#1

My favorite hobby is bike touring. I pick a place around 100 miles away, wake up real early, jam on music and podcasts all day, and don't have to talk to anybody. It is the best.
40 miles into one ride, I pulled over to look at the map on my phone, and this dude decided that me glancing at my map meant I was hopelessly lost and couldn't possibly continue on my route unless he rescued me. He (and his friend who didn't really say much) became my personal escort. I did all the nonconfrontational go-away things I could think of--leaving my headphones in and going "what" in an unfriendly way when he kept trying to mansplain bikes to me, lagging way behind him or surging way ahead of him, etc, but he never caught on. He was always there, demanding my attention and giving nothing in return.
Finally I waited for him and his friend to get around a bend, and took like a 20 minute sandwich and stretch break. Surely this would shake them off.
Nope! Dude was lurking there, looking relieved that he'd found me. Finally I just had to be like, "No offense, but I really like doing these rides by myself. I've got an audiobook I'd like to listen to, and I don't need your help right now."
"But you were lost!"
"No I wasn't. I was looking at the map on my GPS-enabled phone. I told you you found me 40 miles away from my apartment--how do you think I managed to get this far without you? I do rides like this all the time on my own. I'm fine."
And at that point he muttered something about how I was "real NICE" and biked away. I care less and less about how nice strange men think I am with every passing day.
#2

The next day he tried to force s*x from her. He said she owed him for looking after her. He had to listen to her c**p so she needed to please him. Luckily one of us came over to notice him trying to force his way onto her.
#3

I texted to thank him and ask when I can pick up my key. He basically demanded s*x since he hadn't taken the money and he wanted s*x instead. I said I'm not a wh*re and he should have just taken the $20 as agreed. Then he refused to give back my key and said he would sell it on Craigslist with my address and photos of me.
I informed him that I'd screenshot the conversation and sent it to several friends and if anything happened to me they would show the convo to the police and that I didn't think a little dancer boy would fair well in prison. He then said that threatening to have me r*ped was just a joke.
Many so-called “nice guys” have a very transactional understanding of relationships. They believe that being superficially polite and kind, and doing someone favors entitles them to things like dates or physical intimacy. They also tend to think that affection can be bought. In short, they have a warped perception of how relationships develop and think that putting in a tiny bit of effort should be massively rewarded.
When someone rejects them or tells them a polite “no,” they tend to show their true colors. They might lash out, opt for emotional blackmail, and generally behave immaturely. For them, relationships are only as valuable as what they can get from them. In other words, they don’t see relationships as being valuable in and of themselves.
#4

#5

One day when he's driving me home he seems to be in a really bad mood. Gripping the steering wheel really tightly and only replying with single monosyllabic words. When we get to my house i ask if he's ok. He doesn't reply so i go to get out of the car, then he angrily says "are you EVER going to invite me inside!?" I must have said something like "huh, what?" Coz he then yells "I've been giving you free rides for MONTHS and you've never invited me in afterwards! Are we EVER going to have s*x??"
I was so surprised and shocked I think i just got out of the car and walked away. This guy, who i thought was my friend, who i had offered to pay for the rides, thought he was entitled to sex because he had voluntarily been offering me rides.
To reiterate: i offered to pay him for the rides, i never asked for a ride (he always offered and even insisted), and he had never asked me out on an actual date (i had no idea he thought of me that way).
I felt so betrayed. Made it worse when he then told our mutual uni friends that id been stringing him along and using him for free rides.
#6

He also went way over the top in a lot of ways. He'd bring the girls flowers or memorize their favorite candy/soda/snacks and present them as a "token of his great affection" (yep, he called it that). He had a bad habit of insisting, like legit would not take no for an answer, on walking the women wherever we needed to go. Myself and my best friend at the time both told him his behavior was creepy.
There were three women in the "core" group, and five others who were close enough that they'd show up at LAN parties or whatever we were doing. He asked every single one of us out at least 50 times. Every single time we said no, he'd go off on this awful tirade about how women didn't want nice guys, and how we should just be open to the possibility of him being "the love of our lives". It did not matter how many times we told him we were not interested, not attracted, or IN RELATIONSHIPS.
Sophomore year, a new girl joined the group. For whatever reason, she liked our Nice Guy. A lot. Weird. But he wasn't in to her at all. A few of us started using his own BS rhetoric against him when he began whining about her not leaving him alone. It was pretty gross.
Of course, healthy and happy relationships—whether romantic, platonic, familial, or professional—will also have a certain give-and-take dynamic. Mutual respect, trust, and love require sacrifice and compromise. Even so, it’s unhealthy and exhausting if you’re constantly the only one running errands, doing favors, and giving up your goals for someone else’s. Your actions and physically helping someone out count for a lot more than just fancy promises and pretty words.
True friends are there for you through thick and thin. They celebrate your wins. They support you through your failures. And they don’t come up with constant excuses about why they’d love to help you but really can’t this time (and a dozen before that).
#7

