to stalk or not to stalk?

There seems to be a lot of problems lately with the word stalker. I have received many reports from men and women alike that claim that they use the term very loosely. A woman once told me that she called a man a stalker because he called her three times in the same day to ask for a homework assignment. The woman admitted to being overweight and having stringy hair with lots of acne. She then agreed with me that the guy was not stalking her, and that she should not flatter herself. She hadn't been on a date in two years.

I spoke to a man recently, who claimed that a woman sent him five text messages, three of which were funny jokes. He told me that he had labeled her a stalker, and that this was unfair. She was just trying to be friendly to him, and he had overreacted. He was just not interested in her so he reacted with anger, and reached for the cliche 'stalker girl.'

For me the word stalker can be applied when someone is outside your window with a flashlight at night and continues to tap on the glass with a nickel.