Harassed By DC Bus Driver: “I was relying on him to get me home, not hit on me & make me feel unsafe!”
Location: “E” bus from Friendship Heights to Petworth
Time: Night (7:30pm-12am)
I was rushing to the Friendship Heights bus stop after work around 11:30pm but slowed down once I saw that the driver was still standing outside the bus. As I approached I reached into my bag to pull out my metro card and a slip of paper fell out; I picked it up and went to get on the bus. I then hear from behind me, “hey, you dropped my number back there” and turn around to see it was the bus driver. I find that “pick-up line” to be very uncreative and just plain stupid (as most of them are) so I reply “Oh yeah?”, annoyingly chuckle, and continue to board the bus while ignoring him.
Its a full bus and I sit near the front so when its time for me to get off at my stop I walk towards the front exit. As I’m turning to walk down the steps of the bus I feel someone reach out and tap my hand. I turn around once again to see the bus driver with a stupid grin on his face and he is starting to rattle off his phone number. I immediately say “ha”, give him a dirty look and step off the bus.
What I really felt like doing was yelling at him to leave me the hell alone. I encounter street harassment on the regular, as many other people do too, and it is never ok. This particular situation made me uncomfortable because it was someone that I was relying on to get me home, he was on the clock for a public service job, and he reached into my space and physically touched me. Don’t violate my space, looking for attention!
Emphases by CASS.
Submitted 5/9/13 by “Sara Shaw”
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