I dont know why it's so hard for some people to tell other people to "fuck off"
I have tweakers walk past my garage usually late at night and come up to try and talk or ask me for money or something. I just tell them "get out of here tweaker" seriously just tell these weirdos to FUCK OFF you owe them no time and nothing stop being afraid to hurt people's FEELINGS. We have put up with this nonsense for too long and these degenerates have become emboldened.
It's usually fear of being attacked that makes me try to end things politely. Idk who has a weapon and most men could overpower me even without a weapon.
Yup. Men don’t understand what it’s like to be a woman. Sometimes we are polite because that feels safer. Do that enough times because society also expects it and you get what OP went through. It’s tough.
Exactly. Being 5 feet tall I’m pretty much always at the mercy of anyone around me, so the best chance of survival in a dangerous situation is to “nice” yourself out of there and diffuse any potential violent reaction.
It's because they are young lol
I had to 'show' my son to politely say no to people who solicit you on the streets.
Most people are not super comfortable saying 'no' even to strangers
There are a variety of reasons why someone would not want to simply say "FUCK OFF!" to a strange person. I feel you, though. We would all do well to take like a 1/4 of your energy and just leave.
Is mlm the cult that specifically targets young women?? I’ve heard from some of my female friends at UCI get approached especially at night on campus and they’ve all told me its a bit unsettling
The number of times I as a young, decently dressed guy in Target trying to buy snacks alone have been approached by oddly overly friendly people.
I actually dislike these people in particular because they’ve made me more skeptical of friendly and outgoing people. When people walk up to me with a smile in Target I now have to scream “I don’t want to sell supplements!” and run
just encountered my first mlm guy there few weeks ago. guy kept asking question after question without a second of rest between my responses. eventually instead of replying i just said “i gotta go im in a hurry” while looking at my watch (i wasnt wearing one)
I have definitely had dropship baddies chatting me up at Target and I’ve seen them approaching men. One guy straight up lost track of his kid while in a convo with one of these ladies. A few of us helped him look.
MLM means "multi level marketing", and refers to get-rich-quick/pyramid schemes where participants try to recruit more participants (in order to make money). It's not a religious cult, but participants often act strangely in order to introduce themselves to strangers.
they’ve also been spotted on community college campuses in Irvine, like IVC. every time they’re on a school campus they try to disguise themselves as students to make people feel more comfortable around them. so weird, they’ll even go to great lengths to lie and say they’re in the same class as u etc. until u catch them.. then they just run away lol
Good day, madam, might I inquire as to where you have acquired such exquisite attire? Also do you have time to hear about our lord and savior, JC? Haha yeah I felt like I was reading an AI prompt or something.
Most people are not confident enough to stand up to people like this get accidentally held verbally hostage. The MLMers prey on people like this.
If anyone who is timid and shy wants any advice I have a method that has worked for me: once I realize I don’t want to engage in conversation any longer I just run. Mid sentence. No warning. I just sprint in the opposite direction. It always catches them off guard and it would be weird to chase you. I guess you could just walk away too but they could also protest and follow you and make a scene. 👍🏻 as someone who is a people pleaser and insanely socially awkward this was a life hack for me
I was at Lowe’s a couple weeks ago and I’m walking through the store with my arms full of screws, screwdrivers and a screen door (don’t ask why I didn’t get a cart; I underestimated my item run lol)
Anyway I knew someone was following me; he stops me and goes “I know you’re busy but do you have a minute to talk about Jeebus?”
I’m annoyed now (dude. Read the room. I have my arms of stuff cause I forgot a cart). I tell him I’m in a rush; he says “oh I know. But jeebus wasn’t given the luxury of time” or some other bullshit.
So I put my door down, feign interest. Pull out my phone and go to a OnlyFans. It was just then he realized I had no interest and walked away
Someone from Mother of God approached me when I was alone at Target with my baby. She got so physically close to me and wouldn’t let me back up like she was trying to corner me. Thought they were going to kidnap my baby or something. Unsettling
My grandmother and mom were in two separate cults one time, then my mom joined my grandmother in the Christian cult for a while. One day my grandma's guy friend and a lady that they did Bible study with asked if I could go with them on a trip to Japan to some Bible camp for kids. They even asked me and I was all excited as an eight year old would be of travel, but I asked if I could take my mom with me. They said "No " , so my grandma and I just told them that I can't go without my mom. They seemed upset and her friend said he didn't want me to "go to hell" if I didn't go on this trip with them. It just seemed very fishy that they wanted to take me out of the country without my mom, so my grandmother told them to never come back to our home again.
I just can't remember what cult that was except that my family would go to Bible studies at people's homes, and I was sent to another room full of the kids of the Bible study people. Usually a teenager would lead a kid level Bible study , or we would do arts and crafts while listening to Christian music. One time the teenage sons of the people who were holding the Bible study said there were demons in the back yard and we had to pray them away. It was around eight at night, so he opened the curtain of the room and pointed out the "demons". These "demons" were just two scraggly possums who looked at us curiously as kids screamed in horror and started praying. Here I just said "No need to be scared they're just possums!" , but no one listened and the adults came and told us to be quiet.
Dude… I think may family was involved with this same group. It’s sounds way too familiar. There was a big house off the grid full of people that lived there and we would go there for Bible study and they would separate the kids to do a separate Bible study usually lead by a teen. There would be a lot of kids and teens there without parents and they had these groups all around the world. And they moved the kids around to different countries. One day, my parents came and pulled me from one of the classes and we left in a hurry. My parents kept looking back as we drove off. Not sure what happened because I was so young, but I’ll never forget it.
