Now I feel bad...

kurokotetsu

Proud Master
Sep 17, 2008
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Well, another social situation thread. I'll expose what happened to me today, and your thoughts are appriciated.

After a class at my university I sat down near a spot that I know has a decent Wi-FI signal, just as I often do. It is quite public place, near classrooms, and a some people go by, but it isn't the more transited place, so I quite like it, as I have a sense of time, while being left alone for the most part. SO after half an hour sitting against a culumn and just messing around (and looking about LCS inner workings) a girl sits opposite of me. I notice her and go on my bussiness, only noticing that she is sniffing. Must be either a cold (a virsu has been floating around) or crying I tell myself. As the Internet isn't that good, I look away form the screen from time to time. Now I'm not great at body language, but her covering her eyes and all around sad look tells me that she is probably really sad. Well, I feel bad for her. And I start thinking, maybe I should go there. I see no friends coming for her, and she may need a kind hand. But people handle giref diferently. I would never show that emotioin public and if someone saw me, I wouldn't like that person coming over, probably thanking their kindness but moving away as fast as possible. But maybe she needs someone just the hear her pain and share it, even if it is a stranger. I'm confused. I constantly look over her wondering what to do. I think she noticed me looking, but didn't mind. If I could only say, she might be even showing a glance that may be that calling for help. But I'm not good at interpretation of others emotions and I'm afraid of hurting her further. I just keep refreshing my browser and playing some causal game. I'm afraid that I may be seeing things that I want to see, as I found since the first moment that I found her atractive, and approaching her to sooth her pain, even if the main concious motivation is to help a fellow student, my unconcious may be playing tricks on me. I have no answer. Finally after staring to my screen for a while, she is gone.

And I've been feeling bad the whole day. I'm quite sure that I went at it the most awful way possible, as I both showed that I saw her pain (maybe not leaving her in thelevel of solitude that she might've wanted) nor acting upon it (maybe not giving her the support that se may have needed in a bad place). I don't like being in a position where I may have incremented her pain.

SO Escapist. Whay would you do if you were in my shoes? What if you were in her place? And what do you think of what I did?
 

White Lightning

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Feb 9, 2012
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I would of asked her to be quiet, or move. I don't care how sad you are you shouldn't go around bugging other people with it. You did nothing wrong so stop beating yourself up about it.
 

moostar

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Nov 26, 2010
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Under a social situation like that, I would tend to leave her alone. Its not that I would be too shy to do so, but,If someone is looking to be under emotional pain, I just don't see myself cheering up that person because I would have no idea what to say to them based on their particular issue. Shame to hear about what happen in your story man, I bet you would cheered her up. :)
 

Johnny Novgorod

Bebop Man
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Feb 9, 2012
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Well you aren't morally obligated to do anything but next time give it a go. Even if she doesn't want to open up about anything your sudden and unexpected intrusion will distract her long enough to think about something else.
 

Dirty Hipsters

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I'd say ignoring her would have probably been the best move. You have no idea what's bothering her (if anything at all), and since you don't know her circumstances there's very little chance you would have been able to help her in any way. More than likely you would have just annoyed someone who wanted to be left alone with their thoughts.
 

Nouw

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Mar 18, 2009
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Well clearly you should have asked her what the matter was since you're sweating it so much. Next time such a situation arises, just go for it. What's the worst that could happen? More often than not people would like the attention and care, to have someone acknowledge the suffering they are going through. Let's say they respond harshly, so the fuck what? You did your best and at least you won't be mulling over it.
 

Foolery

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Jun 5, 2013
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I would have done the same. Ignored her. Guess I'm a bit of a bastard that way. I think dealing with tough emotions or issues should be done in private with the help of trusted friends or professionals, instead of making it a public display.
Though if you were up for it, I suppose there was no real harm in asking. So long as she was willing to talk.
Personally, I'm not very good with crying people.
 

Bobic

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Nov 10, 2009
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I would have opened this video and blasted the volume to full.


That'd cheer up anyone. . .

. . .

Well, I suppose the correct thing to do would have been go over and talk, maybe, but I'd have chickened out of the awkward confrontation too. So, yeah, jokes.
 

