I would love to get home from work in peace. Today I walked to bus stop, and this man was standing right in the middle of the path that I usually take, ranting and raving while smoking a cigarette. I was having an out of sorts day and I didn’t want to engage him. I originally considered walking all away around and out of my way to get to the bus stop, but I shouldn’t have to inconvenience myself. So I steeled myself and walked past him while he was rambling on about junk to his friends.
The bus finally came after about 10 minutes, and as I went to board it I hear, “‘Scuse me, sweetie! Psst! You dropped something! You dropped something!” He would not stop saying “You dropped something!”, but I knew I didn’t. All my things were accounted for. The “You dropped something!” crap is the oldest harasser trick in the book. Had I really dropped something, he would’ve specified what it was. I chose to ignore him.
“You dropped something…your behind!” he said, and he and his friends started laughing. I dropped my behind?! That makes no damn sense. I knew that it was a ploy to get my attention and was glad I trusted my instincts.
I boarded the bus, but I didn’t want to leave the scene without calling him out. I opened the window, and yelled, “HEY, THE GUY WHO SAID I DROPPED SOMETHING? STOP HARASSING WOMEN!” I then snapped his photo.
He and his friends just laughed, and the guy bent over and shook his butt at me. Ew. That was something that I did not want to get a shot of.
I then took another photo, and yelled, “STOP HARASSING WOMEN! SHOW SOME RESPECT!” I closed the window, and the bus drove off.
I had a previous incident with street harassment in the same location (story here), but I’m not sure if these were the same people involved. This area tends to attract sketchy men who don’t know how to leave women alone, but their presence won’t make me change where I take the bus. They need to change their ways, not me.
The guy standing in the blue shirt is the harasser, and sad to say, one of his friends being entertained by his antics is a woman. I wonder how she’d feel if she were the recipient of unwanted attention, but of course it’s funny to her because she’s not the target of it at the moment! Sigh.
– Anonymous
Location: McPherson Square (Washington, DC)
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