I remember once when I was on my way home from work and I was standing at the bus station waiting for my buss. When I worked evening shifts I usually finished right when the metro closed for the night. Sometimes, if I finished up quick and ran, I would catch the last train. But this night was one where I did not make it before it closed.
I was alone at the bus station for a while until a man shows up and kindly asked when the bus was coming and where it was going. The information he was requesting was simple, I told him nicely that the bus comes in 5 min and that it was headed to Port de Clignancourt. He thanked me and said that I was being very helpful.
It was about here where this seemingly normal man became very creepy. His previous kind smile turned into one of those “I got you now” grins, and he asked me if I was married. Stunned and surprised I just stared at him. He continued to say that I was very beautiful, and that he would make me his girlfriend tonight. He asked for my number and even tried to touch my hair and my face.
Of course, I had already lived in the city for some months, so I was relatively used to this behaviour. In these situations I would usually pick one of my many strategies. In this particular situation I chose to prolong the escalation of the conversation; meaning I would take a few seconds to answer and answer slowly. Making sure he would not get mad or encouraged. This went on until the bus came and the funny thing is when I went on the bus the man stayed behind. He never meant to take that bus.
The next times people asked me for help when it was late and I was all alone I would just lift my shoulders to sign that i didn't know and ignore them.