Viraldice: Twitter Users Have Answered the Age-Old Issue of How to Escape a Creepy Guy

ne of the things most women learn as they grow up is how to gently rebuff the unwanted advances of a man. You have to be firm, but not aggressive; polite, but not cowed. It's a delicate balance. And all too often, some men choose not to take no for an answer and continue to insist you let them buy you a drink.

A writer named Amna Saleem recently found herself in this particularly difficult situation. It was at that moment that another woman stepped in and saved the day.

Saleem was at the bar when a guy approached her and offered to give her a drink.

Ahhh, it’s a tale as old as time. Girl goes to bar. Boy sees girl.

Boy decides to hit on girl… then refuses to take no for an answer.

Luckily, another woman saw Saleem's struggle and swiftly stepped in:

guy: ...just one drink
me: no thank you
guy: come on it's just a drink
me: look, i'm sorry I just want to read my book while i wait for my bf
guy: what ur bf doesn't let you have friends?
random woman: Clara? Hi! *hugs* (whispers) u ok?

women are great

— Amna (@AGlasgowGirl) January 20, 2018

In case you didn’t pick up on it, this random woman was a total stranger who just pretended to know Saleem in order to extricate her from the creepy guy situation.

Saleem sums it up nicely by saying: “Women are great.”

They really are, aren’t they?

Women immediately started chiming in with their own encounters with thirsty men at the bar (and I don't mean thirst for drinks):

I once asked a guy to leave my friend alone as he was being pushy, then I felt bad (I know it's ridiculous because I was polite) so I got him a beer to say no hard feelings. He then followed me for the entire evening 😒😒😒

— Murray (@linzi1982) January 21, 2018

Like this woman, who tried to help her friend out and ended up being the new target.

Seriously?! How did that guy think this was a good option?

This woman has another great idea for women trying to help other women:

I want to start a movement called, "How's Mary?" because everyone knows a Mary. Stumbling home after a night out, girl's bf screaming at her, she's crying. "Ach, how are ya? How's Mary?" and pressed a fiver into her hand for taxi.

— Omega Geek 🦀 (@TheOmegaGeek) January 20, 2018

Next time you see a woman in a tricky situation, approach her and ask how “Mary” is doing. Who’s Mary, you ask?

Mary doesn’t exist. She’s a fictional person whose purpose is to give you something to talk about. Pretty brilliant, right?

At one point, a man spoke up on Saleem's viral Twitter thread to ask for advice on what men can do in similar situations.

Any advice on how men can do similar without also coming across as creepy/invasive? My go to is a 'dude back off you have been told shes not interested' but it can cause people to get aggro which could be a problem later in the night..

— Sleepypirate (@BunkoPirate) January 21, 2018

Obviously, there are men out there who don’t put women in uncomfortable situations like the guy Saleem was dealing with. After this guy asked for advice, Saleem and others gave him a bunch of brilliant ideas…