This is when Mr nice guy swooped in showing up at my house with flowers and gifts unannounced. I never gave him my address....he asked MY MOM. Then he would notice I posted I had a cold on FB and would show up with cold medicine and soup. Which would be nice if I had ANY intrest in him but I didnt. he would look where I checked into on FB and COINCIDENTALLY just be there. I felt bad being like dude STOP cause my mom invited him to every family function and I didnt wana make things weird.
It hit the pinacle when he got a job where I woked just to be closer to me and he told everyone we were dating. Spoiler alert- we werent. I flipped out on him and told him he was creepy and that after all these years he never took the hint after me never answering his calls/texts or taking him up on his relentless attempts to take me out to dinner. I quit my job and moved and blocked him on everthing and had a firm conversation with my mom about keeping him away from me. She was upset and made excuses for him but ultimatley obliged. Years later im now married with a baby and he still relentlessley persues me if he sees me in public.
#8

I moved to a new city for school and ran into a long lost distant cousin (grandma’s sister’s grandson). He was just a couple years older than me so he invited me over to hang out with his friends and got my number. I agreed because I’m shy and knew I would have issues making my own connections.
He started texting me NON stop. At first it was all innocent, trying to get to know one another, but then he’d cross the line with inappropriate personal questions. I told him numerous times I had a boyfriend who attended a different college. My cousin kept inviting me over but I was busy with my new job, but he was persistent and offended when I was too busy. He started getting offended if I took too long to respond. Finally I had a free night and agreed to a board game night with him and his friends. I wasn’t old enough to drink yet but he had bought a special wine he wanted me to try.
I get there and meet his friends. We start getting Catan set up, have music going, and all is going well. Cousin goes into kitchen to get wine, and friend tries to be nice and starts conversation with me by asking how we met and how long we had been dating. I sputtered out that we weren’t dating, we were cousins.
His friends lost their s**t. They were laughing hysterically and told me that my cousin has been bragging about dating me for weeks, I would have been his first girlfriend. My cousin told his roommate (shared a bedroom) that he needed privacy tonight and had bought condoms. Cousin came out to see what the noise was about, his friends called him out, still laughing.
He got super angry and said that he thought we had a connection and no one would be that friendly or text each other so much if they weren’t dating. We had a special connection and no one understood him like I did. I responded along the lines of “dude, we are related!!!! You don’t date your cousin!!” And booked it. It was the most awkward situation I had ever been in.
I called my mom immediately and told her to talk to his mom about it. My mom called me back afterwards and reported that his mom was super embarrassed and assured me that her son would hear from her and if she had anything to do with it, he would never treat me or another woman with so much disrespect again. That’s the last I heard from him. I saw his mom a year ago, she gave me a family bar recipe, so she doesn’t seem resentful. All is well.
Tl:dr a cousin tried to seduce me via nice guy ways. I’m not even from Alabama.
#9

