I was walking home to my apartment which is two blocks from the Clarendon metro station when I passed the Clarendon Grill. A vaguely drunk guy grabbed my arm, wrenched me back towards him, and began painstakingly reciting his phone number at me.

Fortunately, part of what I love about living where I do is the presence of armed guards 24/7 outside a government-related building across the street from the Clarendon Grill, so I knew I could basically do whatever I wanted and the situation wouldn’t really escalate. I grabbed his wrist, peeled his hand off my arm, looked him in the eye and said, “You know I’m not even going to TRY to remember your phone number, right? I don’t go out with guys who grab women on the street,” and kept walking. His friends all died laughing, which I knew was more because “damn, you just told told by a GIRL” rather than “ooh, you deserve to be embarrassed because you don’t know how to behave in public,” but it still felt nice.

He called after me “Can we start over?” I turned around, gave him the middle finger, and kept walking. It was the first street harassment experience I’ve had where I walked away very pleased at my response – but that’s because I always want to get snarky and rude back. I wouldn’t have done it if I wasn’t across the street from police officers and security guards that I walk by on a daily basis, but it was nice that I felt so secure in telling him off.

Submitted by anonymous

Location: Clarendon

Time of harassment: Night (7:30P-12A)