Location: Grassy park; Dupont Circle
Time: Daytime (9:30am-3:30pm)

I lived in DC from ’90-’91. On a gorgeous day, which happened to coincide with my day off, I went to Dupont Circle to sit and enjoy the sunshine. After two hours of verbally chasing away and physically moving away from would-be suitors, I gave up. I went down the street to the ice-cream place, explained the situation, and asked if I could just sit there and read. The woman behind the counter had a sympathetic look on her face when she said, ‘Sure’. I bought ice-cream, even though I didn’t want or need it, in thanks (sic). Sadly, very few people who hear that story think, “How horrible, that you had to leave a public park because you felt physically threatened”. They see me as weak because I “should have stayed and just told them no”. Well, I did — but, after a quarter of my day off in the sun, I decided that my time and my physical safety were more important. Twenty-plus years later, however, I am still angry about having to make the choice between sunshine and safety.

Submitted on 7/20/12 by “Heather”