You don’t have to be a woman to appreciate the awfulness of men doing this – 13 totally on-point reactions

We’ve written plenty of posts in the past about things that men think that surprise women and, conversely, things that women think that surprise men.

But no right-thinking man anywhere should need to be told how inappropriate it is to this sort of thing. It’s a photo that went wildly viral after it was posted by @GraceREThomas on Twitter for reasons that will become immediately apparent.

Please don’t do this

Even if there’s nothing behind your decision to sit next to me on an otherwise empty bus, it immediately puts me on edge

I can’t be alone in this, surely pic.twitter.com/WOjlhyexAK

— Grace (@GraceREThomas) April 15, 2024

Absolutely awful. And we mention it as a reminder to any man who might not need it, and because it prompted no end of totally on-point responses. These 13 people said it best.

1.

It’s shithead behaviour and it’s deliberate. Cop on, lads. Do ye feel so weak in your everyday lives that ye need to do this to feel a second’s worth of control? Sad acts. https://t.co/pFbs95m5PK

— Niecy O’Keeffe (@NiecyOKeeffe) April 15, 2024

2.

That is so horrible and intrusive. I’d have been totally on edge. . Glad you had a good gym session but it doesn’t take away from the fact women and girls should never have to cope with this. Take care of yourself xx

— Hilary Thomas (@Hillywigs) April 15, 2024

3.

All women in this situation should be allowed to stand up and shout “I AM THE LIZARD QUEEN!” and then present their weapon of choice x https://t.co/gTBn0kevM2

— Buckers (@deathofbuckley) April 15, 2024

4.

100% agree. It’s one of the big reasons I can’t use public transport independently anymore and that makes me so sad

— Hayley (@haylesinnvrlnd) April 15, 2024

5.

Urgh. Here’s another example of what many women have to deal with day in day out.

An empty bus, he sits right next to her.

What’s the real message he’s conveying to her? https://t.co/J34RpWU0dP

— Laura Richards BSc, MSc, MBPsS (@laurarichards99) April 15, 2024

6.

I’ve learnt to sit on the aisle seat precisely to avoid this sort of creepiness when a bus/train carriage is pretty empty.

— IDD64 (@IDD64) April 15, 2024

7.

I don’t believe this type of thing is accidental. These men enjoy women’s discomfort and fear. https://t.co/NHIf89yPeB

— serialsockthief (@serialsockthief) April 15, 2024