By Jenny Rapson 
Most women, unfortunately, know what it’s like to be hit on by a strange man. I can still remember the shock as a young teenager realizing that our server at Applebee’s was hitting on me. Since I had to sit there and wait for the check with my friends I felt somewhat trapped in the situation. It had never happened to me before and I was unprepared, and a little freaked out.
Does that sound familiar? Sadly, it’s something most women can relate to.
One teen’s first experience with a stranger trying to get in her personal space was recently caught on live video.
Her video demonstrates in real time the cringe and discomfort our daughters have to deal with when they have the gall to be out in public by themselves.
The young woman, who says in the video’s captions that “this has never happened to me before” was talking on a live video with friends at a hotel pool area when an unknown man approached her. The video feed rolling on her laptop captured her obvious discomfort, and it made me as a viewer very uncomfortable for her as well.
After the encounter, she uploaded the video to TikTok. Her captions explain what she was thinking and feeling as she was trying to get this dude to leave her alone.
Take a look for yourself:
Creep approaches teenage girl while she’s live streaming 😐😖 pic.twitter.com/tJa1ZI7Nan
— chris evans (@chris_notcapn) April 29, 2021
Is that creepy OR WHAT? My heart went out to this young woman and I got angry for her as well. I imagined my 14-year-old daughter in this situation, trying hard not to be rude, but also wanting this guy to get the %#@! away from her as quickly as possible. To try and prepare her for future situations like this, I’ve told my girl multiple times that she can and should be rude and weird if she feels that she needs to in order to keep herself safe. She doesn’t owe any strange dude her friendliness or politeness. Full stop!
Reactions to this video on Twitter show that many women identify with the fear this young girl felt. Many condemned the man’s behavior as inexcusable.
This was my exact reaction. We learn how to tactfully deal with these situations to avoid potential violence, when we are alarmingly young. I don’t know a single woman who didn’t see themselves in this video – and it’s heartbreaking.
— Just Your Average Mel (@MelwiththeHair) April 30, 2021
I have to say that while I was watching this video, I had an anxiety response right along with this young girl. You can see the panic in her face as she’s trying to figure out what to do. My heart rate went up and I had to take some deep breaths as I watched her. Turns out, I wasn’t alone in this response either. Watching this was stressful.
I didn't realize I was until I exhaled at the end of the clip.
— Commanch Pitters II (@Hollowgirl78) April 29, 2021
After her video received more than 11 million views, the young woman. who goes by @maasassin_ on TikTok, eventually deleted her video. I can only imagine that her “normal” life was very interrupted by starring in a viral video, and I also imagine she probably got some unkind messages and comments. That’s pure speculation on my part, but . . . having some experience with the People of the Internet, I think I’m probably right.
I certainly appreciate this courageous young girl posting her video, even if it’s no longer on TikTok. I’m definitely watching the Twitter version with my daughter and using it as a teaching tool to prepare her on how to act in these situations. Because the truth is, our girls don’t owe a strange man ANYTHING, no matter his intentions!
by Whitney Fleming 
