Location:  Bus stop at Georgia & Columbia Road NW (Petworth)
Time: Night (7:30pm-12am)

I arrived at the 70 bus stop shelter to wait for the bus around 8:30 p.m. on March 31. I heard someone moving around inside the stop so I decided to wait next to it since it was dark. A man (maybe 25-30 old) came out of the stop to check for the approaching bus and noticed me waiting alone. “Hey baby,” he said, “you ever been with a black man before?” I didn’t respond. “I asked if you’ve ever been with a black man before?”

The bus arrived shortly thereafter and I sat down in a seat with no empty ones around it. The man followed me aboard the bus and took his time adding change to his SmarTrip. The bus stopped again to let people off, including the couple behind me. The man sat behind me. He tapped me on the shoulder. “Hey.” I ignored him. He tapped me again every 45 seconds or so for the next 12 blocks. Finally the man next to me asked if I knew him. I shook my head and he gave the man a talking to.

When I got off in Chinatown the man got off too, but thankfully didn’t follow me. I’m just glad there was someone on the bus to say something.

Emphases by CASS.
Submitted 4/9/13 by “CH”

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