Hey seddit,

This has been a problem that has been plaguing me for a while:

  1. How long is it socially acceptable to hold eye contact with someone?
  2. You're just surveying a crowd and notice an AMOG staring at you. How do you handle eye contact then? Do you "lock" stares? For how long? What if they get aggressive?

I always feel that if I initiate eye contact and get a reply, I am usually the first to look away. Now there's a couple of reasons why this happens. First of all, I had a "childhood event" that has made me very conscious of this, ever since. Secondly, I seem to attract trouble whenever I look at drunks, machos, chumps, frustrated strata, etc... they get aggressive. The rub is that I'm 5'5 and weigh 123 lbs - I am skinny, so this actually doesn't work in my favour. Now, I've been told that I have an "intense gaze" and all that.. but honestly, I just love looking at people, especially attractive ones. I know when I'm being a creep so I know when to stop, especially if it's a lady. The problem is that I'm almost mentally counting or trying to avoid a stare back... but having a confident look without "fearing anything" is such a confidence booster! I know because when it comes to girls, this works wonders... it's the chumps that seem to give me trouble.

What do I do seddit? How do you handle such situations?

tl;dr OP thinks that prolonged eye contact increases the risk of getting his ass kicked

edit: "eye contact" is a better word than "stare". english isn't my first language :P