Strange encounters of the female kind
AS women we’ve all had strange encounters with men, ranging from the inappropriate to the skeevy, to men who are downright high on the predator scale. It’s a given: Where there’s a woman there’s bound to be a man who acts like a dog in heat — with all the confidence, audacity, and chutzpah that his arrow will hit its target. But women have given men some stories for the books too. In fact, if you were to poll men you’d find that women are equally predatory, equally inappropriate, and equally wild with their demands — especially when they spot a prey that they simply must bag.
We asked men who are taken, what has been the strangest encounter you’ve had with a predatory woman?
Kirk, 38, married:
My wife isn’t really a big social media person so you won’t find her online much, just a few posts on her private Instagram. I also don’t wear my ring, as [due to] the kind of work I do, I can’t really wear jewellery. We also have a social media page for our daughters. So, women always think that I’m available — and even when I say I’m married, they don’t care. This one client took it further and decided that she wanted me. She was a high-net client so I wanted the contract badly. But she found my wife on Instagram, added her, and went through all her pictures, liking them. She did the same for my kids’ page. Then she messaged me and said my wife was “kinda cute” but not as pretty as she was, and my wife looked old and miserable. I had to count that job as a loss and cut her loose as a client because I didn’t see how that obsession could end well.
Alex, 28, engaged:
I was on a business trip with some colleagues, and after we checked into our rooms and I was on the phone video calling my fiancée, I heard a knock at my door. It was this woman from work who had joked before about my gym body, but hadn’t said much else before. She handed me one of her room key cards and said I should use it that night, and winked. I didn’t even know what to say, because she was the last person I’d expect that from. I just handed the key back and closed and bolted the door and continued my call. Luckily I had muted the phone, and still better, for the rest of the weekend she pretended that the incident never happened.
Anthony, 31, married:
I’m a contractor. I don’t hide the fact that I’m married, and a Christian. I went to this woman’s house to assess the cost to refurbish her bathroom. She opened the door wrapped in just a towel and asked me what I wanted to do to her. I told her the devil is a liar, and she went and got dressed. I completed the job, but it was very awkward after that.
Ricardo, 36, married:
We asked a friend from church to watch our son after school, and she was a good sitter. She would care for him like her own child, and even go out of the way to do other things like cook him meals, take him to the barber, and even buy him supplies for school. One time my wife was travelling and that’s how it started — she began cooking dinner for me. She said it was better than me ordering fast food all the time, and I really appreciated the home-cooked meals. My wife also heaped her praises for being so thoughtful. Well, after my wife returned it continued, to the point where she would cook me food even on Sundays when she knew my wife was cooking, and would just bring portions for me only. My wife would joke about the stew peas, especially, and the steam fish and okra meals. While my wife joked about it and would even eat the food — as she said, if she was trying to tie one of us she would tie all of us — I noted how disrespectful she was being, and just slowly drew away.
Samuel, 28, in a long-term relationship:
I own my business and do pretty well. I did some work for this lady, and noticed that she was always very flirty, calling me “baby” and whatever. But I never paid her much mind because, in general, the women I work for, once they see that it’s a young person running the company they always flirt, so I just learn to ignore them. This particular woman, when we were almost finished with the work and I was to inspect it, she told me she was going to cook. I knew the schweppes, so when I was going there I brought three of my workmen along. When she saw us she was so upset — if you cut her she wouldn’t bleed. She had made candelight dinner for two, with wine, Spanish rice and everything. She asked why I hadn’t come alone, and then fumed while she found some extra plates to give my workmen the food.
