Location: Green line toward West Hyattsville Metro (Maryland)
Time: Evening Rush Hour (3:30pm-7:30pm)

As I left the West Hyattsville Metro on my way home after work, I passed a man on the sidewalk. He acknowledged me, so I smiled (and by smiled, I mean pursed my lips and barely turned them up at the corners) and nodded at him as I passed. Immediately he turned and said, “Damn, why you got a pretty smile?”. Right then a bus was passing, so I figured I could pretend I couldn’t hear him over the bus noise and kept walking, but I could hear him repeat it again as the bus passed. Once the bus was past, it turned into, “Hey! HEY! HEY – why you got a pretty smile?” but I kept walking… until I could tell that he had turned around and started following me. So the next time he said it, I turned around and said, “Excuse me?” and he stopped and said, once again, “Why you got a pretty smile?”. I responded, “You’re asking why? I don’t know. I was born with it?” and then I turned around and started walking again. Again I could hear him following me saying “Hey!”, so I turned around again because I didn’t want him to see which way I was turning down the street from the Metro. I asked him to repeat his question, but instead he said, “You ain’t married, are you?”, so I said, “Yes. I am.” After that he said, “Damn.” and finally turned around and startedwalking back towards the Metro. I took a detour back to my house because I was so frazzled.

Submitted on 7/19/12 by Anonymous

If you experience or have experienced sexual harassment on the DC Metro system:
Please consider reporting to Metro Transit Police: www.wmata.com/harassment; 202-962-2121.