Every now and then I will make a trip out from VA to DC to visit my best friend Ashley, who lives in the NW region of DC. I was in the city for the fourth of July weekend, and the incident happened on Sunday, July 3rd. We had plans to pick up a friend who was visiting from San Antonio and in Centerville for a few days, so we made a quick stop to get gas before driving out. As i went inside the gas station, I noticed that there was a man standing by the register with jumper cables. His glaring made me feel so uncomfortable that I checked my surroundings and realized that it was just me, him and the sales clerk. Then the man started rubbing the jumper cables on my lower back while i was paying for gas, yet the sales clerk did absolutely nothing. I turned around and gave him a look of disbelief, this only caused him to say “i love you” and to try to touch me again… At this point i was completely disgusted and walked out. My friend who was waiti ng in the car could tell that something was wrong and asked me what had happened. My immediate response was to say ” There was a man who made me feel uncomfortable..” Before I could finish my sentence, she asked me ” Did he touch you?!” Still feeling totally disrespected, I could only say “well.. yes..” I tried to remain calm while i was pumping gas, but I was nervous because Ashley got out of the car, without thinking twice and not to mention in heels to confront this scum bag!.. She started out with “Hey! I am talking to you.. did you touch my friend? Don’t you ever touch my friend again!” That was the only part without any profanity and the creep had the nerve to follow her outside. He started saying he never did anything to me, and it was his jumper cables. Like they had a mind of their own, or like he even had a car to jump!… I tried to remain calm, and got in the car without responding to his gibberish insults. When we were both inside the car, he ran over and trie d to start harassing my friend. She pulled out her cell phone and let him know that she was calling the police, which worked like a charm because the jerk started to walk away from the car. The coward finally had the nerve to try and throw an empty bottle of juice at the car as we were driving off. The fact that the sales clerk at this gas station did absolutely nothing was just pathetic and sad. Even though this was an experience that I would have liked to avoid, the fact that my AMAZING friend stood up for me taught me a huge lesson.

The very next night, while out with a group of friends at the Black Cat I had a disgusting loser come up and grab my butt. Instead of avoiding another confrontation, I went up to him and called him out in front of his friends. I asked him what made him think he could do that, and let him know that he had made a big mistake by doing so. I went on and on even though he kept apologizing and was really embarrassed. One of his female friends called him out for being disrespectful, and when my guy friends got involved i finally it go.

All in all i realized that more women need to be brave and to call these guys out on their bad behavior because we deserve to be treated with respect!….

Submitted by GIV on 6/10/2011

Location: 9th between O and N St NW

Time of harassment: Evening Rush Hour (3:30P-7:30P)

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