Strangers and long hair...

[NativeGirl]

What has been your worst/weird/creepy experience with strangers regarding your hair?

This woman came up behind me and yanks my hair then smothers her face in it. It freaked me out, and I ended up elbowing her in the face to get her to let go of my hair. I'm not sure I feel bad about elbowing her in the face...she was mean to my hair. :mad:
My husband told the lady "You don't ever touch a Native's hair! It's like blowing an air horn in the middle of prayer in Church. It's disrespectful." At least he understands.

[IanB]

Today, I walked past a group of young kids and one of them said, Oh My God! It's a man! :)

[spidermom]

Nothing. Strangers leave my hair alone. It's up most of the time.

[NativeGirl]

Nothing. Strangers leave my hair alone. It's up most of the time.

My hair is up 99% of the time, though due to a period of mourning my hair is being kept down. :(

[gretchen_hair]

Yuck! I would flip if a complete stranger touched and sniffed my hair and rubbed it on themselves. shudder:

I do understand that touching a Natives hair is disrespectful because of the Spiritual connotations, but really, touching anyones hair without their permission (especially a stranger) is disrespectful. That goes for people of all religions/lack of religion/beliefs. :flower:

[NativeGirl]

Yuck! I would flip if a complete stranger touched and sniffed my hair and rubbed it on themselves. shudder:

I do understand that touching a Natives hair is disrespectful because of the Spiritual connotations, but really, touching anyones hair without their permission (especially a stranger) is disrespectful. That goes for people of all religions/lack of religion/beliefs. :flower:

It was gross. I cried all the way home...then had my Mom do a tobacco cleansing.

[knittingyogini]

Yikes! That is creepy, Native. I would have freaked out. I'm glad your husband understands and said something.

[Loreley]

I was on a concert when a homeless man (probably drunk too) touched my hair. Yuck! :disgust: I hate when strangers touch my hair and fortunately they don't do it too often but this one was such a horrible experience. Sometimes when I meet for example an acquaintance and he or she says "Oh, how lovely your hair is!" and touches it it's OK, but this one freaked me out. :mad: A homeless person with his dirty hands... :puke:
So I totally understand you NativeGirl.

[Crysta]

*shivers* When my hair was longer and pink - a lot of people seemed to think that gave them the right to touch it. _ generally that was when the bad language came out - and 'let go of my hair or else'

[JuliaDancer]

What has been your worst/weird/creepy experience with strangers regarding your hair?

This woman came up behind me and yanks my hair then smothers her face in it. It freaked me out, and I ended up elbowing her in the face to get her to let go of my hair. I'm not sure I feel bad about elbowing her in the face...she was mean to my hair. :mad:
My husband told the lady "You don't ever touch a Native's hair! It's like blowing an air horn in the middle of prayer in Church. It's disrespectful." At least he understands.

What the?? What did she say after that? Did she even apologize? That is so freaky... But you must have some very lovely hair for people to want to wash their faces in it! =P You shouldn't feel bad for elbowing her in the face. That's like if you're wearing a snuggly looking scarf and someone grabbed it and started rubbing it on themselves. That's not ok, so why would grabbing someone's hair be ok??

[Eboshi]

For Halloween last year, I dressed up as "Sadako" from the movie The Ring. It's a long white dress/kimono with the hair worn loose. While passing out candy, I had a little girl ask"is it real" while simultaneously taking a lock of my hair and tugging on it.

Ow! :eek: Yes, it is real, please don't pull my hair.

I must otherwise give off a standoffish vibe. On weekends, I tend to wear my close-to-knee-length hair loose while out and about. Some people look but that's about it.

[Madora]

It was gross. I cried all the way home...then had my Mom do a tobacco cleansing.

I'm sorry for your horrid experience NativeGirl.

If you don't mind, would you please explain how your mother did the tobacco cleansing? Does the cleansing have to be repeated or is one time sufficient? Do you wear different clothing when your hair is being cleansed? Thank you.

[Jing]

There was another thread about strangers touching your hair a while ago, with a lot of stories. I still can't believe it even happens at all. To my mind, you'd have to either be a small child or have some kind of mental disorder to think that kind of thing was okay.

[spidermom]

I think it must be a regional thing because I've read all kinds of stories on LHC about strangers touching hair, but I don't think that happens around here.

