Woman Throws On Random Shirt From Goodwill To Go To Target. Then A Man Approaches Her—She’ll Never Wear It In Public Again

If fashion is anything, it’s fickle. And often event-specific. The clothing you wear to Burning Man is not what you wear on a Target run.

Mostly.

But when you’re in a hurry, there are occasionally things that get overlooked or forgotten. So when Jas (@justtheejp) went to head out to Target, she wasn’t paying much attention to her outfit.

Free Hugs Shirt

Text on her video reads, “Target horror story.” And the caption says, “I have never been so scared at Target.”

“I went to target wearing this shirt,” Jas says. She then holds the T-shirt out so that viewers can see it. In bold white text on a black background, the shirt says “Free Hugs.”

Next, she says a man started shouting her down. “I hear this man saying, ‘Excuse me. Excuse me,'” Jas explains that she’s “in her own world” and isn’t paying too much attention. It’s not until she hears “Excuse me, ma’am” that she realizes she’s being directly addressed.

She looks up from pushing her cart, and she describes “this big dude” walking up to her. His arms are outstretched, “open wide,” she describes, and he’s coming up to her.

Her response? Jogging away while thinking “Oh nooo!” to herself.

“I was so scared,” she admits.

Then he continues talking to her. “No, it’s your shirt. Your shirt says ‘Free Hugs,'” he explains.

Jas had an ah-ha moment. She barks out a short, unconvinced laugh.

Problems With Wearing A Convo-Starting Shirt

Jas explains that she never wears the shirt in public, but her mom was taking a nap, and she “didn’t want to wake her up to change.” Next time though, she says she’ll take the time to find a different shirt.

Either way, she tells her audience, “Don’t wear this shirt. You will be tracked down by a big dude tryin’ to grab you.”

Women immediately recognize a problem with inviting strangers to interact, uninvited.

“As a 6’5” woman I would NEVER. I already got randoms coming up to me all the time this shirt would be my actual nightmare,”one said.

Another agreed, writing, “I don’t wear anything that will starts a convo [sobbing laughing emoji] not even anything they need to read.”

Then, another said, “Donate it to the next poor soul.”

Jas replied, revealing that she “actually got it from goodwill.”

Is It OK To Ask Strangers For Hugs?

When considering whether to engage with a stranger, and especially when asking to step inside their physical perimeter like for a hug, it’s always good to read the room—or, as the case may be, Reddit.

On the thread, r/LifeAdvice, which asked, “How would you feel if a random stranger come up and ask for hugs,” people weighed in.

One user even made a distinction about stranger hugs: “Honestly, it just depends on the person. Some are givers, and others are takers. Some just radiate love, others are plain cold and find it repulsive.”

Others considered personal safety. “I would be really reluctant to hug a random stranger who said those exact words, because I would legitimately fear getting knifed in the back or otherwise harmed,” another shared.

The National Library of Medicine acknowledges that “brief interactions with strangers can enhance well-being,” it is worth remembering that a pleasant chat is one thing. Chasing a woman down for a hug she’s not thinking about is another.