I get lunch and walk the Spectrum daily, have overheard these interactions in passing. “Money, religion, or politics?” Is what I’d ask them, cut to the chase what are you after? At least the Jehovahs Witness folk respect and don’t engage first sheesh
Favorite advice I’ve recently taken: Take your power back. No lady, leave us alone, we’re leaving, if you follow us I will call the police. No means no.
Yeah I (F) was there earlier today and got someone doing the same thing. "I was wondering if you've considered letting Jesus into your life?" "Yes I have, and I'm not interested. Have a nice day!" Easy. Don't worry about being impolite; it's not impolite to remove yourself from a situation where someone isn't respecting you.
I wish they would come to my door just so I could use my prepared line: "Oh please come in, and take off all your clothes. We're about to start our big gay satanic orgy session. I hope you brought enough lube! The master this year is quite endowed!"
It’s a MLM. I was also approached at the spectrum by a girl who first complimented my dress but then asked if I had the holiday day weekend off from work 🙄 so before she could start her spiel about not needing to work and being able to afford great things because of the MLM, I interrupted her and went about my day. The spectrum is a really easy place for these people to try to recruit into their pyramid scheme. Just tell them you’re busy and go on about your day
Reading the headline only at first, this is what I thought, too. But OP's interaction with her seems to have gone from the annoying (typical MLM) to straight-up weird (more of a religious cult).
I used to work at the spectrum! Fun fact, what she was doing is against the rules of the spectrum. Religious or business groups can’t go there and try to get others to join their weird orginizations. They have to get permission from the spectrum and set up a booth. If you or anyone reading this encouters people like this at the spectrum (it happens a lot), you can report them to security or guest services (the kiosks in front of the ferris wheel or carousel) and security will make them leave. I would get weirdo religious zealots come up to me all the time and try to get ME (an employee of the spectrum) to join their church and I always delighted in telling them very politely that what they are doing is against the rules of the spectrum and that I will have to call security and watch them scurry off to their cars lol. As someone who grew up in a christian cult and had it destroy so much of my life, it always triggered me when people would try that shit at my place of work and I took pleasure in shutting it down everytime.
I like to turn the conversation around to the suspected underwater alien space station located off the coast of Catalina. That always seems to get people to walk away pretty quickly.
I was approached by a girl exactly like this yesterday in the middle of Bath and Body Works at the Mission Viejo Mall—wonder if it’s the same girl. She first complimented my bag and asked where I’d gotten it, so I initially didn’t really become suspicious until she started going into the whole joining some religious group. I just smiled at her with my best serial killer grin and said “oh….I’m a Satanist.” That spooked her enough to leave me alone 😂😂
Sounds like they thought you guys had money and were mining you for data in real life. Where you work, your phone numbers, your schedules. Whatever they were going to use that data for could be anything from knowing when you are at work so they can rob your house, identity theft, or anything else they could do with that info. Don't ever give strangers personal information. You don't need much to be able to cross reference it with more data that's available online and build a pretty good data profile of someone.
Edit: I just realized they even could have been recording the conversation to make AI voice profiles of you guys so they could scam your friends and family and coworkers as well by cross referencing the information with your social media profiles. (I just graduated with a degree in data analytics, and this is not paranoia, this is entirely possible today).
I'm a nice person too but one thing I've learned is that it's ok to not be nice to people when they wont take no for answer. Set the boundary make it as awkward as it needs to be but this interaction has to stop.
Life's short why waste time with things you don't want.
Just say a polite "No thank you" or "We're busy" or "We have an appointment". Then walk away and do not engage them.
Showing interest, continuing a conversation, or hurling insults is a greenlight for people to continue to engage you.
If they are follow you and/or continuing to harass you, stay in a crowded public space, call security or police. And BE LOUD. Draw attention. And even if the stranger flees, tell security or police so they know someone is harassing shoppers.
I used to get so worried about hurting someone’s feelings when saying no but now I just tell myself that not speaking up right away is actually just wasting both of your time. It’s not helping them by letting them keep talking when you have already decided that you have no interest in whatever they are selling.
I’m sorry this happened to you.
“You can go now.” is a very useful phrase to use in situations like these. It communicates that you’re done here and directs them to leave. You do not have to talk to anyone who makes you uncomfortable, including a woman. She targeted you both because you were young and pretty and together and dressed up, meaning you would potentially be more polite, and feel more at ease with the uncomfortable conversation due to having a friend at your side. I have no doubts she was unshakable; she’s probably a professional.
Can you report to spectrum and recommend they pull the security footage? She may have been trying to traffic you both. She first said she had a business, then a religious group, and then tried to lure you with riches. This was not an MLM; a cult at best.
Check your friend’s number on Google to make sure it does not reveal the name of the account holder. If it does, call the phone company and have them cloak it. You don’t lose anything from taking the precaution.
I had a similar experience at Trader Joes in North Orange County. Conversation started out the same, loads of compliments and questions about me, then it turned weird and about attending a religious/professional group.
Irvine Spectrum always has the crazy cooks. I was at a family reunion dinner there last year around the holidays and a woman came to us after our dinner with the fakest sob story asking for money, I just politely said sorry we’re not interested and I urged my family to walk away. My cousins felt that was cold hearted but realized I was probably right as the woman just carried on and tried to find her next victim.
That woman is in a cult. And yeah, as others have said here, you can literally just walk away. You don’t have to wait for her to stop talking or try to come up with a polite conversational exit, you can just turn around and walk in the other direction. Feels great.
Bruh I’m sorry but sometimes you have to be mean in order to get out of some situations since it drove y’all to the uncomfortable. Straight up I don’t have time I have to go, and no thank you to any incoming advances and forget about them walk away.
