I once gave a dude named Cecil my number. I found him attractive enough. I didn't know anything about his personality other than he had way more cajones than I did at the time; I never would have approached him, and if I had, it certainly would not have been on a crowded bus. I was deeply flattered that he'd gone to a lot of trouble to get next to me. But for me, at the time, it was too intense. He'd been staring at me for who knows how long. I finally responded to the feeling of being watched and we made eye-contact for a few seconds. I was in the middle of the bus; he was all the way in the back. He pressed past scores of people, against the flow of boarding passengers to get to me. At the time, I was incredibly unused to any attention from guys my own age at all. I had only ever been approached by predatory older men. I remember I kept getting lost in my own fevered thoughts, but somehow, through the fog, I heard him ask for my name and later for my number. I gave him both. Then I immediately panicked, and exited the bus several stops early. He called a bunch of times, and I eventually made up a lame story and asked him not to call back.
I had no boyfriend, and no children. I was just very limited in my experience, and frightened off by his confidence. Honestly, things like that happened with me all the time after that incident, until I realized I was the kind of woman who needed to be the aggressor. I do not respond well to dudes who pick me up. It freaks me the fuck out, even if I like them. And yes, once I became the pursuer in my interactions, I was on the receiving end of this behavior on occasion.