Hattingston

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Jan 22, 2012
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Maybe when you next see her mention she seemed a little blue before, and you wanted to see if she's okay?

Given perfect hindsight in your position if I knew she drank coffee or cocoa or tea gotten her a cup of that, given it to her explaining that she looked a little blue and you hoped she felt better.

What you did wasn't wrong though. If you were ever confronted about it you could say that you didn't know what to do, which is true, and as a result you didn't do anything for fear of causing more damage.
 

krazykidd

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Mar 22, 2008
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I would have defintely given it a shot . If i'm lucky i may get laid. Yes i know i'm a terrible person
 

not_you

Don't ask, or you won't know
Mar 16, 2011
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I would've at least tried and talking to her... Even if she tells you to go away, at least you know she's completely fine...

But yeah, I would've at least tried... Especially since the internet was boring....

(That's a lie)

The internet is never boring....
 

2xDouble

New member
Mar 15, 2010
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You expressed concern for her and she responded; there's nothing wrong with that. Could you have done more? of course you could. If you see her again, and if she recognizes you, ask her if she's OK or feeling better. Otherwise, there's no sense fretting over a missed opportunity; you're only hurting yourself. Learn what you can and apply it moving forward.

PS. If you do ask her about it, don't be surprised or get upset if she throws "mind your own business" at you. It's obvious to you that she was/is hurting, and as a result is likely to lash out in self-defense. Do try to understand that.
 

Snowbell

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Apr 13, 2012
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When I'm upset I try to hide it so it won't bother or annoy anyone, but I would still love it if someone came over and comforted me, so I would do that for others!

That being said, no one seems to appreciate it when I randomly compliment them and stuff so they probably wouldn't appreciate that either :I People are so unsociable.
 

briankoontz

New member
May 17, 2010
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kurokotetsu said:
Well, another social situation thread. I'll expose what happened to me today, and your thoughts are appriciated.

After a class at my university I sat down near a spot that I know has a decent Wi-FI signal, just as I often do. It is quite public place, near classrooms, and a some people go by, but it isn't the more transited place, so I quite like it, as I have a sense of time, while being left alone for the most part. SO after half an hour sitting against a culumn and just messing around (and looking about LCS inner workings) a girl sits opposite of me. I notice her and go on my bussiness, only noticing that she is sniffing. Must be either a cold (a virsu has been floating around) or crying I tell myself. As the Internet isn't that good, I look away form the screen from time to time. Now I'm not great at body language, but her covering her eyes and all around sad look tells me that she is probably really sad. Well, I feel bad for her. And I start thinking, maybe I should go there. I see no friends coming for her, and she may need a kind hand. But people handle giref diferently. I would never show that emotioin public and if someone saw me, I wouldn't like that person coming over, probably thanking their kindness but moving away as fast as possible. But maybe she needs someone just the hear her pain and share it, even if it is a stranger. I'm confused. I constantly look over her wondering what to do. I think she noticed me looking, but didn't mind. If I could only say, she might be even showing a glance that may be that calling for help. But I'm not good at interpretation of others emotions and I'm afraid of hurting her further. I just keep refreshing my browser and playing some causal game. I'm afraid that I may be seeing things that I want to see, as I found since the first moment that I found her atractive, and approaching her to sooth her pain, even if the main concious motivation is to help a fellow student, my unconcious may be playing tricks on me. I have no answer. Finally after staring to my screen for a while, she is gone.

And I've been feeling bad the whole day. I'm quite sure that I went at it the most awful way possible, as I both showed that I saw her pain (maybe not leaving her in thelevel of solitude that she might've wanted) nor acting upon it (maybe not giving her the support that se may have needed in a bad place). I don't like being in a position where I may have incremented her pain.
You weren't under any obligations to benefit her and she asked nothing of you. Furthermore, going to a total stranger in a time of grief is pretty ridiculous - even homeless people have a social life and usually have friends to turn to. Almost every university student (your assumption, not mine) in the world has a social structure which has allowed them to get into the university in the first place - it's not like a total stranger is needed for consolation.

