People usually don’t pay much attention to me under normal circumstances, but I do get occasional stares. Sometimes, it’s because they think I look a bit like a particular actor and are trying to place the resemblance.
Mostly, though, it’s because I’m doing something odd (wearing a costume or mask, swordfighting, carrying a giant styrofoam menhir on my head, things like that).
No people don’t stare at me. That I’ve noticed anyway.
Alice have you ever asked one of the stare-ers why they are staring?
I’m at the stage where I do things for my comfort rather than the eye appeal to others. This causes me to dress oddly in others eyes sometimes. I also have a strange gait when running because of PLS. I simply accept the stares. Then the other day I went to the local thrift shop on my bike, which included a bag to carry what I might find. The bike is a hybrid of several trail models. This woman approaching the store stopped and stared at my bike for the longest time. I almost went out and asked her if she had a problem with it. Many times people are staring because they admire something about you or what you are doing. I would take the staring in that light. I’m an equal opportunity starer myself. If I catch someone’s eyes two or three times, I quit before it gets too embarrassing.
I’ve always been stared at. People can’t figure out my race / nationality and will blatantly stare as they try to figure it out, especially if I’m alone and they don’t see family, a boyfriend, whatever to lend context. Half the time they’ll come right out and ask me. When I was young it could be disconcerting; especially if the starer was an older man. I even went through a period where I’d imagine the person (if he or she was the appropriate age) was my biological parent and recognized me. These days I don’t particularly care or even notice half he time. If it gets a converstation started, that can be fun.
I get stared at with some frequency. Most of the time it is because I’m fat. With children it is an innocent stare because that is different than what they are used to and with adults it is a judgmental stare because they think less of me. If I am in Harlem or other traditionally ethnic neighborhoods I get stares because men there tend to like the badonkadonk situation I’ve got going on but they are far more vocal about their appreciation and less likely to just stare.
People stare at me because I’m a 6’5" black man with a shaved head.
I get stared at often, and it really doesn’t bother me in the least. Part of it, I’m sure, is because I tend to dress a little different and I look a little different. Apparently, every somewhat tall muscular guy with long blond hair looks the same, so I’ve often been approached asking if I’m some celebrity that vaguely fits that description, or occassionally some random person they know personally.
When I’m in a public, I do try to be conscious of my surroundings and not stare because I know it’s rude. However, if I’m not actively engaged, I’ll often have a tendency to zone out and my eyes will essentially be in a random direction. This usually doesn’t mean anything because I’m staring in the corner or some object in the room, but a few times, I’ve ended up looking in someone’s general direction and it’s made them uncomfortable enough that they’ve said something… sorry, I wasn’t staring. Is it possible that some cases of people staring at akin to this sort of situation?
Either way, I don’t care if people stare at me or not. People may be staring because they like something about me or because I somehow stick out or whatever, but since I’m not being obnoxious or disruptive and strangers staring doesn’t affect me, I couldn’t care less what they do or what they think.
A technique that I’ve found works when a kid is staring at me is to stare right back, rather intensely, until they look away. They always do. It shows them how uncomfortable it is.
If they didn’t look away, I’d probably say something like, “Can I help you?” That might have the intended effect on clueless adults, too.
I often get stared at by little kids, too. I think it’s because I’m very short and have big eyes, so I probably look like a cartoon character (hopefully not the one in my username). It’s not too bad when a kid is being fussy then catches my eye and starts laughing. I guess listening to a laughing baby is better than a crying baby.
My hair color is strawberry blonde so I might get a few of those “red-headed stares”, too.
There’s a lot of staring that goes on at the rec center where I work out, because everyone is in their own little iPod world, doing repetitive tasks (or taking a break from said tasks) and feeling kind of wiped out. It’s like a building full of zombies!
I don’t mind if people are staring at me at the rec center, mostly because there’s no where else to look. Plus, there are a lot of nice bodies at the rec center so I don’t mind the opportunity to stare back. I’m staring at the hot bodies (men and women) wishing I looked like them and they’re staring at me as a reminder of why they’re at the gym.
Little kids stare at me because I’ve got some wild curly hair. I sort of look like a very large Muppet.
i stared at this thread way too long.
I get stared at a lot by Indian people, as I don’t really look Indian, and my SO is Chinese. Staring is not really considered rude in Indian culture, at least not IME, but 'tis annoying nonetheless.
People stare at me everyday - but I am a tall, blonde female dressed in a camoflage uniform. I am now used to it, and my daughter loves it.
I used to know a guy who got stared at quite a bit. He had multiple physical deformities. And he was pretty bitter about his situation.
When a kid was staring, if he could find a way he would tell the kid, “I’m gonna come get you one night”.
I was present once when he approached a woman who was staring, and said, “I may be ugly, but your cunt reeks.”
Did I mention that he was bitter? Thing is, he was very intelligent and respected in his area of science. RIP.
Well, people don’t stare at me, even when I’m the only white girl in an ethnic market. I’ve worked hard on perfecting my blending in vibe. I did get a lot of prolonged leering when I visited Morocco, but that’s Morocco for you.
Sometimes I get people staring at me, but usually they’re actually staring at my walking stick or hat. And most of the time, if I catch them staring at the stick or hat, they’ll compliment me on one or both.
The stick is actually a flagpole, which Bill has inserted a screweye into. That screweye holds a six strand braid of leather thongs and the drawstrings of a leather pouch. I’ve put a rubber “foot” (intended for a chair leg) on the bottom of the stick, to keep it from sliding. My hat is a fairly standard pecan brown cowboy hat, but I’ve put a brown feather medallion and a brown feather band on it.
Neither the stick nor the hat is an affectation, basically. I need the stick because I have balance and mobility problems, and I need the hat because my eyes are sensitive to light. But since I need them with me anyway, I tried to put a bit of style on them.
I got stared at all the time when I lived in RI. I was a chef there and did a lot of TV and radio. I didnt mind at all since I was very much the extrovert/attention whore.
I used to get stared at by men because I was a reasonably cute woman. But now? I don’t have a clue, though I do often get mistaken for somebody someone knows (throughout my whole life, so far, actually), so maybe I just have “one of those faces” and people are trying to place me? And I’ve been guilty of doing that to others as well, though I’m not usually shy, and generally if someone catches me staring at them, I’ll explain “oops Sorry, I just could swear I know you from somewhere”. It generally leads to a nice encounter or conversation when this happens.
That could be it for the OP too. Maybe they just think they know you?
I did that to a guy at a Country Club one time. We even went to have a couple beers to figure it out. Turns out it was the dude that played Taggert in Beverly Hills Cop, and thats what I knew him from.
Here in the US, I don’t get stared at. I’m pretty ordinary looking. I’m white, 5’5", neither particularly attractive nor particularly ugly.
I got stared at a lot when I was in the Peace Corps. Even though I served in Eastern Europe, I definitely do not look like a Bulgarian, and there aren’t a lot of foreigners wandering around the rural Balkans. One guy came up from the education department in the oblast (regional) capital and couldn’t even talk to me, he was so freaked out by a foreigner speaking Bulgarian. He just kept shaking his head in disbelief and staring at me like I was a talking horse.
In India, I actually had strangers ask me to be in their pictures. Yeah, I got stared at a little. It did make me somewhat uncomfortable.