Damn! This is my third harassment submission this week. The warmer weather has brought the fools out full force.
Right when I get off the bus to head to work this morning, this scrub leans into me and says “Good morning, baby.” I respond with “I’m not your baby!”
Then he says “Yes, you are my baby!” Ew!
Frustrated, I pull out my phone in an attempt to snap his photo, and he yells “Aw, shit!” and starts running, but not without yelling “Bye, bitch!” as he turns left off of M and onto Wisconsin Avenue, thinking he was going to get away.
“Ignorant!” I snapped. “I am not a bitch!”
Though I refused to run, I followed him. He continued running down Wisconsin, heading south towards K Street.
He makes a left turn into some alley, and unfortunately I lost him. I make a left turn into where I thought he went, which was near a place I believe was called the Georgetown Ministry. I believe this was a homeless shelter. I asked the people waiting in front of it if they’d seen him, giving a description of him (middle-aged Black male, average height, above-average build, wearing a red hockey jersey that said “blazers” in white on the back), but unfortunately they hadn’t.
“Are we supposed to be looking out for him?” one man asked. I didn’t know what to say.
“Uh, he’s just someone who’s no good,” I said. I thanked them and walked off.
I’m so upset right now I just don’t know what to do. I was originally upset that I wouldn’t have time to run for my morning coffee. Then I was upset that this idiot ruined my day by calling me his “baby” then calling me a “bitch.” I was also upset that I couldn’t get his photo and he got away with demeaning me. To top that off, I was late for work and my boss doesn’t like me, she being one who completely ignores me and looks at her feet anytime I come her way (even if I try to be pleasant and talk to her), and when she did that to me this morning, I nearly lost it.
I stopped talking to family and friends about my harassment because they tell me to “accept a compliment,” ignore them and not to react. They’re going to say “you shouldn’t have followed him” and stuff like that. How the hell are they going to tell me how to feel and react when they don’t go what I go through?
I feel that today’s harassment incident was a domino effect of negative events, and not a great way to start the beginning of what was such a warm and beautiful morning.
– anonymous
Location: Georgetown, Washington, DC
Share your street harassment story today and help raise awareness about the problem. Include your location and it will be added to the Street Harassment Map.
northporter says
I’m sorry. I remember living in Washington and I got it a lot there for some reason… more in Georgetown and on the bus in the Inter national area. I moved to green lake and it didn’t happen nearly as much. Just please be safe. I have had men try and hit me or worse when I responded. One time I told a guy the I wasn’t his baby ( same thing that happened to you)… and he chased ME down the street w/ his belt. Scarred the mess out of me. I try to ignore most men… and I have stopped being ashamed of hurting anyone’s feeling by crossing the street before they even say anything to me. If it makes me feel safer, I’ll do it. But, I understand abut your family not supporting you… it gets very lonely. I’m glad you share w/ us on the site. I always read you post and I know Seattle… so I feel for you. I hope you have a better day today.
Not Guilty says
Where I live in Canada, it is a small city, so I don’t get much of this (though I have in the past). But I posted a link on my fb to the article in the Huffington Post about the woman who was beaten for saying ‘No’ to a guy in a bar. A female friend of mine posts, “Are you turning feminist on me?”. I kept the reply polite, saying I’ve been feminist for awhile. But I really want to ask why being upset about a woman being beaten for saying ‘No’ automatically makes me a feminist (and why that is a bad thing!). I do not go looking for misogyny, in fact, many times I’m willing to brush it off. But reading about women dying and being subjected to violent assaults because they refuse a man’s advances, that makes me sick. Because of this blog and stories like yours, I don’t feel like I have to keep quiet if I experience street harassment. I always just rolled my eyes and ignored it, but now I am pretty sure I’d do what you did. So thanks!
Golden Silence says
What?! Harassers are criminally insane!
elaine says
This has become out-of-bounds ridiculous. Police and law enforcement officials need to begin taking this problem *much* more seriously and becoming way tougher about enforcing laws to protect women (and others) from this crap. These idiots are really beginning to get the signal given to them that it’s okay to harass, it’s okay to take harassment to even higher levels, and it’s okay to virtually assault anyone who attempts to resist it. Tolerance for the homeless and mentally unstable who are unfortunately on the streets through no fault of their own is one thing; but when their behaviors rise to this sort of level it should *not* be tolerated, period. And this is not meant to imply that only people in that category engage in these behaviors–this kind of thing is becoming increasingly prevalent across all socioeconomic levels, and it needs to be met with active *loud* resistance when and wherever it occurs, no matter who the harasser might be. Law enforcement becoming really serious about criminalizing this kind of behavior and bringing stiff penalties to bear against it would be a major step in getting the message across that our society is no longer prepared to tolerate this from anyone, no matter what their rationale or ‘excuse’.
b says
I chased a guy down the street one time after he yelled at me out of his car window and the (former) friend I was with told me not to be so reactionary and to get over it too. I’m sorry people don’t respect how upsetting this is for you.
Margaret says
Damn! I’m sorry that happened. Harassers are such imbeciles.
Vandana_mishra says
If you are fighting for Women rights then see the blog of Sri Rahul Kumar Singh Political Writer,Ara Bihar India
http://www.rahul123way.wordpress.com
send your precious comment
Sarah says
Good on you for chasing him (although, be careful, he could have attacked you). You probabaly scared the bejesus out of him!