“Even the people who are hired to protect us can be the ones harassing us.”
Location: Chinatown, near McDonald’s on 7th Street NW
Time: Daytime (9:30am-3:30pm)
Today, during my lunch break, I was walking back to my office from Washington Sports Club in Chinatown. I noticed a man and woman walking towards each other, and the man seemed to be saying something to the woman. I realized that he was a security guard (from the patch on his jacket, though I’m not sure where he was supposed to be working), and then I realized that he was leering at her and making comments. He was looking her up and down, saying things like “how you doin”, to which she mumbled something and opened the door to McDonald’s. Even when he’d passed her and was several feet away, he was still turning around and staring at her. It was really disgusting and I may have called him a name in response to it.
It made me realize that even the people who are hired to protect us can be the ones harassing us. I was worried for the woman and then worried for myself once I spoke up towards him.
Luckily he didn’t react to me and kept on his way. But again, what do we do when people in authority positions harass us?
Submitted 3/21/17 by “M.G.”
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