Yesterday I was minding my own business, shopping for some cough medicine at the local CVS when two older guys came up behind me. They stood so close to me that I could feel their breath on my neck, but they were not close enough that they were touching me. I froze. They took turns asking me questions.
“What’s your name sweetheart?”
“Where you going?”
“Where you from?”
“Hey why don’t you talk to us?”
The questioning continued even when I gave no response. The smell of alcohol radiated off of them. My friend was in the back of the store and nobody else was around. Unsure of what to do, still facing away from them I said, “I’m sorry, I have to go.”
They responded,”Why, you don’t want to talk to us?”
I slipped out from in front of them and quickly made my way to the front of the store.
Nothing happened. I was fine. But what if something did?
I share this story, not because I am scarred or sad, but because I am angry. I am angry that two men think they have the right to do that. I am angry that a lot of you reading this have probably experienced something similar or maybe even worse. I am angry that this isn’t the first time I have had this happen. I am angry that I have to think about my safety when shopping at CVS.
So, what can we do?
I honestly don’t have the perfect answer. In a perfect world, we would all respect each other. But in this world, I know that we can keep telling our stories, raising awareness, and supporting each other.