Photo by IntangibleArts via flickr

At about 8:30pm, Friday March 12th, I was getting ready to exit the Petworth metro, when a man walking a bike got super close to me (there were not too many others around). When he was about a foot away from me he said. “Hey there sweetheart, I hope you have a WONDERFUL night.” while looking me up and down. I turned sharply to him and said, “WHY WOULD YOU SAY THAT?” in a loud voice. He actually had the nerve to look confused, and said “What? HAVE A GOOD NIGHT?” To which I replied, “NO, ‘sweetheart.’ I’m not your sweetheart, I don’t know who you are. Don’t talk to me.” (People were now starting to look.)

He quickly backpedaled with a look of disgust. And for a brief second I felt guilty. Guilty when some guy comes up to a woman walking by herself in an empty metro. Amazing. I am so sick of this b.s. that some people think passes for being friendly. I have to deal with it on an almost daily basis, and my responses have become more and more angr y. Please don’t call random women you don’t know: honey, baby, sweetheart or anything else. It is so possessive, and rude. I spent the rest of my walk home looking over my shoulder for a biker.

Submitted by DH on 3/15/2010

Location: Georgia Ave./Petworth Metro station

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