14 Times Men Thought Their Regular Interactions With Women Were Flirtatious

If you identify as a woman, chances are you've witnessed a man misinterpret kindness for flirting.

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So when Reddit user u/spidermahn asked women to share the times men have assumed they were flirting when they weren't, they had plenty of stories to share. Here were some of their most bizarre experiences:

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1."I have a male coworker whose rapport with customers really impresses me. He remembers names, can talk about anything, and instantly makes people feel welcome. I decided to try out his techniques, and the first guy I did it to thought I was coming on to him, and then got mad when I wouldn't give him my number."

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—OnceInABluMoon

2."I work in chat customer service, and I have been asked to 'call or text whenever' when I asked for a contact number. I have also been asked to friend request customers online."

—summer-snow

3."I work at a liquor store, and I once helped an old guy find a good beer to bring to a party. I was perfectly polite, but nothing more. After I helped him, he patted me on the shoulder and then grabbed my butt."

—jlund19

4."I was on the train staring in front of me and zoning out. This guy must have thought I was staring at him, so he came and stood right in front of me and proceeded to hit on me."

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—Plzspeaksoftly

5."I was 16, and working at a horse barn. A coworker's car wouldn't start one day, so I offered to give him a jump start. After that, he started calling me every day, first to thank me and then 'just to talk.' He kept asking me out, so I finally had to get the rich horse owners involved to get him to stop."

—NewMolecularEntity

6."I was polite when ordering my drink, so the barista thought he had the green light to ask for my number and then lean over the counter to kiss me on the cheek as I was about to walk away."

indescriptly

7."I used to work in a technology retail store. Once, I helped this guy select a CD player to buy. He left, but 10 minutes later, he came back in and said, 'Oh, I forgot to ask for one more thing — your number,' and then winked."

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—humanyhumanthing

8."Once, at my first job, I was emailing a man to get some documents I needed. He misinterpreted my 'Thanks! :)' as an invitation to start emailing me pictures of himself. I never use smiley face emoticons in work emails anymore."

—dabirl

9."I work in the legal field and one time, I was drafting a contract with a very large car company, so I had to visit their headquarters. The project manager took one look at me and made some comment about how he was married but I could call him anytime, anywhere."

—missjeri

10."I was having a perfectly innocent and platonic conversation with this guy on the street, and he claimed I was flirting with him. Eye contact is not flirting, smiling is not flirting, and saying hi is not flirting."

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—karrierpigeon

11."I have always been kinda feisty, and I like to debate, be sarcastic, and joke around. I've had to tone it down a lot because too many guys think I'm flirting when I'm being sarcastic or engaging them in a debate."

—Holyitzpapalotl

12."I was a bartender, and a customer thought the meaningless chitchat we engaged in was an invite to stalk me online and spam me with his porn search history of women with my body type. Some guys forget that I'm literally paid to be friendly to them."

—hmeeshy

13."When I was in school, I wished a guy happy birthday and asked if he was doing anything fun to celebrate. Years later, he brought up how he turned me down when I asked him out on his birthday, and I was soooo mad that he interpreted it that way. I was just trying to be nice to my classmate."

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—flabbey

14."I used to work at GameStop and had a customer who was obsessed with me. He would come in every day to talk to me while I was working. I was nice because it was part of my job, but one day he found me on Facebook and started messaging me about how much he liked me. I told him it was inappropriate, and he said he 'thought it was OK.'"

—ThatNerdReese

Note: Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.