Since my earlier comment, I remember that I've had it happen twice. An old woman at a block party touched my hair when I dropped it out of a bun to re-do it. She told me "your hair is magnificent!" At a party a couple of years before that, a young man with Down syndrome grabbed a double hand-full of it and exclaimed "hair!" His father had to pry his hands out of it, which took awhile, making me sorry I'd decided to wear my hair down for the party.

[vanillabones]

That's gross and incredibly rude. I've never seen it happen. I would elbow anyone off that was trying to grab/touch/smother any part of me, especially precious beautiful hair like yours! What happened after that - did you flee? Do you think the person really got hurt - did they even care? :) Just curious haha.

[Mairéad]

Gosh, I wouldn't feel bad about elbowing her in the face. I probably would have done worse. I'm a kind young women with a patient temper, but if someone happens to cross that line. Run. lol.

I haven't had long hair in awhile so I haven't come across the people who are loony tunes for touching other people's hair. I've had it touched before but since it isn't long I attribute that perhaps to it being red, which I know is another hair ****** I have heard of. When it's long AND red, gosh, should I look out? I'll keep it up, lol.

[BrightEyes7]

That is horrible... and I too am interested in this tobacco cleansing you speak of.

I've had a few strange situations.

Once I was waiting in line at the grocery store and I had my hair in a french braid. The lady behind me picked up my braid and then asked me if I braid it myself. Ummm... yeah! Now drop the braid, or I'll elbow you in the face. LOL

I also had a client at work (so I guess he isn't a stranger) grab my hair at the roots at the nape of my neck. My hair was down and he was saying how much he loves long hair. I was a little freaked out at first (he and his wife are really nice, but it was strange) but then his wife told me that he used to have TBL hair before he went bald. It was still strange, but I kind of understood his reasoning a bit more.

I also had the telephone repair guy at work once say "Her hair is in a braid" (talking about me). He didn't say it to anyone, but it was loud enough so I could hear him... so he wasn't really saying it to himself either. And that was all he said. I felt like responding "the sky is blue"

[Melon Collie]

That's nasty, Native. :( I would have done more than elbowed her.

I don't like being touched by strangers period and touching my hair may result in a beating.

[Carolyn]

Wow, NativeGirl, that's horrible! I hope you at least gave her a bloody nose or a black eye. What an awful experience. I've never had a stranger touch my hair. I'm sure I'd freak if it happened shudder:

[Shypii90]

Probably the rudest stranger encounter I had was once after an A-level exam walking to the bus stop with my friend and these teenagers in a car passing by shouted out of the window "GET A HAIR CUT FREAK!". It was a few seconds before we realised what they said and they had already driven out of sight. To be fair I was having a really bad frizzy hair day that day, haha.

Re. strangers touching my hair I went to a Uni Hallowe'en party last year with another friend and back-combed and hairsprayed my hair. It was bigger than the hair on the biggest haired wigs! Woo that was a mouthful lol. So all night I got all these students come up to me in awe like "is that real?!" and "can i touch it?!", they were just amazed :)

[Slinks]

Today, I walked past a group of young kids and one of them said, Oh My God! It's a man! :)

hahahahaha lolololol :lol:

[Slinks]

I think it must be a regional thing because I've read all kinds of stories on LHC about strangers touching hair, but I don't think that happens around here.
.

Yeah don't think it happens around here either ..

[irisheyes]

My husband is growing his hair now, for the first time ever, and has progressed to shoulder length. Anyway, we went shopping last week for a new cell phone. At the store, a salesman approached us, asking "Can I help you ladies?". My husband laughed it off, thank goodness!

[Alvrodul]

I had a less-than-pleasant experience with a stranger last week - I happened to be sitting next to a rather obviously drunk man on the tram. He kept trying to strike up a conversation with me. I was not interested - the fact that I kept my nose deeply buried in a book should have given him a hint. :rolleyes:
Then he reached up behind me and started to explore my bun! :disgust: I immediately told him to stop touching my hair. Fortunately he stopped, if he had not, I would have made a scene. Instead he just sat there and grumbled to himself, probably about what a b*tch I was :rolleyes: until I reached my destination (fortunately it was not far!)
A very annoying experience - fortunately I have no trouble telling people to back off when needed - and I can also muster a sufficiently off-putting manner when I do so!

