Last night (June 27) I was at the CVS on Columbia Pike in Arlington near the Drafthouse about 7:30. While I was in there, I noticed a WMATA employee wearing one of those bright yellow/orange vests staring at the woman in line in front of me waiting to check out. I didn’t pay it much attention, then. After I checked out, I walked out to the parking lot, and he was parked next to her, in his WMATA work vehicle. My car was parked right behind the WMATA vehicle, so that I had to walk past them to get to it, and I heard a snippet of their conversation. It went something like this:

(Scene) Him: A WMATA employee, in uniform and his work vehicle. An older man with gray hair and glasses. Her: A 25-30 ish young woman and had an accent I didn’t recognize.

Him: “Yeah, but can I get your number and call you sometime?”
Her: (trying to be polite) “I’m sorry, no.”
Him: “Come on girl, you like like you need a man.”
Her: “Actually, I have one.” (Shows him her wedding band)
Him: “Oh. Well, if you ever want a man on the side, you know who to call.”

The whole time, he’s standing so close to her car that she can’t close her door without hitting him with it. He finally steps back and she closes her door, but her window is cracked open. He keeps talking to her even as she’s trying to drive off. She handled it well, but looked a bit flustered. I wish I’d stepped in and said something, but I admittedly didn’t want him to turn his attention to me. I did manage to get the numbers off his car, though. I reported it to WMATA. Here’s hoping they do something about it.

Submitted by MW on 6/29/11

Location: CVS on Columbia Pike, near the Drafthouse in Arlington

Time of Harassment: Night (7:30p-12A)

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