My friend and I were on a train at about 2 p.m. last week. There were two people across from us and a man behind them. As my friend was talking, I glanced away and saw that the man was looking at me–he looked right into my eyes–while vigorously masturbating.
My heart started pounding and I told my friend not to look but something terrible was happening on the train. She asked me if we should try to get away from where we were, but there was no way to get away except to walk past the man. As the train started slowing down at the next stop, we decided to move toward the other end of the car where there were more people. I couldn’t think of anything but getting as far away from this person as possible.
When I got up I wasn’t thinking, and my phone and sunglasses, which had been on my lap, fell on the floor right in front of the man. I scrambled to pick them up as the train came to a stop and the man picked up my sunglasses and tried to hand them to me. I was so disgusted that I backed away and couldn’t look at him and my friend took the glasses, still not aware of what the man had done. He got off at that stop.
My friend was really sensitive about the whole thing and I was glad to be with her. She didn’t brush it off or pretend nothing happened, but neither of us knew what to do. The first and only other person I’ve told responded by laughing and saying “people are animals.” (When he realized that the experience upset me, he was kinder, but I haven’t wanted to talk about it since then.)
What upsets me most is that the image of this man’s penis and his horrible stare keeps coming into my mind at random times. I can’t escape that thought now–I can’t run away from what he did. And each time I’ve waited for a train or bus, I’ve worried that I would get on and find this man standing there, staring at me, smiling, his hand moving back and forth behind his briefcase.
– KS
Location: Brown Line train, Chicago, IL
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