[archel]

Ugh, some people just have no concept of personal space. I had a woman, when I was working in cosmetics, yank on my eyelashes because she refused to believe they were real. I am not even kidding!!!

The personal space thing is one reason I got into hoop dancing. If grabby-handed men try to get in my personal space in a dance club or at an event, they are gonna get pummeled with a hula hoop.

[BritHair]

Wow, Native. You should have pressed charges as what they did was, "assault". Shame on them and so disrespectful to you.

I have had people ask permission to touch my hair but never to just go ahead and touch....good thing too :eyebrows:

[mrs_coffee]

This woman came up behind me and yanks my hair then smothers her face in it.

That is one of the weirdest things I've ever heard! I would have freaked out. I hate having strangers touch me, and my personal space boundaries are huge.

[GRU]

I get a lot of LOLs (little old ladies) who like to reach out and touch it admiringly. Between the color and the curls, they just seem mesmerized sometimes. But they're always gentle, no yanking or sniffing or anything weird like that.

[Alaia]

No way! Native, that's horrible!

Nothing like that has ever happened to me. No stranger has ever commented on my hair.

But, you have reminded me, when my DH had much longer hair than me (his was waist length curly, TB when pulled straight), we were in a museum, holding hands, when a little voice popped up behind us:

"Excuse me," (tug on my skirt) "are you going out with another girl?"

It was a 4/5 year old child, and my DH turned around and said "No... I'm a man..." and the kid stared at him wide eyed and then ran off :lol:

[NativeGirl]

I'm sorry for your horrid experience NativeGirl.

If you don't mind, would you please explain how your mother did the tobacco cleansing? Does the cleansing have to be repeated or is one time sufficient? Do you wear different clothing when your hair is being cleansed? Thank you.

My mother takes tobacco and burns it, I hold my head over the smoke as she runs her fingers through it. It's more of a spiritual cleansing, than an actual cleansing. It really only done when we feel something has been desecrated. As far as clothing goes, I wear modest clothing.
It really freaked me out how she just grabbed my hair, plus it hurt. I left her with a bloody nose. She was so freaked out that she just turned and took off. Now that I think about it, I don't feel bad for elbowing her in the face. For all I know, she could have been trying to mug me or something and honestly, that's the reaction I'd like to have.

[irishlady]

What has been your worst/weird/creepy experience with strangers regarding your hair?

This woman came up behind me and yanks my hair then smothers her face in it. It freaked me out, and I ended up elbowing her in the face to get her to let go of my hair. I'm not sure I feel bad about elbowing her in the face...she was mean to my hair. :mad:
My husband told the lady "You don't ever touch a Native's hair! It's like blowing an air horn in the middle of prayer in Church. It's disrespectful." At least he understands.

Ugh that is disgusting and very disrespectful indeed! I'd be very tempted to elbow her in the face if she did that to me too!

The worst I had was someone behind me on the bus start stroking my hair, which was in a bun. It sent unpleasant shivers up my spine and I turned around and gave them a warning glare. I'm shy so I usually don't say anything, but when it comes to that *shivers*.

[Diesel Tech]

I've never had a stranger try to do anything to my hair, I've only read stories of on LHC, but haven't asked around here either. I wouldn't feel bad for giving her a bloody nose if I were you. When she let go I may have hit her again just for good measure. I'm usually calm, fairly soft spoken, pretty quiet, and not violent at all. However, if you push the right button, you will get a result. I have had people I know (co-workers) try to play with my hair as a joke, but they got away FAST when I turned around and reached for them. Didn't see them for a couple of hours after that actually...

[teal]

I haven't had it happen, at least not that I can recall. I think I would be tempted to grab a handful of hair - no matter how short! - and drag their head over for a pretend whiff, myself. In reality I'd probably yell at them.

[hyettf16]

Well I've had long hair in a middle school that was predominantly black (I'm white). So really wherever I went there would be someone trying to touch it and comb it and braid it saying "It's so soft!!!", especially if there was a girl sitting behind me in class. But I wouldn't say they're rude and I never tried to hit them, but then I was just 11, lol

[bahoban]

the other day I was on the grocery store and one guy just passed by my side and whisper on me "what a fu....ing hair" in a bad mode and I went just mad and say.. "what the he... do you care?",,and get out of the store,, I feel really bad about this, why people is like this?, i don't get it,, if they don't like long hair they just can stop watching,, this guy was really rude with me,, :(

[rbs22]

That is horrible! Completely inexcusable! I'm so sorry you had such a thing happen to you. :(

[patienceneeded]

Yuck! That's horrible NativeGirl!

