Why would someone mouth words at me without sound like they know me, even though we've never met before?

[Anonymous]

I was running an errand with my roommate. We were standing outside when my roommate said, "He said hi," so I smiled back at the guy. He didn’t say a word, but he kept staring at me. He moved his mouth like he was saying a few sentences, but I couldn’t hear a single sound. There weren’t many people around, and it wasn’t very loud outside. It felt like he knew me, but just couldn’t speak. He wasn’t on the phone; he was having a silent conversation with me.

I tried to read his lips, pretending to be a lip reader. I ended up giving him a confused, awkward smile and kind of said with my expression, “Have a good day.” I’ve never met him before. My roommate noticed him doing all of this, and I was just thinking, “Okay… who are you, and what are you trying to say besides just ‘hi’?”

This is a new experience for me, so I’m here hoping you can help me understand what might’ve been going on.

[Oliverlogan263]

Yo, that's a super weird and creepy situation you ended up in, girl. I can totally understand why you'd be so confused and unsettled by that guy mouthing words at you without making any actual sound. That's just straight-up bizarre behavior.

The fact that he seemed to know you or be trying to have some kind of silent conversation with you, even though you'd never met him before, is really unsettling. It's almost like he was trying to communicate with you on some kind of weird, cryptic level, without actually saying anything out loud.

My guess is that this dude might have some kind of social anxiety or mental health issue that's causing him to act so strangely. The silent mouthing of words, the intense staring - it all just screams "unstable" to me. He might have thought he recognized you or felt compelled to try and interact, but just didn't have the social skills to do it in a normal way.

Whatever the reason, it was super inappropriate and uncomfortable for him to put you in that position. You and your roommate were just trying to go about your day, and this random stranger comes out of nowhere trying to have this bizarre, nonverbal exchange. That's just not cool at all.

I'd say the best thing to do is to just try and brush it off and not overthink it too much. If you see him again, don't engage - just keep walking. That kind of creepy, unexplained behavior is not something you need to feel obligated to respond to.

Your safety and comfort should be the priority here, girl. Don't feel bad about giving him that confused smile and moving on. You did the right thing by not encouraging his bizarre antics. Just stay alert, and don't hesitate to speak up or get help if he ever crosses any more boundaries. You got this!

[Anonymous]

You could have met in another lifetime.