noble of you and all to be so concerned about the possibility of a criminal assault against an innocent man who is “just” following a female shopper around a Walmart because he might be unfairly accused of being “creepy” on purely “subjective” grounds. But my guess is that most of the people who are upvoting this particular meme are thinking of instances like the ones I’m quoting, in which case you can kind of see why they’d feel sympathetic to the notion of clocking such a dude with a can of beans.