As I was pushing the shopping cart down the aisle, the man turned and looked at me. Slowly I passed him, trying to ignore his gaze. With my head turned away from him, I could feel his stare going straight through me. I shuddered and my body tightened. Without returning his look, I pushed the cart out of the aisle and rounded the corner, leaving the man behind me.
Maybe my intuition was wrong about him, or maybe it wasn’t. Either way, something about that man made me very uneasy. Throughout my life, I’ve only gotten that feeling a handful of times. Each time it leaves me wondering, what it was about them that made me feel that way. Were they truly ‘bad’ people, or were my senses merely heightened and exaggerated?
Maybe they’re great people, and if I had the time to talk with them I could find out the answer. But in those situations, I scurry away too quickly for that. I just can’t help but to think that there must be something about them that’s not good.
If not, then why is it that being around people who are seen as ‘bad’ (gang members, drug dealers, ex-convicts, etc.) doesn’t make me uneasy at all? To me, they’re just people who make bad choices, no different than anyone else. They certainly don’t give me the creeps, unlike the guy at the store.
I wonder how accurate a person’s intuition is. We can sense a person’s negativity without a word being spoken, but can we pick up on dangerous vibes from someone by simply passing by them?
Criminals have been known to trick their victims with sweet-talking and kindness. They are very cunning, so people fall right into their hands. In those situations, were the victims’ intuition not working, or did they just brush it off? They may not have had time.
Either way, that makes me question how much our intuition can really be trusted.
To be fair, I could talk to those people who make me uneasy. In public of course, with people all around. But, why take the risk? Then again, I could be missing out on knowing (even if for only a moment) a genuinely nice person.
For now though, whether accurate or not, I think I’ll stick to trusting my intuition. Better safe than sorry, right?
Me - Who am I? 
I’d rather listen and be wrong, I guess. I have such a huge confidence level I rarely get that creepy feeling – so if I did? Yep, get away ASAP. Maybe you are ok with criminals because their badness is already known to you, not in question? Easier to look on them kindly as opposed to a bad feeling from a stranger.
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That makes sense. We fear the unknown, but with those we already know about there’s nothing to fear. Ass odd as it sounds, I’ve found that most people like that are surprisingly good people. It’s good that you don’t feel that often. I don’t scare easily either, but sometimes, certain people give me a chill down my spine. I agree with you – I’d rather be wrong.
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Your post brought to mind an incident Christmas 2013. A couple of our couriers are rough looking lads, but sound and no harm. The office girls, on seeing them, got the creeps. They were entirely wrong, and I set them straight (as I’m a warehouse worker but also in the offices all the time). It kind of bothers me still that they judged the book by the cover.
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This man in the store looked like any other typical guy; not rough at all. For him, it was just a feeling I got. But, for those who are judged by their cover, that bothers me too. The couriers shouldn’t have been judged in that way. I had a friend once, very nice, and the same thing happened to him. People even went so far as to watch him to make sure he wasn’t going to do anything bad. It was ridiculous and completely unjustified.
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The colour of your skin and the length of your hair (for both genders) seems to make some people’s radar go off. I can’t help but imagine the feeling of your creeper’s eyes on me… not good!
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That is true, and sad. For some people, all it takes is one small difference.
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Same office people dislike a fellow coworker because she’s heavy and has alopecia. I shut it down whenever I can, and point it out as bullying – she is a lovely woman. A bit brusque on the phone, admittedly – but super efficient and a lovely person, too. Sorry, gone off topic 🙂
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That’s not right. Just because someone is not like us and we don’t understand them, gives us no right to be mean or bully them. It’s still on topic – it’s still about people and relations. 🙂
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I say trust your intuition 😉
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Glad others agree! 🙂
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Don’t take the risk. Rather listen to your intuition. So often we push it aside and you know why? Because we don’t want to be rude. Well… Rather rude in one moment than not and dead in the other…
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That’s a good statement! Better to be rude (or distant) than dead. 🙂 We just never know who can be trusted these days.
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Yep
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If you like have a look at this post: https://amommasview.wordpress.com/2014/12/10/gut-feeling/
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Headed over there now.
