Internet Applauds 'Gross' Tactic To 'Disgust' Catcaller: 'Out-Creep Them'

A Reddit user took to the popular forum "Malicious Compliance" to share how they handled someone harassing them on the street.

u/XxFireflyxX said when they were catcalled on the street and told to smile, they smiled with their teeth while pushing the food they were eating out of their mouth, letting it drip onto their shirt.

"You want me to smile? Okay," read the title of their post, which received nearly 9,000 votes and comments since it was published on Monday.

Street Harassment

Holly Kearl, the founder and executive director of Stop Street Harassment told Newsweek in an email that the most common form of street harassment a person can experience is verbal sexual harassment.

She said this includes whistling, comments about a person's appearance or body and sexually explicit remarks.

"Persons in marginalized groups may also hear racialized, homophobic or transphobic slurs too, sometimes in the same breath as the sexual harassment," Kearl said.

She noted there is no "right" way to deal with harassers.

"Every situation and person are different and often a person only has a second or two to assess their safety and decide what to do," she said. "Whatever people choose in that second as their response is fine."

Kearl also said a person's safety cannot be guaranteed if they choose to directly respond to their harasser.

"Many harassers are trying to exert power and if they feel threatened by the response, they may escalate," she said. "For instance, ignoring a harasser or yelling at them can both be responses that elicit escalation to threats or physical harm by the harasser."

Stop Street Harassment provided some strategies for people to consider if they are faced with harassment.

The organization recommended assertively responding to the harassers in a calm manner that their actions are unwelcome, reporting the harasser to their employer if they work for an identifiable company and reporting the harasser to police or transit workers.

Malicious Compliance

In their post, u/XxFireflyxX said they just picked up some prepared mashed potatoes from the grocery store and was eating them on their way home when they were catcalled by a man sitting on his front porch.

"I considered telling him to piss off or screeching like a velociraptor to freak him out, but instead I decided to comply," they wrote. "I smiled with all of my teeth and used my tongue to push out the half chewed food in my mouth. A gross mixture of saliva and mashed potatoes fell onto the front of my shirt, but the expression on his face more than made up for it; he looked disgusted and slightly shocked."

u/XxFireflyxX maintained eye contact with him for a few seconds before they continued on their way.

"Remember that the most effective way of dealing with creeps is to out-creep them," they said.

Reddit Reacts

Fellow Reddit users took to the comments section to share their appreciation for how u/XxFireflyxX dealt with the harassment.

"Worth both the wasted potatoes and the dirty shirt," a Reddit user wrote.

"He'll never be able to look at mashed potatoes the same," another Redditor commented.

"I am so tired of people telling me to smile and I can never come up with a clever response," one Redditor said. "At least one person will think twice before he says that again!"

Newsweek reached out to u/XxFireflyxX for further comment.

Other Reddit users have taken their stories to the Malicious Compliance forum.

A man was praised for how he managed to avoid getting a job when he was a teenager.

A delivery driver shared how they handled an angry homeowner after they backed into their driveway to drop off a trampoline.

Another man revealed how he dealt with a "sexist" customer who insisted on speaking to "one of the boys" as opposed to a female employee.