To the Stranger Who Reached for My Hand at a Rockford Bar

Here's the deal: I didn't want to touch your hand. It's that simple!

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A lot of people will say, "well, don't go to the bar if you don't want people to bother you." Sure, I get that. The thing is, I'm allowed to have boundaries. I'm allowed to say no. I'm allowed to go to a public place and reject unsolicited interactions.

When strangers approach me and have expectations, don't be surprised when it doesn't go as planned! We don't know each other and I'm a very cautious person.

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I love playing pool and grabbing a drink at one local bar in Rockford, usually on weekdays when it's not as busy. Sometimes, I go out on the weekends when I'm feeling really social. That's what happened this last weekend!

I'm sitting at the bar, waiting for the pool table to free up, and playing Mancala on my phone (yes, I play strategy games at the bar lol) when two guys walk past me. One of them reaches out to hold my hand (why?) and I didn't feel comfortable with that gesture.

I was caught off guard.

I didn't want to touch his hand.

I also couldn't figure out if I knew him or if it was our first time engaging.

As I'm trying to piece together who I'm talking to, he says, "you been at the bar by yourself all night?" I respond, "uh...." and then a few of my friends walk up—thank goodness. He could tell I wasn't feeling the interaction. So, he pulled his hand away, rolled his eyes, and stormed off like I committed some kind of crime.

To the guy whose hand I wouldn't shake: not everyone wants to be approached or touched, I also don't know where your hands have been. If you weren't weird about the entire situation, I would've engaged more. Go into situations with no expectations so you don't get your hopes up!