I was walking down M Street yesterday evening, and one of the men who begs for change and harasses (the one who wears a hat that looks like a Pepperidge Farm Goldfish) felt the need to refer to me and other women walking by as “pretty ladies,” like we were there for his viewing pleasure. Gross. I don’t like being talked to like a piece of meat.

I know there are going to be people who come here with that “Can’t you take a compliment?” or “Would you rather he have called you ‘ugly’?” mess, and my responses to that are “Yes, I can take a compliment, but in the right time and place” and “No, I don’t want to be called ugly, but I don’t need someone’s opinion that I’m ‘pretty’ either.” When I’m walking somewhere my only concern is getting to my destination, not being “complimented” by men I don’t know and don’t want to know.

Submitted by anonymous on 10/6/2010

Location: M Street & Wisconsin Avenue

Time of Harassment: Evening Rush Hour (3:30P-7:30P)

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