I was walking home from a party one night in a friend’s apartment, a little intoxicated and worried about getting home, which was about an hour’s walk. It was early enough in the night, and town was packed, but even still, a man decided it was appropriate to approach me. He walked behind me for a few minutes, making sure I knew he was there, then tried to engage me in conversation.
“Hello”
I ignored him and didn’t break stride.
“Oh, you are so beautiful!”
I continued to ignore him, continued walking at the same high speed.
“This is not the first time I have seen you tonight”
Creepy, but I kept going.
“Everyone is looking at you!”
This was just not what I needed right now, so I stopped, looked him directly in the eye with a dragon stare and just went “Oh… THANKS.”
Then, without waiting for a response, turned on my heel and continued walking without looking back. He didn’t follow.
Another time I was walking home, a bit later, on a deserted street. A man started the same shite with me, insinuating himself on the edge of my walk, then walking up and saying hello. This time I was just not having it. I was sober, I was pissed off at the sheer amount of times this happens to me, so I decided to let loose and give him a piece of my mind.
“This is not the way you meet women!” I snapped at him, he looked confused, like this had never happened and he asked me what I meant. “You don’t just walk up to people on the street and start talking to them!”
“Oh I’m just walking!”
I don’t remember this word for word but I kept giving him loads, and then he said he was just going to keep walking, and I said, “GRAND!” and stopped, so with his momentum he kept going a couple of paces, and I crossed to the other side of the street. He kept shouting over that I was a bitch, kept at it, calling me a f***ing bitch until I just shouted back, “”I DON’T GIVE A F*** WHAT YOU THINK!””
That shut him up.
Optional: What’s one way you think we can make public places safer for everyone?
All I can say is teach women the right attitude, everything I’ve read of success stories from this site is all people who either ridiculed their street abusers, or physically fought back and got them arrested. I always walk around Dublin alone with a fast stride, my arms crossed, radiating a confident attitude, and I take exercise and self-defense classes. While this clearly doesn’t always stop people from approaching me, they soon learn that I’m not going to be a victim, and they f*** off. These people are tiny-minded little bullies who want an easy target, not someone who’s likely to kick their ass or make them feel like the rude people they are.
– SK
Location: Dublin, Ireland (George’s street and then up near Rathmines, respectively)
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