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I say always trust your intuition. I was jogging a few years back, lost in the rhythm of my run, when all of my senses went instantly on heightened alert. Cold chills, rapid pulse, hair on my neck standing up… I was being followed by a man in a van. I took a few side streets to be sure, and he followed every time. He was so intent on me that he rode up over the curb onto someone’s lawn. That one event was all it took- I never question mine anymore. Why take the risk?
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That’s scary! Good thing you were on alert and trusted your intuition. Who knows where you would be today, had you not. That is one moment that I am sure that you look back on and are grateful for each and every time. The way you felt, was how I felt with the man the other day. Better to not take chances.
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I’m with the better safe than sorry crowd and that there is something to the gut feeling and heeby-jeebies!
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The heeby-jeebies! That’s a very accurate term. 🙂 Being safe may not always be as thrilling, but I’m okay with that.
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Me too! 🙂
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Ah! Just two days back I wrote a post on intuition – and how slowly I have come to rely on it. I am yet to share it though. I will do that soon.
I tend to list to my intution, it has helped me way too many times to simply disregard it – maybe it will not drive my judgement entirely but it gets a heavy weightage.
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I look forward to reading it when you do. It’s good to know that your intuition has been proven right. It’s an important thing, and I believe that it was given to us for a reason. Maybe we’re wrong sometimes, but better to be wrong than sorry.
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I believe that intuition can be sharpened, Prajakta. It’s that 6th sense that many don’t develop at all. They develop the other five but neglect the 6th one. Of course, that is what today’s society teaches us to do. There have been a few times when my intuition has either kept me from harm or someone else from harm.
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I say we have intuition for a reason. I always trust my gut feeling beyond anything else. But you know, I’m thinking this might actually make a really good scientific study! No idea how they’d do it, but it would be interesting to see the results!
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I completely agree with you. It sure would, but how would it be studied? To be valid, they would have to use real criminals and real situations. I don’t think I’d want to be a part of that. But, like you said, it sure would be interesting.
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Trust your intuition- in most cases it is right. Sometimes people just give off that “creepy factor” and in those cases I always move away if I can. Getting that creepy feeling is different from judging someone based on how they look I think. Outward appearances are not always indicative of the person inside
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To judge and to feel uneasy is different, I agree. Other than the creepy feeling he gave me, there was nothing unusual about the man in the store. The roughest looking of people can sometimes be the nicest.
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that is very true!
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Trust it! Always trust it! Something is sending your body a signal. And until you have reason to believe otherwise, why disregard that? It’s not hurting anyone for you to be cautious. And it may be saving someone.
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That’s true. It’s not hurting anyone by playing it safe. I much rather listen to my intuition and live another day, than not.
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I think we should trust our intuition and instincts. The “gut feeling” we hear about is a real phenomenon, we really do have a second brain of sorts in our gut. Most of us stop trusting that. Good for you and great post!
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Last night, I was reading up on this phenomenon and firmly believe that we have it for a reason. It’s a guide to help us make good choices. Without it, I think a lot of us would be in trouble.
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I will always trust my gut over what I see or hear. I’ve experienced this truth my entire life.
Our gut is the only part of us that is completely unbias, unmoving, and unchangeable.
We can ignore it and go about our day, but our intuition will always be right.
If you’ll read the reports after someone has been lured in, they will tell you: ‘I should have listened to my gut. It felt wrong.’ I’ve never meet a person or read a story of someone being hurt that didn’t do that. It’s sad.
I’ve even gone to the point that I teach my little nephew and niece this basic truth.
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You are absolutely right about that. Now that I think back, I too have heard stories where people wish they would have listened, but didn’t. It’s a strong sense we’ve been given. One that shouldn’t be ignored.
It’s wonderful that you’ve taught this to your niece and nephew. It’s an important lesson and no one should have to learn it the hard way.
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I think we have intuition for a reason. It’s when we ignore something not quire right–we may get into trouble. Better safe than regretting not paying attention to your instinct.
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I think so too. Life is already full of things that perhaps we wish we had done differently. So why add to it if we can avoid it?
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