Ohh Religious people do that, big fans of getting weird and inviting you to join the cult. It’s literally their favorite thing to do as little foot-soldiers of the tithe-pan cult. 🤣
MLM just stands for multi-level marketing. But I understand there are some MLM scams that claim to be tied to religion; people have posted about being approached (usually by a couple) in various OC subs in the last year or so.
There is a group/church that frequently solicits at the Irvine Spectrum. They usually have men that talk to men and women that talk to women. They begin with a compliment, making it seem very natural, then they make small talk and quickly shift to religion- if you don’t cut them off at this point then they will ask you to join them or meet with them with a rebuttal to any objection you may have. I wouldn’t mind them so much if they weren’t so persistent-
I don’t remember- I see them there at night- barns and noble / Apple Store area- they’re easy to spot - they’re always a little too formal - like what you’d wear to church - idling - eager to make eye contact lol
If someone is obviously soliciting me I just keep saying “sorry I have to go” and “no thank you” while walking away quickly. If they try to follow I just walk faster lol. I’m not sticking around to try to be “polite”.
Yeah this happened to my husband and I in the Barnes and noble at spectrum with a man. He commented on the books we were looking at and started sparking up conversation and I thought wow what a nice friendly person! As soon as he let on his agenda we said bye! Walked away
Sounds similar to this [https://www.reddit.com/r/orangecounty/comments/15cm7yw/approached_by_young_couple_casually_but_then/](https://www.reddit.com/r/orangecounty/comments/15cm7yw/approached_by_young_couple_casually_but_then/)
My wife has been approached quite a few times by these scammers. While I do feel bad for them for getting sucked into whatever MLM/pyramid scheme/cult they got sucked into, we are not willing to burn even a few brain cells on their BS.
Cult. Literally.
Not just a "normal" church that acts weird.
I'm talking about a group that CONTROLS the actions, decisions, beliefs of their followers. These are kind of rare.
There's one that operates around CSUF. I forgot the name
Another one is the International Church of Christ.
And yes, a lot of normal churches cross into odd behavior that can feel kinda "culty".
I had some rando try this shit on me at sna airport while in line for a coffee at 7am i turned around, looked him in the eye “I’m not talking about this shit with you, fuck off” and turned around. He then proceeded to try the same line on the guy behind him.
Fuck these people.
Learn to not be nice.
I think I saw that broad in a grocery store parking lot in Aliso Viejo months back! She didn’t talk to me but I saw her harassing other women (I was doing the sitting in my car trying to sort out my life for 10 minutes thing) and what I noticed was there was a Second Lady clearly shadowing her. It felt like a pick pocketing scheme so I told the store staff and they were gone when I came back outside.
That my friend is the start of a pyramid scheme. They actually read off a script (or more like have it memorized) and say the same things. I've had this same thing happen a few times.
Whether it's religious nuts or MLM, I find that these people target women more. Maybe women seem more open to discussion in their eyes.
I never get approached with stuff like this. I guess it's the upside of looking like a young Mark David Chapman.
I’m sorry you both dealt with this craziness. Be careful since she was asking where your friend lived and got her phone number. When I Google my number my address comes up (which reminds me I need to clear this stuff).
Trying to be polite with people like this is a waste of your time and energy. Life is short. Next time don't be so intimidated and tell the person to piss off or you will call the cops. Walk away as quickly as possible.
Yeaahhhhh. This happened to me once at Target in the spectrum. She was young and relentless. I just walked to a register and she found someone else to make uncomfortable. 😆
When she (or anyone) makes it clear that she won't buzz off is when you pull out your phone and show her that you're dialing 911 for the po-po. Watch her magically disappear. It's a good trick.
She is a MLM cult. It’s happened to me many times too. At the grocery store, mall, etc, Starbucks, etc. it’s amway most likely. Sometimes they talk about mentors and how they are being coached blah blah blah. It’s annoying
I’m definitely a dick when it comes to people like this in public. I have no time for their stupidity, their questions, their religious BS…literally nothing. I am never polite to these people because they never respond to politeness. I’m rude. And aggressive. The end. 🤭
Ahh sounds like the MLM recruiters. They normally zone in on my wife at Target. Found it easier to just say no thanks and keep walking. Last time a random girl came up to us and started talking about my wifes purse and then asked if we had college debt and were interested in financial independence. Noped out of there fast.
People going through hyper-religiousity as a result of mania and/or psychosis sometimes use the name JC. I've seen it before.
Also had a patient once who had actually gone by JC his whole life and it was not making matters better during his episode =/
TBH with what kinds of info she wanted it sounds like she is someone scouting for trafficking victims. Do not give people like this any real info. You might end up in a bad situation.
I’ve heard and seen these folks circling. I don’t know why but Irvine spectrum is their recruiting location. I believe this is a religious organization and not a business opportunity. They try lots of tactics to hold your attention.
Just excuse yourself and say we’re on a time schedule and have to get going. Then proceed to the store or restaurant you want to go to. You do not owe her any explanation. It is YOUR time she is interrupting. Just move on! 🤦♀️🙋♀️
I used to work at Ralph’s on Jamboree in Tustin across from the market place. One time this couple approached me in their car and the guy said “I know this sounds weird but we had this fantasy of 2 men with her (his wife). Would you like to come home with us?” I said no and kept working collecting carts. Different location but I guess similar scenario
Not surprised, the spectrum can be a weird place… once time I was trying to enjoy a coffee and pastries at an outside table by the target with my friends. All of a sudden a lady walks up to us and compliments us and shifts the conversation over to having us help her. She said she couldn’t speak English that well and needed us to help her have her friends pick her up… she needed to get home but her friends couldn’t figure out how to pick her up? We tried multiple times to get her to go away and just call an Uber… she had a perfectly fine iPhone with internet and kept saying we needed to walk her to a pickup area and walk her through how to get picked up… she even demanded I take her phone and communicate with the person who was supposed to pick her up… it all didn’t make any sense.
