I am a guy and I honestly have never had to think about being sexually harassed before, as smug as that sounds. On 9/3 at Jazz in the Garden, I had just gotten a pitcher of beer and I was chatting it up with my girlfriend and her friend at the Pavilion Café. All three of us were standing, and we were situated between the cash register and the condiments station- basically in plain sight. What happened next was totally unexpected to say the least.

A large (and presumably intoxicated) woman and her friend had just finished eating, and were passing by the three of us on the way to the revolving doors. As the woman passed me, she nonchalantly extended her hand and groped my crotch. Mind you, this wasn’t a tap or an accidental graze–this was a deliberate 2-3 second “plant and clamp” with a bowling ball grip… and it wasn’t gentle to say the least. As her hand was approaching my genital region, my first thought was “oh no, I think my fly is down and she’s going to call me out on it”. It took me a few seconds to comprehend what happened, and as i turned around to see who the perp was, was just laughed and walked away as if no foul was committed.

What irked me the most was not the groping itself (which, as I stated before, was quite rough), but it was the fact that no one seemed to care. Not only did Gropey Groperson and her friend walk away, but being that this was in plain sight, at least two other people saw what happened and just looked at me as if to say, “dang…”. If I was a female, I’m sure the response would have been different.

It would be a lie for me to say that I’m emotionally scarred, or scared that it will happen again. I simply wanted to point out that this stuff happens to men too. Stay strong and vigilant, my brothers.

Submitted by Anand on 9/4/2010

Location: Jazz in the Garden

Time of Harassment: Night (7:30P-12A)

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