“Respect me and other women.”

I was leaving work, and there was a Street Sense newspaper seller standing at McPherson Square Station. As I pass, I hear him say, “Hey, Boo-Boo, how are you?” I turn around, and he’s looking at me.

“My name is not Boo-Boo,” I said. “If you want to address me, it’s Miss or Ma’am. Show me some respect.”

“Man, I wasn’t talking to you!” he said. Sure he wasn’t.

“I don’t care,” I said. “You need to show respect to women.”

“I ain’t say nothing to you!” he said. “Get on, I ain’t say nothing to you!”

“But when you disrespect women around me, it becomes my problem,” I said. “Show some respect.”

He kept denying saying anything to me and kept telling me to go away, and that he didn’t need to do “shit.”

“If you want to sell those damn papers, you need to respect me and other women,” I said. I was a broken record. Respect me and other women.

He kept talking junk, and when seconds before the light changed I pulled out my cell phone (I had my camera on me which would’ve gotten a better shot, but he would’ve known what was coming if I pulled that out) and took his photo. He acted like he wanted to cover his face with a paper, but my cell phone got the shot when he was pointing at me, seconds before he attempted to hide his face.

There are good people who sell Street Sense papers who are professional and respectful and I support them and buy their papers, but I’ve encountered too many guys like this who are unprofessional, rude, and very sexist when it comes towards their interactions with women. I will be contacting Street Sense first thing tomorrow morning. They really need to train their salespeople better because this is beyond ridiculous.

– Anonymous

Location: McPherson Square Metro Station (14th Street N.W. & I Street N.W.), Washington, DC

Date & Time: 7/19/12, 5:05 PM

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