There is a reason why I am not fond of older men staring at me. Whenever I see one looking at me in a gross manner, I get irritated and pissed, to a point where I’m either threating to knock the life out of them or running away to go cry. Most of the time, people take it as a joke. People say things like, “Oh girl, he probably has a lot of money” or “Go ahead and take one for the team.” I may laugh at it just to get my mind off of it, but it never truly goes away.
I was sexually harassed by an Old Man in a Walmart parking lot.
I remember heading to Walmart to buy a few things. When I got out of my car, I noticed another car drive by and parking on the other side of the row, about 3 spots ahead of me. What I saw was an older man, probably in his late 60’s, early 70’s and his grandson get out of the car and walk towards the entrance.
Before I could close my door, the old man and his grandson were already walking past me and the old man said, “That’s a pretty car you have there.” Not thinking too much about it, I said “Thank you” and let it be.
The old man approach my car and his grandson walked to the entrance, leaving it with just me and him. He started asking me questions about school and my major, nothing serious.
Then that’s when things got uncomfortable.
He starts looking at me up and down and starts complementing me on my hair and skin tone. Then he asked if I had a boyfriend. I said not at the moment, I don’t. He goes on to say “Well, I can be your boyfriend or your sugar daddy if you like.” I tried to laugh it off, like this old man is crazy, but then he kept pushing it.
He was telling me how he could take care of me and how he would make sure that I was protected and provided with the best. I started to freeze up a bit, but I said “No I’m great.”
Then he goes on to tell me all the inappropriate things that he would like to do to me and flicks his tongue at me. How he could make me feel good and I could make him feel good. Immediately, I am at a stake a shock, to a point where I had no words to say. My body could not move and I felt numb for about a minute. I didn’t know what to say. All I know is that I didn’t want to be there anymore. After my shock went away, I told him that he was making me feel uncomfortable and that he needed to get away from me. I jumped into my car, but he kept apologizing and saying he didn’t mean to make me uncomfortable. I jumped into my car and drove off.
I got home and burst into tears with too many emotions running through my head, like Why didn’t I fight him, How could I have let it go that far, Why did I freeze up like that.
I remember coming home and telling my parents and I told them that I wanted to call the police, but after a while I decided not to because I felt like the police would not do much. Till this day, I still regret that decision.
So to those who find it funny when an old man stares at you in a sexual manner, it’s not a joking manner. Every time I see an old man looking at me, I immediately go back to how I felt that day with that creep at Wal-Mart. It may be minor to you, but I am constantly reminded of that day every single time I feel or see one looking my way.