It would depend on the issue. Clothing "malfunctions" then stranger or not I would and have taken them aside or walked up to them and quietly informed them of whatever the issue was. Health issues, such as a nose bleed, I'd do the same if they seem oblivious to it and continuing to just wipe your face would indicate that. Hygiene issues are always more difficult but once it's been raised they benefit too. Never yet has a person I've told of an "issue" been ungrateful, be it clothing, hygiene, or whatever - it's how you tell them and the tact you employ, not what you tell them.
I'm to straight forward, the total opposite. I unfortunately don't care if it's on my chest I let it all out. I do not get embarrassed and say exactly what there is to say
Carrie, do you think gender comes into the equation at all? I mean, if a young woman is being chased by a socially awkward lumbering oaf shouting "oi, your skirt" and waving their arms around, she is bound to feel intimidated. I don't like that fact about our society but it rings true. Whereas if a woman were to do the same thing perhaps the level of intimidation would be substantially lower? I think this is sort of hard-wired into the sensitive male psyche. Obviously a loud-mouth alpha would probably wolf-whistle and then shout "I can see your knickers love!" Perhaps it's this we try to distance ourselves from, who knows. Maybe not though, I've seen plenty of chaps wandering down the street with loo roll hanging out of their trousers, or sat in shorts in the park with a testicle flapping in the wind, and I've never felt the need to point those issues out either... Perhaps many of us don't consider ourselves all that tactful. Interesting side note, the trainees referred to in my OP were male and female, both in their 30s, not typically socially awkward at all.
I work in London. No-one chases down someone else unless they're after your money or your life! Unless you've left something in a shop, and then they just might As I said, it's how you do it. Would you want a guy who was 6'6 and built like a proverbial brick **** house running after you, assuming you're not running a marathon? But if you heard a voice over your shoulder quietly say "excuse me but I thought you'd like to know you have a toilet roll hanging out of your pants ... " you might well be grateful Tact and gender don't have come into it - do you want to, or let others, laugh at the person who's in the predicament or help them? The one time I didn't say to a person they had something hanging out of their trousers was because he already knew he was exposing himself on a train The key word there is trainees - who wants to raise something with you that for some god unknown reason you may not appreciate when they aren't yet secure in their jobs?
Why wouldn't someone say something about a nosebleed? It's blood dripping out of a person's nose! I'm your stereotypical nerd and get them a couple times a year, usually around winter. I've never had one go unnoticed in public long enough for a stranger to need to tell me, but consider it a different issue to personal hygiene and won't hesitate to stop whatever I'm doing to take care of one.
I feel I ought to clarify before anyone else gets the wrong idea, we are talking about 2 or 3ml of blood here, not a full on nosebleed. The main factor was that I wiped it all over my face and nobody told me
I don't go to the same parks you go to because i have been missing this, do men really wear shorts that short, how quaint If your nose was bleeding in front of me i would gratefully tell you were having an alien encounter.
I live in a parallel world where John McEnroe is still winning Grand Slam tournaments, and Magnum PI is fresh and new. And they hang out in parks.
i would have told you regardless of how well i knew you... if you were a close friend i would have asked if you needed a tampon for your face, but if you were a new acquaintance i would have politely suggested you go to the restroom because you had a nosebleed
Funnily enough, I believe this has some root in 'old english politeness' and sensibilities. People can be wilfully ignorant if they choose and they might even think they are doing you a favour by not embaressing you etc.. And to back up this point, the attitude of Scandinavians in general to this situation and any other social interaction is open honesty and mutual trust, straight off the bat, every time. You can definitely see the differences in culture in these situations. Extreme example; even if it was a group of completely drunk teenagers, you can be 95% sure someone will still point it out to them and will not get abuse for it - in DK.