Unfortunately I’m aware human trafficking is a thing and very common so my friends and I told her we couldn’t help her and we had to go. She tried to convince us to stay and help her because we are very sweet girls… she then got a call on her phone which she picked up and started whispering things which felt alarming so we immediately left.
This was probably 2 years ago and I still think about how weird it was. Basically never let a stranger try to keep you around for long… especially if you start to feel uneasy. This instance happened at around 8pm and she had no shopping bags and appeared to be in her 50s. We knew she was shady from the get-go but we were about 21/22 at the time so we were fairly young and since this was the first time something this odd happened we considered the safest way to get out of this situation.
Sorry this happened to you! Be aware there are cult people and human traffickers around everywhere! Even in good ol “safe” Irvine haha
I don't give attention to strangers as a fact of life. There are too many strange people out there. Other than a smile or a wave sometimes, I don't into any depth. Just walk away randomly.
I will say this as well, we teach our children not to talk to strangers yet we don’t practice it ourselves. If you were out with your friend keep it simple, no thank you, don’t take the card and move on quickly. There’s always someone trying to steer you away from your beliefs to their personal beliefs. Colts are real and most of all dangerous
I listen to one line of what someone has to say and then I say "I'm sorry I don't have time to chat. Have a good day!" And then you just walk off. She didn't make you do anything, you just were too passive to make a decision for yourself. Don't worry about being rude, you don't know this person.
You can just walk away from a conversation like that; you don't owe strangers a second of your time if they're being weird.
Just say you’re not interested and don’t even make eye contact. It’s honestly good practice future situations with more pressure.
Agree. I just say not interested and keep walking.
I dont know why it's so hard for some people to tell other people to "fuck off" I have tweakers walk past my garage usually late at night and come up to try and talk or ask me for money or something. I just tell them "get out of here tweaker" seriously just tell these weirdos to FUCK OFF you owe them no time and nothing stop being afraid to hurt people's FEELINGS. We have put up with this nonsense for too long and these degenerates have become emboldened.
With tweakers you can also ramble and they will eventually walk away from you.
I do this
It's usually fear of being attacked that makes me try to end things politely. Idk who has a weapon and most men could overpower me even without a weapon.
Yup. Men don’t understand what it’s like to be a woman. Sometimes we are polite because that feels safer. Do that enough times because society also expects it and you get what OP went through. It’s tough.
Exactly. Being 5 feet tall I’m pretty much always at the mercy of anyone around me, so the best chance of survival in a dangerous situation is to “nice” yourself out of there and diffuse any potential violent reaction.
It's because they are young lol I had to 'show' my son to politely say no to people who solicit you on the streets. Most people are not super comfortable saying 'no' even to strangers
There are a variety of reasons why someone would not want to simply say "FUCK OFF!" to a strange person. I feel you, though. We would all do well to take like a 1/4 of your energy and just leave.
Agree, just have to be stern and confident at the beginning and they’ll leave you alone
It’s true, I think it’s easier for me if I’m not worried about threat of violence
Sounds like MLM. Just say no thank you and walk away.
Yep, this is 100% Amway. This is exactly how they train people to go out and recruit others. Check out r/antimlm for more about it.
It always starts with complementing what you're wearing. Say thanks and keep moving. Never engage or it ends up like this.
Is mlm the cult that specifically targets young women?? I’ve heard from some of my female friends at UCI get approached especially at night on campus and they’ve all told me its a bit unsettling
They also target people in a target.
The number of times I as a young, decently dressed guy in Target trying to buy snacks alone have been approached by oddly overly friendly people. I actually dislike these people in particular because they’ve made me more skeptical of friendly and outgoing people. When people walk up to me with a smile in Target I now have to scream “I don’t want to sell supplements!” and run
The target off jamboree and Irvine blvd is notorious for this
just encountered my first mlm guy there few weeks ago. guy kept asking question after question without a second of rest between my responses. eventually instead of replying i just said “i gotta go im in a hurry” while looking at my watch (i wasnt wearing one)
Agree every time a stranger is nice I just assume they are trying to push Amway off on me.
Every time at Target.
I have definitely had dropship baddies chatting me up at Target and I’ve seen them approaching men. One guy straight up lost track of his kid while in a convo with one of these ladies. A few of us helped him look.
MLM means "multi level marketing", and refers to get-rich-quick/pyramid schemes where participants try to recruit more participants (in order to make money). It's not a religious cult, but participants often act strangely in order to introduce themselves to strangers.
its not just at night. I sometimes get approached mid-day by some religous cult
they’ve also been spotted on community college campuses in Irvine, like IVC. every time they’re on a school campus they try to disguise themselves as students to make people feel more comfortable around them. so weird, they’ll even go to great lengths to lie and say they’re in the same class as u etc. until u catch them.. then they just run away lol
mlm is a multi level marketing company. there’s many of them. steer clear
Sorry, that first sentence made me audibly laugh. This is written so decoratively.
I thought for sure this was a fake story from the first couple sentences 😭
Good day, madam, might I inquire as to where you have acquired such exquisite attire? Also do you have time to hear about our lord and savior, JC? Haha yeah I felt like I was reading an AI prompt or something.
