“What if he makes good on that threat?”

I was catching a bus home one night and some guy came on after me when I’d already sat down. I don’t like talking to total strangers (I have a bit of a social anxiety, especially around men) so I just smiled and nodded when he said, “Hi.” I kept smiling and nodding when he said, “How are you?” This was some stereotypical wankster, short and scrawny with rat-like features. They’re a dime a dozen in Cambridge (Ontario, Canada). Pissed that I wouldn’t answer him, he stalked off to sit at the back of the bus, muttering (as loud as possible, as contradictory as that sounds), “Bitch,” and then “All I wanted to do was stick my cock up your ass.”

So naturally was like BITCH NO YOU DI’IN’T, so I went and told the bus driver, who called security, and got him kicked off the bus and banned. A nice older gentleman at the front of the bus (where the bus driver had moved me for safety reasons) was kind enough to back me up.

I had a couple panic attacks afterward (one which resulted in a breakdown), but then I was fine. People kept saying, “I’m so proud of you!” but to me, it was just logic. All I could think was, “What if he makes good on that threat? What if he gets off at my stop and follows me home and tries to rape me?” I’d rather be “brave” and get his sorry ass kicked off the bus and be a “whiny bitch” and kick up a fuss about it than risk being assaulted.

– M. Hammond

Location: 55 St. Andrews bus, Ainslie Street Terminal – Cambridge, Ontario, Canada