It would be weird if we lived in a world where it was considered universally acceptable to slip into a stranger’s DMs with an explicit message.
Thankfully, we do not live in such a world. However, it does still happen, though a good sense of humour can be a great shield against such online invasions of personal space.
Now sassy mum Debbie, from Brentwood, has gone viral after her daughter shared her hilarious response to a complete stranger who contacted her via Instagram to suggest, in no uncertain terms, that they have sex.
Now, I’m not the most romantic person in the world, but I would hazard a guess that there are very few rom-coms out there which begin with the male lead DM-ing the object of his affection with the opening line ‘hi sweetheart, can we f*ck?’
Unfortunately for this chancer, he had picked the wrong woman to mess with when he slid into Debbie’s DMs.
The no-nonsense mum cut straight to the chase, quipping:
Can’t at the moment I’m in Tesco’s.
Apparently not quite getting the jokey brush-off, the unnamed man replied:
Can you get me some kinder bueno please. They’re 3 for £1.20.
The exchange was shared online by Debbie’s highly amused daughter Darcie, who tweeted screenshots along with the following explanation:
Some freak messaged my mum on insta n she replies with this […] I cant deal with her.
Although not completely impressed with the man’s sense of boundaries, Darcie had to admit ‘least I know my man has good taste’.
The screenshots have gained over 103,000 likes at the time of writing, with Debbie having since becoming something of a legend amongst those who have grown weary of internet creeps.
One person described her as a ’10/10 mum’, while another hailed her as ‘a icon, legend, and goddess’. A third person joked, ‘If he’s desperate, I hear the tills in Tesco’s will occasionally go down on you’.
However, others noted that, while Debbie’s response was indeed very funny, the reality of receiving such intrusive messages can be very frightening for many women and shouldn’t be treated as a joke.
As one person commented:
The bants is real but on a serious note the bloke is a creep…
According to statistics from the Women’s Media Center, between 25% and 40% of US adult Internet users have been harassed online. 57% of those reporting harassment are women.
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Jules studied English Literature with Creative Writing at Lancaster University before earning her masters in International Relations at Leiden University in The Netherlands (Hoi!). She then trained as a journalist through News Associates in Manchester. Jules has previously worked as a mental health blogger, copywriter and freelancer for various publications.