I was just sitting at the mall taking a break from mall walking. A man walked over to me when I wasn’t even looking up. He said "I haven’t seen you here before. " I said I wasn’t really here to talk to people and got up and walked away. He said he would leave, he may even have said sorry. I said I was ready to leave anyway. In retrospect I think he may have just been slightly mentally challenged so I wish I had been a little softer, he did not turn out to be aggressive. Looking for suggestions on something still clear and firm but more polite? This scared me for some reason, I think how fast he walked up and sat down near me.
Editing to add a key detail, he sat down close to me which is probably what made me more nervous than I would have otherwise been. I appreciate all the thoughtful feedback I’ve gotten and interesting discussion.
If men don’t want to be judged, then don’t approach a woman who clearly doesn’t want to talk and insist on talking anyway despite her discomfort.
For the record, the deleted comment was thanking that person for outing themselves as part of the problem. For some reason, it got removed due to Rule 7.
There was no mockery. It is seriously useful to all the women on Lemmy to know when somebody is toxic toward women.