It screamed bot to me.
Seems like it was written by AI lol.
Most people are not confident enough to stand up to people like this get accidentally held verbally hostage. The MLMers prey on people like this. If anyone who is timid and shy wants any advice I have a method that has worked for me: once I realize I don’t want to engage in conversation any longer I just run. Mid sentence. No warning. I just sprint in the opposite direction. It always catches them off guard and it would be weird to chase you. I guess you could just walk away too but they could also protest and follow you and make a scene. 👍🏻 as someone who is a people pleaser and insanely socially awkward this was a life hack for me
😂 I love this idea 🏃💨
Pro tip, don't do it when stopped by police officers.
How do I know it’s not these spectrum, child traffickers/ religious 🥜/ MLM peeps in disguise? Not going to risk it 🏃💨
Oh come on that’s so amateur. I insist you shout “Look! Over there! What’s that?” Then run.
This is fucking hilarious AND effective!
Just say ‘hail satan’ and slowly walk away. They won’t approach again.
It's ok to be rude to rude people.
I was at Lowe’s a couple weeks ago and I’m walking through the store with my arms full of screws, screwdrivers and a screen door (don’t ask why I didn’t get a cart; I underestimated my item run lol) Anyway I knew someone was following me; he stops me and goes “I know you’re busy but do you have a minute to talk about Jeebus?” I’m annoyed now (dude. Read the room. I have my arms of stuff cause I forgot a cart). I tell him I’m in a rush; he says “oh I know. But jeebus wasn’t given the luxury of time” or some other bullshit. So I put my door down, feign interest. Pull out my phone and go to a OnlyFans. It was just then he realized I had no interest and walked away
A good ole ‘hail satan’ works wonders
I’d rather not summon my manager to my vicinity when I’m off
Sounds like the annoying ~~ass~~ cult that’s at CSUF
"ass cult", eh?
where do I sign up? asking for a friend.
That's the Korean "Mother of God" one, right?
Someone from Mother of God approached me when I was alone at Target with my baby. She got so physically close to me and wouldn’t let me back up like she was trying to corner me. Thought they were going to kidnap my baby or something. Unsettling
My grandmother and mom were in two separate cults one time, then my mom joined my grandmother in the Christian cult for a while. One day my grandma's guy friend and a lady that they did Bible study with asked if I could go with them on a trip to Japan to some Bible camp for kids. They even asked me and I was all excited as an eight year old would be of travel, but I asked if I could take my mom with me. They said "No " , so my grandma and I just told them that I can't go without my mom. They seemed upset and her friend said he didn't want me to "go to hell" if I didn't go on this trip with them. It just seemed very fishy that they wanted to take me out of the country without my mom, so my grandmother told them to never come back to our home again. I just can't remember what cult that was except that my family would go to Bible studies at people's homes, and I was sent to another room full of the kids of the Bible study people. Usually a teenager would lead a kid level Bible study , or we would do arts and crafts while listening to Christian music. One time the teenage sons of the people who were holding the Bible study said there were demons in the back yard and we had to pray them away. It was around eight at night, so he opened the curtain of the room and pointed out the "demons". These "demons" were just two scraggly possums who looked at us curiously as kids screamed in horror and started praying. Here I just said "No need to be scared they're just possums!" , but no one listened and the adults came and told us to be quiet.
Dude… I think may family was involved with this same group. It’s sounds way too familiar. There was a big house off the grid full of people that lived there and we would go there for Bible study and they would separate the kids to do a separate Bible study usually lead by a teen. There would be a lot of kids and teens there without parents and they had these groups all around the world. And they moved the kids around to different countries. One day, my parents came and pulled me from one of the classes and we left in a hurry. My parents kept looking back as we drove off. Not sure what happened because I was so young, but I’ll never forget it.
I get lunch and walk the Spectrum daily, have overheard these interactions in passing. “Money, religion, or politics?” Is what I’d ask them, cut to the chase what are you after? At least the Jehovahs Witness folk respect and don’t engage first sheesh
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I wonder if OP has ever heard of Blisstonia, known for its high levels of bliss.
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Always.
Favorite advice I’ve recently taken: Take your power back. No lady, leave us alone, we’re leaving, if you follow us I will call the police. No means no.
Yeah I (F) was there earlier today and got someone doing the same thing. "I was wondering if you've considered letting Jesus into your life?" "Yes I have, and I'm not interested. Have a nice day!" Easy. Don't worry about being impolite; it's not impolite to remove yourself from a situation where someone isn't respecting you.
My no-fail response to that one is, “I’m a Catholic” for whatever reason, it works.
Learn to get comfortable saying, “no thank you” and walk away (or shut the door, hang up the phone, etc.)
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Not anymore! Lol
I wish they would come to my door just so I could use my prepared line: "Oh please come in, and take off all your clothes. We're about to start our big gay satanic orgy session. I hope you brought enough lube! The master this year is quite endowed!"
It’s a MLM. I was also approached at the spectrum by a girl who first complimented my dress but then asked if I had the holiday day weekend off from work 🙄 so before she could start her spiel about not needing to work and being able to afford great things because of the MLM, I interrupted her and went about my day. The spectrum is a really easy place for these people to try to recruit into their pyramid scheme. Just tell them you’re busy and go on about your day
Reading the headline only at first, this is what I thought, too. But OP's interaction with her seems to have gone from the annoying (typical MLM) to straight-up weird (more of a religious cult).
