I was walking downtown with a friend. We were having a relaxing afternoon, coffee, walk by the ocean. I was walking her back to her Gastown loft. There was an Anime convention happening that day, so there were a lot of people in costume walking around. We were enjoying the people-watching, admiring the costumes and the energy of the festival. We went up to an intersection where five men dressed as anime characters had set up a sort of mock traffic control station. There was a large crowd of mostly young men with them. We stopped and watched. It was amusing at first watching these men dressed as superheroes directing traffic.
The scene turned sinister when a young woman on a scooter stopped at the red light. One of the costumed men jumped on the back of the scooter, putting his arms around her. She was clearly not happy with the situation. I started shaking. ‘I should say something,’ I thought. I scanned the crowd of men chanting and yelling their approval. My friend and I were two women, against a large group of men. What could we do?
She immediately fought back, pushing the man off the scooter, starting the engine and taking off. ‘You go girl,’ I thought. ‘Sorry I was no help to you.’
“Fucking bitch!” The anime man yelled after her. “Nice ass,” his friend shouted as she sped away.
My friend and I quickly left the scene, but I can tell you, I did not enjoy the appearance of men in costume for the rest of the week.
– M
Location: Vancouver, BC
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