He was really skinny, taller than all of us, even the other guys. Wore the same black duster every day that smelled badly of BO, with thick Goth boots. Blond hair that was super greasy and long. He kept running one hand through it and pouting, or just holding his hand spread over his face after. An anime pose or something?
Started off normal enough. He just seemed a bit quirky, but we were cool with that. Then he started focusing on me more and more. If someone swore, he'd dramatically cover my ears and demand that they 'have respect in the presence of a lady'. Weird as f**k. We all kind of just laughed it off most of the time and tried to ignore this guys s**t. Then he started putting his arm around me, trying to 'glomp' me, kiss my check etc. I asked him not to touch me, but he kept 'forgetting'. We would all be talking about some s**t totally unrelated and he would just say something like 'god you look so cute in this light' or just pretend I had something in my hair so he could touch it. I don't like confrontation so I put up with it to an extent, but I tried to be quite clear that I want interested.
A dude I'd made friends with was chatting to me one day before our class. Creepy dude rocked up and immediately started trying on alpha s**t with him, trying to put his arm around me, size him up etc. I kept pulling away and asking him to stop, so my friend told the guy that he's being a creep and to back off. Creepy dude accused him of trying to steal the affections of 'his maiden' (I wish I was joking).
I out right told him I wasn't interested in a relationship with anyone, he just kind of brushed it off though. Kept talking about how he'd 'win my hand'. Wtf.
One day, I needed to go to the library to do a project of forgotten about. He saw me on my way and asked to join me. I said only if he was doing work too, because I couldn't afford to be distracted (deadlines). He agreed. When we got there, he was immediately all up in my personal space, trying to lean over me, trap me between his arms/body and the bookshelf etc. I was polite, kept asking him to stop. But he kept doing it, and every time I stopped walking, he'd 'accidentally' bump into me again and put his hands on me to 'catch' me etc. I snapped a bit, and said if he didn't stop, I was going to get him kicked out of the library. He apologised. I turned around. Then he leaned in and smelled my neck. Loudly. Then moaned.
I finally lost my s**t. Basically tore him a new one about boundaries and basically making me feel like an object. Told him that if he didn't back the f**k off, I was going to go to the college about having him expelled for harassment. He said nothing. I got kicked out of the library for being loud.
He stopped hanging out with us. Everyone was relieved. All was good, except I missed that deadline. Saw him in passing but he wouldn't even acknowledge me. Perfect result!
What’s more, they try to be increasingly authentic and vulnerable with each other as their relationship deepens. They value transparency, honesty, active listening, and just proper communication in general. And even though everyone keeps secrets (whether serious or benign), real friends also won’t have any hidden agendas concerning you.
#10

#11
The next day his ex-girlfriend messaged me stating that I was a wh*re and giving me death threats. He was going around the school telling people that I was a teenage pr*stitute and that my b**bs were fake. I was Mormon, a pretty devoted one, plus it helped I grew up in a small town, everyone knew me.
Well he kept creating new Facebook profiles and sending me messages. All along the lines of me deserving to be raped to the fact that he loved me. This continued a year, the school changed my classes so I didn't have any with him, but it wasn't until he showed up at my house with his dad's gun that I was able to get a restraining order. He moved to Texas, and I haven't seen or heard from him since.
#12

Nope Kevin, I dodged a bullet.
When is the last time that you interacted with a “nice guy”? What do you think is the best approach to see if someone is genuinely nice or only pretending to be to get something from you?
Have you ever called someone out for being incredibly toxic? If you’re feeling up for it, tell us in the comments.
#13

When I was a sophomore in high school, I joined a certain club because some of my other friends were running it and I figured it'd be a good way to spend extra time with them. This one dude was a relatively nice guy a grade ahead of me and I thought "I'm already in the club so I might as well get to know the other people in it", so I was pretty open to interaction. He was a bit of a socially awkward guy but it wasn't a problem with me.
Then this one day after club, as I was waiting for my dad to collect me he approached me and started a conversation then eventually he says, "I've never had an Asian girlfriend before", and pulled me in for a hug where he kissed me on the neck. I told my friends what happened and noped the f**k out of the club. He didn't understand where he went wrong and my friends tried to brush it off at the time but now that we've all graduated I don't talk to them anymore lol.
#14

#15
I baulked at this of course, saying that not only would I not be giving him a blow job on our first date, I also would have no intention of going on a drive with him to a ‘cosy spot’ which is where he suggested said oral s*x happen.
He got furious with me, said he was just being honest, was a ‘nice guy’ and that my suggestion that he sounded like a horny teenager (we’re both in our late 30s) made me a f*****g whore. He did not like it when I pointed out that being a f*****g whore *and* not giving him a blowjob seemed mutually exclusive to me.
#16