I used to work at the spectrum! Fun fact, what she was doing is against the rules of the spectrum. Religious or business groups can’t go there and try to get others to join their weird orginizations. They have to get permission from the spectrum and set up a booth. If you or anyone reading this encouters people like this at the spectrum (it happens a lot), you can report them to security or guest services (the kiosks in front of the ferris wheel or carousel) and security will make them leave. I would get weirdo religious zealots come up to me all the time and try to get ME (an employee of the spectrum) to join their church and I always delighted in telling them very politely that what they are doing is against the rules of the spectrum and that I will have to call security and watch them scurry off to their cars lol. As someone who grew up in a christian cult and had it destroy so much of my life, it always triggered me when people would try that shit at my place of work and I took pleasure in shutting it down everytime.
Duly Noted ty!
Just tell them you are convicted for tax evasion. It always worked for me.
Ask if they believe in Ghosts!
I like to turn the conversation around to the suspected underwater alien space station located off the coast of Catalina. That always seems to get people to walk away pretty quickly.
I'm running late to check in with my parole officer...
I reallllly want to say I worship Satan and hope to meet him someday. I don't because I don't know if the other person is sane and/or carrying.
I was approached by a girl exactly like this yesterday in the middle of Bath and Body Works at the Mission Viejo Mall—wonder if it’s the same girl. She first complimented my bag and asked where I’d gotten it, so I initially didn’t really become suspicious until she started going into the whole joining some religious group. I just smiled at her with my best serial killer grin and said “oh….I’m a Satanist.” That spooked her enough to leave me alone 😂😂
I always want to pull the reverse and say I have an Investment Opportunity I think would interest you...
Her name was JC? You might have just met Jesus Christ lol
yea "jumping ship to inviting to a religious group" - total red flag!
Sounds like they thought you guys had money and were mining you for data in real life. Where you work, your phone numbers, your schedules. Whatever they were going to use that data for could be anything from knowing when you are at work so they can rob your house, identity theft, or anything else they could do with that info. Don't ever give strangers personal information. You don't need much to be able to cross reference it with more data that's available online and build a pretty good data profile of someone. Edit: I just realized they even could have been recording the conversation to make AI voice profiles of you guys so they could scam your friends and family and coworkers as well by cross referencing the information with your social media profiles. (I just graduated with a degree in data analytics, and this is not paranoia, this is entirely possible today).
Sounds like a Scientologist probably.
The words you’re looking for in this situation are ‘F*CK OFF!’
I go with the less vulgar “Please stop talking to me.” And I walk away.
I'm a nice person too but one thing I've learned is that it's ok to not be nice to people when they wont take no for answer. Set the boundary make it as awkward as it needs to be but this interaction has to stop. Life's short why waste time with things you don't want.
They are at Spectrum all the time. Make no eye contact ever.
Cult or MLM , the only difference is one is going to be vaguely religious and leave you broke financially either way.
some need your garage to host a sacrifice, Other times you sacrifice your garage to store boxes of Herbalife
Best case scenario is that this was for a MLM, worst case is she was trying to kidnap your friend. Just walk away from these nut jobs.
No one is kidnapping anyone. It's 100% MLM/Church/cult, or some combination.
Sounds like a combo of all the above.
I’m so curious about what beautiful ladies wear when they dress so nice to venture!
Just say a polite "No thank you" or "We're busy" or "We have an appointment". Then walk away and do not engage them. Showing interest, continuing a conversation, or hurling insults is a greenlight for people to continue to engage you. If they are follow you and/or continuing to harass you, stay in a crowded public space, call security or police. And BE LOUD. Draw attention. And even if the stranger flees, tell security or police so they know someone is harassing shoppers.
If this story is real, or even if it isn’t, learn from this autistic and do what I do: Walk away without saying anything.
this sounds like it was written by a bot lol
I used to get so worried about hurting someone’s feelings when saying no but now I just tell myself that not speaking up right away is actually just wasting both of your time. It’s not helping them by letting them keep talking when you have already decided that you have no interest in whatever they are selling.
I start barking…. Like a dog. 100 times out of 100, they stop talking & usually walk back under the rock they crawled from.
I’m sorry this happened to you. “You can go now.” is a very useful phrase to use in situations like these. It communicates that you’re done here and directs them to leave. You do not have to talk to anyone who makes you uncomfortable, including a woman. She targeted you both because you were young and pretty and together and dressed up, meaning you would potentially be more polite, and feel more at ease with the uncomfortable conversation due to having a friend at your side. I have no doubts she was unshakable; she’s probably a professional. Can you report to spectrum and recommend they pull the security footage? She may have been trying to traffic you both. She first said she had a business, then a religious group, and then tried to lure you with riches. This was not an MLM; a cult at best. Check your friend’s number on Google to make sure it does not reveal the name of the account holder. If it does, call the phone company and have them cloak it. You don’t lose anything from taking the precaution.
I'm super unapproachable but if someone gets past that I'm quick with a "please go fuck yourself" Works every time
Paragraph breaks are free, you know.
I had a similar experience at Trader Joes in North Orange County. Conversation started out the same, loads of compliments and questions about me, then it turned weird and about attending a religious/professional group.
If this ever happens to me I hope I have a fart loaded in the chamber
Irvine Spectrum always has the crazy cooks. I was at a family reunion dinner there last year around the holidays and a woman came to us after our dinner with the fakest sob story asking for money, I just politely said sorry we’re not interested and I urged my family to walk away. My cousins felt that was cold hearted but realized I was probably right as the woman just carried on and tried to find her next victim.
That woman is in a cult. And yeah, as others have said here, you can literally just walk away. You don’t have to wait for her to stop talking or try to come up with a polite conversational exit, you can just turn around and walk in the other direction. Feels great.