I'm a middle school teacher, so I do occasionally have students who touch my hair. They don't mean any harm. I'm not overly bothered by it, as I understand why they're doing it. I do ask them to please, hands off. It's not okay to touch a person (or their hair) without their permission. They react well and generally apologise. Some will immediately ask if they can touch. I had a girl last year who loved my hairsticks and liked to pull them out. She was fascinated. She always asked first. I let her pull the sticks a few times, no biggie. It entertained the class. 8th graders are a fun bunch...

[sarahbrownie]

I always ask before I touch. You learn when every other one of friends have dreads. hahaha.

[ibleedlipstick]

Honestly, I had a few people mess with my hair when I was younger, and there are few things more horrifying than a complete stranger shoving their face in your hair.

In the past couple of years I think I have developed a bitch-face. I am not touched by people who I don't want to be touched by. In fact, a male friend of mine reached out to jokingly pat me on the head, and stopped with his hand roughly three inches from my scalp. The unimpressed look on my face must have been paralyzing.

[QueenJoey]

Ugh! I'm so keeping a closer eye out for creepers now. :couch:

I have a somewhat creepy story from when I was first getting to know one of my very good friends. One day I had my hair up in a ponytail, and I was sitting down next to him in drama class. All of a sudden, he just turned to me and wordlessly stroked his hands across my bangs (which I had pulled behing my ears) then all the way down my ponytail. It was so random. Now, I wouldn't blink an eye at him messing with my hair (he does it all the time), but back then, when I hardly knew him, it was really weird.

[QueenJoey]

I get a lot of LOLs (little old ladies) who like to reach out and touch it admiringly. Between the color and the curls, they just seem mesmerized sometimes. But they're always gentle, no yanking or sniffing or anything weird like that.

Ashamed to admit this, but if I was walking down the street and I saw you with your hair down, I'd be very mesmerized and I'd probably want to touch it, too :o (don't worry, I'd ask for permission first).

[christine1989]

I don't get many people touching my hair (it's up most of the time anyway) but I get quite a few people sniffing it :confused:. It must be the rosemary oil. I can't blame them though- I've been known to sniff people myself if they're wearing a nice perfume. ;)

[Avital88]

oh my , i had this only once. when i was walking in the city center, a gypsy guy looked at my hair and literally jumped and grabbed it. my head got pulled back and i told him to *** off and dont touch my hair.. i walked away fast and felt really weird about it.
But your story is even stranger, someone putting your hair in their face is just disgusting.

[Sweetie]

Oh my God something similar happened to me, too... I had my hair down (as I do 90% of the time) - I never wear my hair down on the bus, but unfortunately it was an emergency situation, and I had to take the bus - a man who was sitting next to me (may have been 50 or so) literally sniffed my hair and he grunted in them!!! Just like "snort"! It took me totally by surprise, so I literally ran away and took the following bus!!!

[Unzadi]

Once, while I was in church, during the worship part of the service, music playing, I was sitting silently, head bowed, spiritual contemplation time, etc, I felt someone poking around my bun and fiddling with my beak clip. I turned around fast and gave as much of a death glare as I could manage. Bun-poker was an older gal, the one I'd suspected (she seems to zero in on me at times and has different boundaries than most, we'll say.) I asked her what she was doing, which seemed to surprise her.

She pointed out that I had my hair in a bun and there was a metal thing holding it up. She wanted to know how that worked.

I don't remember exactly what I said to her, but I do remember telling her I was praying and went back to what I was doing. I might have told her it was a clip, but really, asking is a much better way of finding out how someone's hair toy works than going on a recon mission during prayer.

Contrast with another meeting of same church, when I feel my hairstick move. Turn around to see another longhaired gal I kinda knew, who met my questioning look with a sheepish smile. She apologized for touching without asking, but the hair stick had been about to slide out and she acted on instinct. That one earned an expression of gratitude, and then back to the business at hand.