Hi. I've been a lurker of this sub for quite a while now. As a young (21) male I discovered this sub and TRP at the age of 20. Ever since then I could not turn back. I've always wondered why the dating world in general was so bad, and the manosphere gave me answers.

Now, the concept of AWALT. This is something I never truly got on board with. I believed that all females had a nature, I just didn't think they'd ALL act on it if given the opportunity. I'm quite inexperienced in dating in general due to a rough childhood, so I'm only just learning first hand about what getting involved with women is truly like.

Now onto my experience:

I had started taking the bus to work a couple months ago, and I saw this attractive but shy girl who regularly takes the same bus at the same time every morning. Now, by shy I mean REALLY shy. She'd always have headphones in and would stare down at her phone 24/7. I figured, with the state of the dating world, she was my best bet. So I started talking to her and things went well. She started blushing very noticeably and was really keen to speak. We got to the topic ages and she disclosed she is 28. That's when I mentally backed off and so when the bus arrived I decided that I'd stop speaking to her as there was no potential with the age gap. Over the period of like a month acting as a stranger towards her, she is constantly trying to get me to talk to her and give her attention. Smiling at me, standing close to me, sitting near me on the bus etc. You think she'd get the message that I no longer want to talk to her after a MONTH of ignoring her. So yesterday I speak to my dad and he advises me to just let her know that I'm not interested as the age gap is unsuitable for anything serious. So today I see her on the bus and sit behind her. I tap her on the shoulder and tell her that I'm sorry for ignoring her but I was initially interested and the age gap is what turned me away. She say's it's fine and she understands and that we can still be "bus buddies". We go on to talk about jobs and life and stuff and we get to the topic living arrangements in which she reveals she's MARRIED and has been so for around 2 years, living with him for around 6 years. I was just there shocked. Why would a 28 married woman want anything to do with a 21 year old kid? Would her husband approve of her behavior if he knew what happened? Likely not.

I could just be overreacting, as I mentioned at the beginning I have little experience with actual dating. But I wouldn't be happy with what she did If I was the husband. This girl seemed so innocent as well.