I had a weird encounter at a local fried chicken shop in my area the other day. I was ordering my food when a young black man, who I presume was in his mid to late teens and had a somewhat thin build, came in and asked me if I could buy him food. I agreed to, and proceeded to let him choose before paying for his meal and smiling at him.
He didn't smile back, though, nor did he say thank you. A white, older-looking man was eating in the corner, and the woman who took my order was considerably short and frail-looking. This young man wore a black hoodie and shorts with trainers, and it looked like he had some sort of white paint or powder on his clothing that mildly dusted his attire. I assumed he was either homeless or in a rough financial spot.
I sat down and waited for my food since I had placed my own order before paying for his food. I immediately felt uncomfortable and wary of this stranger because of his demeanour. he kept staring at me and pacing around aimlessly with an unreadable blank expression. I kept my eyes on his hands in case he had something on him and was planning on attacking me or something. I didn't let him out of my sight and made it a point to make sure he knew I was looking in his direction without looking directly at him.
When it looked like he was about to leave my line of sight, I asked, "You good?" to which he proceeded to walk back into my line of sight. The server asked me what drink I wanted with my food, and the guy must've mistakenly thought she was talking to him, so he answered in my place. After he did that, I got up and walked around to the corner of the counter and asked her if I could get a Capri-Sun with my meal. The guy was standing uncomfortably close, and I continued to look at his hands from the corner of my eye in case I needed to fight or do something to protect myself.
I received my food in a bag, and the guy asked, "Is that for me?" and I told him ", Oh no, this is mine, your food's coming", or something along those lines. I then left, and he continued to stare at me even through the window as I walked back towards my car.
There might have been a likelihood that the kid was mentally unwell, and that's why his mannerisms seemed so out of it from my point of view. Overall, it was a weird encounter.