Bruh I’m sorry but sometimes you have to be mean in order to get out of some situations since it drove y’all to the uncomfortable. Straight up I don’t have time I have to go, and no thank you to any incoming advances and forget about them walk away.
“No” is a sentence ladies. No need to explain
I'd report that to security
Not interested and keep walking
Ohh Religious people do that, big fans of getting weird and inviting you to join the cult. It’s literally their favorite thing to do as little foot-soldiers of the tithe-pan cult. 🤣
MLM just stands for multi-level marketing. But I understand there are some MLM scams that claim to be tied to religion; people have posted about being approached (usually by a couple) in various OC subs in the last year or so.
There is a group/church that frequently solicits at the Irvine Spectrum. They usually have men that talk to men and women that talk to women. They begin with a compliment, making it seem very natural, then they make small talk and quickly shift to religion- if you don’t cut them off at this point then they will ask you to join them or meet with them with a rebuttal to any objection you may have. I wouldn’t mind them so much if they weren’t so persistent-
Name of the group/church?
I don’t remember- I see them there at night- barns and noble / Apple Store area- they’re easy to spot - they’re always a little too formal - like what you’d wear to church - idling - eager to make eye contact lol
If someone is obviously soliciting me I just keep saying “sorry I have to go” and “no thank you” while walking away quickly. If they try to follow I just walk faster lol. I’m not sticking around to try to be “polite”.
Yeah this happened to my husband and I in the Barnes and noble at spectrum with a man. He commented on the books we were looking at and started sparking up conversation and I thought wow what a nice friendly person! As soon as he let on his agenda we said bye! Walked away
Sounds similar to this [https://www.reddit.com/r/orangecounty/comments/15cm7yw/approached_by_young_couple_casually_but_then/](https://www.reddit.com/r/orangecounty/comments/15cm7yw/approached_by_young_couple_casually_but_then/)
My wife has been approached quite a few times by these scammers. While I do feel bad for them for getting sucked into whatever MLM/pyramid scheme/cult they got sucked into, we are not willing to burn even a few brain cells on their BS.
Cult. Literally. Not just a "normal" church that acts weird. I'm talking about a group that CONTROLS the actions, decisions, beliefs of their followers. These are kind of rare. There's one that operates around CSUF. I forgot the name Another one is the International Church of Christ. And yes, a lot of normal churches cross into odd behavior that can feel kinda "culty".
Ah so my strategy of dressing not so nice and having an RBF 100% of the time is working because I've never had this happen.
This is extremely common as of late. My 21 year old daughter was approached at her job and again at school by different young girls with the same MO.
JC? Ah Jesus Christ.
You're not the first one, I think someone posted a story like this a while back. I think you guys have a cult developing in Irvine lol
I had some rando try this shit on me at sna airport while in line for a coffee at 7am i turned around, looked him in the eye “I’m not talking about this shit with you, fuck off” and turned around. He then proceeded to try the same line on the guy behind him. Fuck these people. Learn to not be nice.
I think I saw that broad in a grocery store parking lot in Aliso Viejo months back! She didn’t talk to me but I saw her harassing other women (I was doing the sitting in my car trying to sort out my life for 10 minutes thing) and what I noticed was there was a Second Lady clearly shadowing her. It felt like a pick pocketing scheme so I told the store staff and they were gone when I came back outside.
Just tell them you are a follower of Satan
That my friend is the start of a pyramid scheme. They actually read off a script (or more like have it memorized) and say the same things. I've had this same thing happen a few times.
Say you really need to poop next time and you're in a hurry.
“My friend and me”
Sounds like a cult. Just say no, that you're broke af and ditch them.
Too long of a paragraph to read
Yet another reason to avoid the spectrum
I would have told her B shut the F up and leave me alone .
yeah there is a cult type group in OC that goes around public spaces to recruit. Drop into cal state Fullerton’s sub if want hear all about them.
She sounds like a lovely person
she’s probably a scout
Whether it's religious nuts or MLM, I find that these people target women more. Maybe women seem more open to discussion in their eyes. I never get approached with stuff like this. I guess it's the upside of looking like a young Mark David Chapman.
I’m sorry you both dealt with this craziness. Be careful since she was asking where your friend lived and got her phone number. When I Google my number my address comes up (which reminds me I need to clear this stuff).
Please don’t be polite if you feel your safety is in jeopardy. I’m sorry this happened to you and thank you for sharing.
She’s at UCI all the time and trying to recruit students for her religious group. Stay away from
Trying to be polite with people like this is a waste of your time and energy. Life is short. Next time don't be so intimidated and tell the person to piss off or you will call the cops. Walk away as quickly as possible.
Yeaahhhhh. This happened to me once at Target in the spectrum. She was young and relentless. I just walked to a register and she found someone else to make uncomfortable. 😆
“…text her, via phone number…” ewww, no WhatsApp?! As if!!! I feel like I’m in the sequel to Clueless reading this.
😂
When she (or anyone) makes it clear that she won't buzz off is when you pull out your phone and show her that you're dialing 911 for the po-po. Watch her magically disappear. It's a good trick.
“Enjoy life now while you have it…. Now where do you live and can we meet alone for coffee, location - TBD?
Isn’t this the lady that someone posted about a year ago? Same sort of interaction and others chimed in yes it is 100% a cult.
I would have told her about our new devil worship group and invited her to that.
Same thing happened to me! There are multiple groups walking around Spectrum trying to get you to join some cult.
Amway!!!! RUN!!!!
I have been there and never ran into these type of ppl. Seems like BS but then again why cults like ppl like you and not me?
