Just last week I got my spookiest experience out alone on a photography trip. I've had these situations before, homeless people under railway bridges, a man with tear drop tattoos in the middle of the woods, a guy who lost his mind and was screaming incoherently, but this was different. I'm usually oblivious to 'reading' peoples cues... but this guy was so fucking obvious everything in me was telling me to run.
Let me set the stage...
I frequently go out, alone, in the wilderness where there's absolutely no trails, mud bogs, thick bush, you name it... I eventually get to a spot and take in a sunset, drink a cold beer(ritual of mine) and do the walk back while it's going dark, by the time I get to my car it's usually nearly completely dark...
This one night I was walking back several km's back to my car, it was so dark walking back I had to have my flashlight out(I carry several) ... the walk back entails following a 20-30 foot cliff, while I'm walking I see a guy on the shore.. I think nothing of it and get to my car.. where I'm situated is down a single road, 5KM's in, empty cottages and no houses around. It's a huge cove, I'm on one side of the cove and to end the night I wanted to capture the glowing sky from the other side of the cove..
So as I was driving there, I see this old ass rusty bronco looking vehicle parked on the side of the road(it's the guy, the only person around), right as I'm passing him he cuts in front of me and starts going up the hill as well(one road, one direction, it's obvious where I'm going)... so he gets there first, and I park in such a way that I wouldn't have to do a two point turn if I need to leave quickly.. although I'm still a bit naive at this point, thinking oh he'll be someone to talk to, who's out just enjoying the waves/weather...
He got out of his car, I got out of mine, he started walking over to me, I could tell something was off immediately..he was tan, didn't look like he was from the area, had no expression and made no effort to display any social queues that would indicate he's just a regular guy... I was dressed in north face jacket, adidas pants and had my clunky dslr with lens cap on(obvious reasons)... I'm usually very friendly but after taking in these first bits of information, I turned off my regular social queues and immediately matched his walking towards me, and walked towards him. (I felt compelled to do this for some reason)
We both stopped around 4 feet from each other, and the first thing he did was look at my camera, like a 1-2 second pause, and back to my face, so I said I came here to take some pictures but it's getting too dark for that. I didn't end that phrase that he was looking at my camera again. It was nearly completely dark, I figured he was trying to see if the cap was on or he was about to show interest in photography(lol). Then he said yeah it was a nice sunset earlier, and pointed ... now this would be normal, but he didn't even point where the sun actually set, like at all... and before he ended that phrase he was looking at my camera again...(I really started to think something was up at this point).
He was behaving in such a way that he was completely detached from what we were saying, or the 'moment' to be more precise. He had something on his mind and I realized I needed to act normal and exit as soon as I could. He then asked me if I knew what were in those buildings behind us(they're tourists buildings, this is a very well known spot in my province, further indicating he's not from the area). I said it was tourist buildings for the spot and it was closed down still(in hindsight this was stupid to say) but I was full of adrenaline at this point, and he put in three more long stares at my camera(bringing us to 5 very obvious extended stares in a minute or two), still didn't smile or give any facial queues.
At this point, my usually oblivious self was fully aware that I was either interacting with a criminal who had very good reasons to fear a camera and was going to mug me, or he might try to physically harm me even if unprovoked.
The 'conversation' ended as abruptly as it started, after a pause, I just backed away and he matched this immediately as well. he went back to his truck and for some stupid reason I felt the need to take a picture to validate my presence or whatever..., while I'm walking over to the picture spot I realize it's a very stupid spot to be in, because this cliff is twice as high as the other one, a good 70-80 ft and I'm 10 feet from the edge of this cliff that has no fence...
He was sitting in his truck at this time and I was worried he might be getting a weapon of some sort. I actually thought, well this might be the last picture I take... maybe I can capture his face and swallow the memory card if he wants to kill me, all sorts of stupid shit like that... I stayed around 30 seconds at my picture spot and went straight to my car, threw everything on my passenger seat, did my semi circle getaway and got the fuck out of there.
When I got home, everything began sinking in, you don't realize how little you realize IN a situation until you're OUT of it. I began googleing wanted people in Canada, found this
guy that looks pretty much exactly like him except he didn't have the crazy hair, he was completely shaven. Same skin tone, same eyes, same dead pan face.
So...
How do you deal with idiots at the bus stop? My take is that you listen to yourself. No, not the not the nice or friendly guy you want to express yourself as, and especially not the arrogant cocky asshole that feels the need to stare down a potentially crazy person with nothing to lose.
Your actual inner voice that is always looking out for you, sensing every situation, and speaking to you in hush tones straight from the gut. I was fully aware in the beginning that SOMETHING was off, but I was shutting down or ignoring my own inner voice telling me to get out, for what? So I could behave 'normally'? So I could 'act' out being a photographer? You deal with the people at the bus spot by letting those potential crazies save face and lose the stare.
tl:dr - There's no shame in listening to yourself and don't be the problem you want to avoid.
