It's interesting how just a few instances of surprise rejection early in life can have a big effect on personality. I ended up paranoid, always assuming that no one could really like me and anyone who acted as if he or she did was just pitying me or playing some cruel prank on me that I was too socially inept to see.
It got to the point that when I went to a school dance (I didn't want to but my parents made me) and the prettiest girl in the class asked me to dance with her, I actually got upset. I couldn't believe that she sincerely wanted to. I said yes because it would have been rude to say no, but I was convinced that everybody including her was secretly laughing at me.
I only considered the possibility that she was sincere years later, when I was an adult, but even now my brain is telling me "Nah, loser, she just felt sorry for you."
I had a similar experience in middle school. It fucking sucked.
At camp some guys and girls were playing in a tent, I was not included.
One got out and told me I could join. I tried to and they all laughed at me. Still hurts a bit.
Describes a lot of my childhood to be honest I was a social pariah for some reason. Completly changed when I went to college and made new friends, and now a lot of my happiest memories surround my college years. I even met my wife there!
I got a more direct case of rejection. 12yo me, at new school, 2nd week of classes, one of the girls that I thought was very pretty was asking others who they fancied. Once she came up to me, I meekly replied "You". I got a very loud and angry "I HATE YOU!" as an answer. Up to this day, more than 20 years later, I have no fucking clue to any possible why, in her mind, I deserved that reply.
Plot twist: Anon was at a college party where everyone else was 20+, so they didn't want to diddle him
I was at a gathering with some guy friends meeting some girls from a different school. The slightly older brother (let's call him Jay) of one of my friend's had driven us there. We were playing spin the bottle outside the apartment building. I was rejected after the bottle spun by a girl saying she didn't want to kiss me specifically. I got hurt/mad then my impulsive ADHD brain decided to get even. I saw a spigot on the floor, aimed it strait at the girl that rejected me and turned it on. More than the intended target got wet. Jay got really mad and I just ran. Once he caught up to me I thought he was going to beat me up. Instead he just laughed and told me I was going to have to leave and walk home.
When I read those, I consider myself lucky. I'm not handsome, normal sized, not athletic at all, not very sociable, closer to poor than rich, yet I never experienced any of those. Always had a few close friends and never have been single for more than 4 consecutive months since my 15th birthday. And I'm almost 40.
Is it a matter of luck? Of countries culture? Of type of schools/univ? Of social groups or generation ? I truly wonder.
Similar story where a University club got together at someone's apartment to stay the night, lots of previously unacquainted people in the group, after a night on the town.
Chatting, drinking, in a circle. One girl started giving the guys shoulders rubs, but went to bed when she came up to me in the circle.
Kept telling myself I dodged a bullet anyway.
Had something similar to this happen to me when I was about 9.
In primary school I was invited to a birthday party. We played truth or dare. A Portuguese girl in my class was dared to kiss me. She actually started crying because she really didn't want to go near me.
Not even the worst rejection I had.
It'd take too long to list it all, but it started way earlier than that.
At some point in our relationship, my ex stopped finding me attractive and, after 5 years together, she ended things with the line "I used to have sex with [her cheating ex #1] and [her cheating ex #2] all the time, but I need to be drunk to have sex with you."
Absolutely devastating. I'm a hygienic person, and I didn't think I looked half bad either until that. I'm working on myself now.
should've stolen the damn bottle infront of them.
Yeah cuz nobody (men+women) really like men, Men are truly the abused class Your typical man on the street is a woman-worshipper<br> Like If I link peer-reviewed articles on this stuff, you'd call me an incel & a misogynist & not even provide counter-arguments/evidence <br> You need to look yourself in the mirror & say that I'm a human male with self-respect If they don't want to play, Fine, find better friends
Hell I'm offering you all a hand in friendship
EDIT: Truth hurts huh😂
I mean, it sucks that you pinned your hopes on your crush having to follow a social pressure to kiss/fondle/fuck/whatever the "forfeit" for spin the bottle was in the first place.
It sucks that you had to go through that, but at what point does that declination of your advances suck less?
I mean, society has unfortunately favoured shitty games like "pull the bull" and "poke the bear" over any sort of genuine attraction which has usually disadvantaged women anyway - that's not to turn it into a gender thing, but maybe the idea of sparking a relationship from a forced interaction sucks from the outset.
