Photo by Shutter Bug Chef

I was walking a friend’s dog while he was out of town when a guy on a bike stopped next to me and asked me a few questions about the dog, which made me wary, but all in all, was no big deal so I engaged him. Presh golden lab, by the way.

Then he switched into questions about where I lived (I gave a vague “around here”), my name (gave a fake one), and what I did. It would have been awkward for me to leave, because 1) the dog was um, doing it’s business; and 2) I wasn’t exactly going to run away with the dog. It was the middle of the day, moreover, and I had a dog with me, so I felt relatively safe, just creeped out.

Then the dude asked “Can we be friends?” I responded, “Um, I don’t normally make friends with people I don’t know.” He gave me some crap about “But we could get to know each other and be friends!” I told him that no, I wasn’t interested in “being his friend,” nor was I going to give him my number, as he had requested.

He looked positively insulted that I wouldn’t give him my number or agree to be friends with him, and asked why not.

I thought about giving him some b.s. reason (e.g., “I have a boyfriend,”) but I figured that after years of street harassment and being cornered by “polite” men on the street who apparently don’t care or don’t know that they’re intimidating, honesty was the best policy.

I told him “Look, I’m sure you’re nice and not creepy and all, but lots of creepy men have approached me on the street in the past, and I don’t KNOW that you aren’t creepy or a rapist. I’m not saying you ARE, but I’m just saying I DON’T KNOW. So, maybe you should stay stuff to guys you see hollering at women on the street, because the less of that shit that happens, the more apt you are to be able to approach women in public without them immediately getting their guard up.”

He looked like he had never previously considered this possibility.

Blowing his mind felt nice.

Submitted by anonymous on 7/19/2011

Location: NY Ave area subdivisions

Time of harassment: Day Time (9:30A-3:30P)

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