I was not expecting a middle-aged couple to verbally abuse me
Location: 17th & T Street NW (U Street)
Time: Night (7:30pm-12am)
I was walking home from a friend’s house and talking on the phone with my partner. As I was walking, I passed by a two men, who appeared to be a couple, walking their dogs together – specifically, finishing picking up their dogs’ poo on the sidewalk. I walked by them, thinking nothing of it, and a second later the invective hurtled at me: “You almost stepped in dog shit, you dumb bitch!” I turned around in shock — I was not expecting a middle-aged couple to verbally abuse me — and asked to their retreating backs, “Did you just call me a dumb bitch?” One of them turned around and said “Yeah I did, get off your fucking phone and pay attention.” The only thing I could think of to say was “That’s incredibly rude” to which I was told to “get a life.” I suppose part of the shock I felt at this harassment is that it wasn’t sexual at all, and though I suppose they could have been friends, the men appeared to be a couple doing a very routine activity. Just goes to show that street harassment takes many forms.
Submitted 8/15/16 by “Sarah H.”
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