“It is not o.k. to follow women or to not take no for an answer”

I was recently almost at my apartment building in NYC when a man who was hanging outside the deli at the corner said, “Hey, you’re really gorgeous.”

I ignored him of course and walked the half a block to my front door when I realized he was right behind me. He cornered me at my front door and said, “I’m sorry to follow you but I want to know if you want to continue this conversation.”

I said, “No, I can’t” which was stupid, I guess, because he thought “I can’t” meant, “I want to but I’m busy.”

And he said, “You chose your words carefully see you said I can’t…” I then got very forceful and told him I did not want to talk to him and he needed to leave me alone and walk away.

He became very belligerent and started ranting about how I was “retarded” and didn’t know how things work in this neighborhood because I must be from “Ohio or Seattle” or something.

I’m not, but I didn’t tell him I just kept telling him to leave and stop harassing me. I had my key in the first lock of the door but I was afraid that if I tried to go into the building he would try to push in behind me. I figured I was probably safer on the street where there were a lot of people walking around. He finally backed up enough for me to go inside. He was ranting and cursing and obviously very drunk as he was not only a complete jerk but making absolutely no sense at all.

I was pretty shaken up and extremely angry when I got inside. It is not o.k. to follow women or to not take no for an answer.

– Anonymous

Location: East Village, New York City