The Creep vs. The Friendly Guy

There are those people that are definitely creepy. Those strange smelling ones with greasy hair that hang around excessively staring at you (= creep). But there sometimes can be a very fine line between those people that are creepy and those that are just trying to be plain friendly, and often I find myself choosing the more cynical path. I think it's a big-city phenomenon - people just do not interact with each other (See"The monkeys are scared of each other"). I know I posted a while back about how nice it was to meet someone friendly in the elevator - this really only applies in a safe environment, like the workplace. If the same encounter occured in some random building it would be totally different and I would be counting the seconds until I escape from this person would be possible.

Last night I took the subway home to avoid the weirdos on Yonge St., but apparently it was inescapable. After exiting the subway, this random guy smiled at me and said hi - feeling sorta mean if I didn't reply, I said hello back. BAD IDEA. I won't go into details, but I think it could be classified as C-R-E-E-P-Y. Actually, now that I think about it, this random guy on Yonge St started talking to me the other day as well, and turned out to be a little creep-o as well. Hmmm....I think this deserves a list.

Reena's Guide to Social Interactions

1. Always listen to your mother: Don't talk to strangers.
2. Appearances can be decieving (Yonge St man looked pretty clean cut).
3. Appearances can be indicative of character (Subway guy looked weird).
4. Cynicism should be the default outlook on life.
5. Eye contact should be avoided at all cost. Wasn't there some monkey-movie about this? If you look them in the eyes they will kill you? Something like that.
6. No smiling either.
7. Okay, okay. Some people are nice. But they should have to pass a test for insanity (or sanity?) before getting this designation.


Is it just me, or do other people find this as well?! Does anyone else actually look these guys in the eye, and therefore incite the weirdo interaction? Feel free to post any additional advice you might have, I could definitely use it.

These wonderful, educational experiences remind me of the good ol' Sex and the City episode, The Freak Show, where Carrie wonders: "Are all men freaks?" I couldn't find a clip of it anywhere online, but here's the official episode guide.