When the stoplight turns green and the shady grey van zooms off, the man sitting next to me scoffs.
“No respect,” he says in a thick Spanish accent.
“I’m sorry?” I say.
“They have no respect, the way they look at you,” he says, shaking his head.
“Oh,” I respond, a bit surprised. I have never had a stranger– let alone a male stranger– stand up for me in this regard. “Yeah, I know! It’s awful!” He nods, taking a long swig of his beer.
When this man first came up and sat down next to me, I had a thousand possible scenarios of what could have gone wrong– a young woman sitting alone at the bus stop late at night us particularly vulnerable. Yet, this man sat quietly for probably 15 minutes without saying a word, quietly sipping his beer. Despite all he could have done, he was nothing but respectful, even when the cowardly men driving by were not.
When it finally comes, we board the bus together. I sit down and the man stops in front of my seat. He extends his hand. “José.”
“Melanie.” Then I said, “Gracias José,” and truly, truly meant it.
– Melanie
Location: Near the Little Tokyo Metro Stop, Los Angeles, CA
This is part of the series “Street Respect. “Street respect” is the term for respectful, polite, and consensual interactions that happen between strangers in public spaces. It’s the opposite of “street harassment.” Share your street respect story and show the kind of interactions you’d like to have in public in place of street harassment.