He became obsessed with me and wanted to call every night before he went to bed. He told me I would be the perfect wife and that we should have 3 kids. He wanted to move me out to the cattle ranch he owned and operated so we could get married and start a family. We had been talking for maybe two weeks.
I was looking for a job to get through college and jokingly shared a "now hiring dancers" sign at the local strip club on Snapchat. He went ballistic and told me he couldn't be with a girl who had no respect for herself. We weren't even dating, but he "broke up" with me on my birthday.
#17
I friended him on Facebook since we had a lot of mutual friends. I had just seen an episode of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic (before I knew what Bronies were) and he was a *little* too excited. He messaged me with all of these facts about the show and how most episodes were good but a few were a "little girlie". I said that's fine since it's a show for little girls and he got pretty mad. Strike one.
Strikes two and three were his constant whiny posts about "females" ignoring him for no reason. Going on and on about how the sexy, slim, big-breasted redhead didn't give him her number. He even had his friend make this long post about how awful we all were for not hooking him up with our single female friends.
The real kicker? Our mutual friend had a crush on him and he totally blew her off. She's a pretty Italian girl with gorgeous hair and a perfect a*s. She's also equally as nerdy as him, and they had the same nerdy interests. When she asked him out, he said they should just be friends.
I couldn't believe it. Dude lives with his parents, work at a grocery store, is a Brony, and he turns down a hot nerdy girl because she doesn't look like an Anime character or The Little Mermaid.
#18
This man was in his mid-fifties and never married with no children. He had LOTS of free time and began visiting very regularly and would noticeably gawk at our ladies on staff. He came in to our shop alone one day and seemed nice enough, so he and I engaged in ~10 minutes of casual conversation and it came up that I really loved football (Pittsburgh Steelers in particular).
The following week, he started showing up nearly every single day with gifts for me. They started small with a football keychain and a coffee mug, then progressed to a sweatshirt and a license plate holder for my car. I would kindly refuse the gifts which would set him storming away into a silent, embarrassed rage. It got to the point that if we saw his bike pulling in to our parking lot, my coworkers would warn me so I could work from the back office or the shipping bay to avoid him.
He would come in and ask our staff personal questions about me like where I lived, who I was dating, and what college I was attending. It got to the point that he was popping in every single day (sometimes multiple times) in hopes to cross paths with me. Finally, I had had enough of hiding in my own workplace and decided I would confront the issue head on.
One day, I stayed in the dealership and he approached me with an envelope. It was two very expensive tickets to that Sunday’s Steelers game. I told him that I appreciated his gestures but that I would not be accepting gifts and that his advances were making me uncomfortable. He absolutely lost his s**t, and told me that I was a disgusting whore and that he knew that “girls like me” got a kick out of toying with his emotions. I told him that he misread my signals and that I was just being friendly and doing my job. He literally laughed in my face in the most insane scream-y fashion and said that I was “fake” and that I wore too much makeup, I was fat, and that I was probably on d***s. (Huh?!)
As I walked away he continued to yell at me and call me a d**k tease and a s**t. It got so bad that our GM came out of his office and told him that if he didn’t leave we would call the police.
He came back a few times in the years that I worked there and finally was banned after he intentionally brushed his crotch up against one of the girls cleaning the helmet display. He was FOUL.
#19

#20
One day he asked what my favorite coffee was, I told him nonchalantly thinking it was just a conversation starter. Later during my shift HE BROUGHT me that coffee. He walked to a coffee shop during his break and bought it for me. At this point I started realizing he’s being too friendly and my instincts were right. I kept refusing as he insistently shoved it at me. When I was refusing he pretended he didn’t understand what I was saying because of a language barrier, he’s from China but has lived in the states since he was a kid!! I felt so uncomfortable and was tired of trying to explain myself and have him dismiss me so I just took the coffee.
Shortly after that he brought a box of chocolate to work for me. Once again I kept refusing but he insisted it was for me, he didn’t like chocolate and wouldn’t eat it. After that I mentioned that I was married with a toddler. He had a disgusted face not at me being married but having a child and asked me why I had a child so young. (I was 25 when this happened, and had a 2 1/2 year old at the time)
Later on I was visiting with some residents in the activity room and he came in to talk to me. He started talking about how good my body was, how he couldn’t tell I had a child. He then grabbed my butt. I tried to turn away and he let go, but then he continued talking about how tight my butt is and how perfect my boobs were, after looking straight at my chest he then swung his arm behind me and grabbed my butt again, brining me into him.
I felt so violated. I spent months thinking this was just some innocent overly nice guy but he was just grooming me. I told my supervisor who immediately told the director of the facility. Within 20 minutes he was fired and I never saw him again.
The next day the director called me into her office and said she had several complaints against this employee and as soon as she heard my story and saw how he was escalating she knew she had to fire him immediately. I was so scared after that, every shift I walked out to my car late at night I thought he’d be out there.
Other complaints: 1. Him bragging to other women employees about him hiring prostitutes and treating them to Olive Garden before having sex with them.
2. Him viscioualy attacking another female employee, calling her “fat” “stupid” etc, in front of their boss and other peers.
Those are just the complaints I heard from my friends after this happened, who knows what else he did.
Just saying ladies, if someone assaults you it isn’t your fault. Giving people the benefit of the doubt and trying to see the good in people doesn’t mean you deserve to be assaulted and harassed. And don’t be afraid to be assertive and rude, we don’t owe anyone niceness.