Lots of people dream of being White Knights these days, and lots of people beat themselves up for not being White Knighty enough to soothe their expanded egos. They fear that if they're not a White Knight they're a Black Knight.

Therefore more young women become Damsels in Distress, to appeal to all the White Knightery going around. So quite possibly she was looking to meet someone, or even "hook up with" someone, as universities are not exactly the most sexually moral places in the world, and was strategically using her sadness to further that goal instead of turning to mom and dad.

When you "failed" to be the White Knight she was "looking for", she moved on, possibly to collect more sadness she's generating through her own duplicity in order to fuel her DiD status, until she successfully captures a White Knight, whose ego can then be super-boosted by his "saving" of the attractive Damsel.

People should just be people, dealing with each other honestly and straightforwardly. Fuck Damsels, fuck White Knights, fuck superheroes, fuck everything within humanity that isn't human.

Good luck to you in the future. You'll be needing it.
 

Me55enger

New member
Dec 16, 2008
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Isn't it odd that humanity feels that it owes itself nothing...

There is nothing wrong with asking. Compassion is not a bad thing. If you ask and she tells you to leave her alone, at least your conscience will be clear when you come to ask on a forum.

I was in town a few days ago, and whilst at the cash machine I watched a young asian woman be chased down the road by an old Cornishman who was leaning over her shoulder telling her how unwelcome she was in his country and how many jobs she was taking. I regret not pursuing and having a word with the man. The bastard.

As an aside: the guy above me is, in my opinion, wrong on so, so many points.
 

Right Hook

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May 29, 2011
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kurokotetsu said:
SO Escapist. Whay would you do if you were in my shoes? What if you were in her place? And what do you think of what I did?
Depending on my mood, I would either consider approaching her and simply asking if she was okay, that would open her up to brush me off or confide in me depending on what she needed from me, at least she'd know people cared either way. Or if I couldn't be bothered, I'd just ignore her, a lot of time college kids want absolutely nothing from others, so putting myself out there for her could just be a complete waste.

If I was in her shoes, I'd want to be left alone but I'm not the type of person who gets emotional in public, I prefer to crawl off to a corner and die like a proper man.

You didn't even make a choice, you spent too long weighing options, you feel bad because you were still considering things. You need to be quicker on the draw, if you had decided fully not to approach her, you'd feel fine now. If you decided you wanted to approach her, you'd have done it and it'd be over. I think part of the reason you feel bad is because you feel a sense of missed opportunity, perhaps you saw a way to get ahead through her pain, meditate on this and consider it for future interactions.
 

ForumSafari

New member
Sep 25, 2012
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This is an odd viewpoint apparently but people actually have a right to be sad.

Someone being sad doesn't necessarily want to be dogpiled by people asking if they're OK just so they can feel happy they asked, sometimes they want alone time to think it over and process it, sometimes (particularly if they're male) drawing attention to their tears will just shame them.
 

freaper

snuggere mongool
Apr 3, 2010
1,198
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What you should've done was go and say: "Hey, can I help you out with something?" or whatever.

What I would've done is probably the same as what you ended up doing, guilt included.
 

Drummodino

Can't Stop the Bop
Jan 2, 2011
2,862
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Next time that happens bro just ask if it's okay. If she really didn't want anyone to notice her she wouldn't be out in public. As someone who personally suffers from random bouts of depression, I would really appreciate it if someone noticed and took the time to try cheer me up.
 

stormeris

New member
Aug 29, 2011
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briankoontz said:
Lots of people dream of being White Knights these days, and lots of people beat themselves up for not being White Knighty enough to soothe their expanded egos. They fear that if they're not a White Knight they're a Black Knight.

THE BLACK KNIGHT ALWAYS TRIUMPHS

But seriously, i would have at least asked what the deal was. Not because i would have tried to help her, just for curiosity's sake.
Well, i'm not usually the person to show emotions in public, other than hatred for the human race and schadenfreude. So i'd be very interested in what could cause a person to start crying next to me. Hopefully it's not my body odor xD

Captcha: cold shoulder. Yup. Even captcha doesn't like whiners