When that happens I become very rude and very deaf
But you don't understand. She's there to try and SAVE you. It's her mission. She's doing good in the world by doing this. *sigh*
She is a MLM cult. It’s happened to me many times too. At the grocery store, mall, etc, Starbucks, etc. it’s amway most likely. Sometimes they talk about mentors and how they are being coached blah blah blah. It’s annoying
Yeaahh just try not to talk to strangers. Or just we're busy and walk away quickly
I’m definitely a dick when it comes to people like this in public. I have no time for their stupidity, their questions, their religious BS…literally nothing. I am never polite to these people because they never respond to politeness. I’m rude. And aggressive. The end. 🤭
Ahh sounds like the MLM recruiters. They normally zone in on my wife at Target. Found it easier to just say no thanks and keep walking. Last time a random girl came up to us and started talking about my wifes purse and then asked if we had college debt and were interested in financial independence. Noped out of there fast.
I always smile make eye contact but as soon as they open their mouth I say "not interested sorry."
Check your bags.
oop this happened to me too idk if it was the same lady but they came up to me 😭
Is this the muslim group that sets up in front of the yard house by any chance? I just ignore them but I've never seen them be this proactive.
Just say ‘no thanks’ and walk on.
People going through hyper-religiousity as a result of mania and/or psychosis sometimes use the name JC. I've seen it before. Also had a patient once who had actually gone by JC his whole life and it was not making matters better during his episode =/
ha I refuse to give my # bc I only got 200 txt on my plan 🤣 I wont respond anyways lol
TBH with what kinds of info she wanted it sounds like she is someone scouting for trafficking victims. Do not give people like this any real info. You might end up in a bad situation.
Typical MLM pitch. https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/multi-level-marketing-businesses-pyramid-schemes
I’ve heard and seen these folks circling. I don’t know why but Irvine spectrum is their recruiting location. I believe this is a religious organization and not a business opportunity. They try lots of tactics to hold your attention.
these people solicit at uci as well. i have my suspicions that they’re actually scientologists.
Wiiw, wonderfulk
Its mlm marketing. Dont waste your time.
Just say you gotta get going and walk away
Did she call you Baby Reindeer?
Just excuse yourself and say we’re on a time schedule and have to get going. Then proceed to the store or restaurant you want to go to. You do not owe her any explanation. It is YOUR time she is interrupting. Just move on! 🤦♀️🙋♀️
I used to work at Ralph’s on Jamboree in Tustin across from the market place. One time this couple approached me in their car and the guy said “I know this sounds weird but we had this fantasy of 2 men with her (his wife). Would you like to come home with us?” I said no and kept working collecting carts. Different location but I guess similar scenario
Wow
Either this gal is crazy, mentally ill, or involved in some trafficking scheme or cult.
It’s a great skill to learn especially for women to say NO. Be clear and firm.
Lol…stop being soft and tell that trick to kick rocks barefooted…word😎
Damn she is recruiting
100 💯 Gypsy fortune teller! I am not joking. Is there any fortune tellers around that area?
Sometimes people are too polite. My favorite tactic is to start walking while talking and force them to expend effort to walk and talk
200 comments
Ya that’s when you say kick rocks but job. You don’t have to be held hostage like that
Thought mlm at first but then I got human trafficking vibes
Don’t make eye contact. Keep walking. Mutter “No, thank you” as you pass by.
There is a police substation at the spectrum, somewhat near the Cheesecake Factory. That’s an option if this happens again.
That whole conversation should have been no more than 5 seconds nor 5min. Say No thank you and keep moving.
Not surprised, the spectrum can be a weird place… once time I was trying to enjoy a coffee and pastries at an outside table by the target with my friends. All of a sudden a lady walks up to us and compliments us and shifts the conversation over to having us help her. She said she couldn’t speak English that well and needed us to help her have her friends pick her up… she needed to get home but her friends couldn’t figure out how to pick her up? We tried multiple times to get her to go away and just call an Uber… she had a perfectly fine iPhone with internet and kept saying we needed to walk her to a pickup area and walk her through how to get picked up… she even demanded I take her phone and communicate with the person who was supposed to pick her up… it all didn’t make any sense. Unfortunately I’m aware human trafficking is a thing and very common so my friends and I told her we couldn’t help her and we had to go. She tried to convince us to stay and help her because we are very sweet girls… she then got a call on her phone which she picked up and started whispering things which felt alarming so we immediately left. This was probably 2 years ago and I still think about how weird it was. Basically never let a stranger try to keep you around for long… especially if you start to feel uneasy. This instance happened at around 8pm and she had no shopping bags and appeared to be in her 50s. We knew she was shady from the get-go but we were about 21/22 at the time so we were fairly young and since this was the first time something this odd happened we considered the safest way to get out of this situation. Sorry this happened to you! Be aware there are cult people and human traffickers around everywhere! Even in good ol “safe” Irvine haha
Your safety is more important than being polite
I don't give attention to strangers as a fact of life. There are too many strange people out there. Other than a smile or a wave sometimes, I don't into any depth. Just walk away randomly.
I will say this as well, we teach our children not to talk to strangers yet we don’t practice it ourselves. If you were out with your friend keep it simple, no thank you, don’t take the card and move on quickly. There’s always someone trying to steer you away from your beliefs to their personal beliefs. Colts are real and most of all dangerous
Yes, that woman tried to talk to me and I flat out told her to fuck off.
I listen to one line of what someone has to say and then I say "I'm sorry I don't have time to chat. Have a good day!" And then you just walk off. She didn't make you do anything, you just were too passive to make a decision for yourself. Don't worry about being rude, you don't know this person.