A Day In The Life Of...

Here's a rundown of what happened to me after work:

"Like Father, Like Son"



I was leaving the drugstore and I am walking down the street. I hit an intersection and wait for the traffic to give me right of way. An older man (the one in white) comes up too close behind me. "Dude, you're too daggone close!" I say, and move away. Somehow this gives him the impression to move closer to me. I try to keep as far away from him until the light changes. As soon as it does I'm off.

The man is joined by a younger guy (the one in black) and they start going on about how fast I'm walking and how I "got a cute shape."
"What the hell?!" I said. They thought that was funny.
I got tired of this, stopped, pulled out my camera and took a shot of them. I made sure to stay as far behind them as possible, and eventually they got the hint and left me alone.

"Just Do It"



Still proceeding towards the train station going home, I walk past this group of blue-collar laborer types. The one in the "Just Do It" shirt was the ringleader of these idiots. They were all hooting, hollering, and barking like dogs. "Just Do It" punches his friends in the arms, then comes too close to me with "Hey, baby!" I thought this was another opportunity to take a shot of them. He was all for it first until I said "HOLLABACK!" (I know this isn't an official HollaBack site, but it's the same premise.)
"Hey, wait a minute!" he yells. "Is this that MTV shit?"
I had done what I needed to do and kept walking.
The realization of what I had did finally came to him. "You bitcccccccccccccccch!" he yelled, his voice trailing off as I turned a corner.
Well his shirt said "Just Do It," so I did it and snapped a photo of his ridiculous ass!

"Who Are The People In Your Neighborhood?"

I walked home from the train station and this ashy-looking guy with dreads would not stop staring at me. I gave him the "what the hell?!" look and he's like, "Nothin'...I'm just lookin' at ya." He then starts to laugh. I shook my head at his idiocy.

I made it home, dropped my stuff off and left back out to make a quick trip to put some clothes in a donation box. Men would not stop beeping at me from their cars. I got annoyed at one of the cars that I just yelled "NOOOOOOOOO!" as loudly as I could. This garnered the attention of these idiots who were loitering and getting liquored up on a bench (unfortunately I was too far off to get a good shot):



The one in black (pointed out with an arrow) got on his knees and got dramatic like "you can take a picture of me baby!"
I told them to "leave women on the streets alone" and went about my business.

If I can have a day, a week, a month, a year, the rest of my life not being harassed by these idiots on the street then that moment would be the happiest moment in my life. No one should have to deal with that mess on a regular basis.

On Home Soil

Nachel tells her story of being judged on the streets yesterday:

I was crossing the street outside my office, in a lovely mood, on my way to work. This guy was also crossing the street. He said "hi" to me and I said "hi" back, quietly. I usually do this if a guy seems like he's just being friendly (as opposed to offensive). He turns right, I turn left. He says, loudly, "all you foreigners are alike, I say 'hi' and you never say anything back." I was kind of shocked and said "I said 'hi.'" Then the "foreigner" comment, his sense of entitlement and general offensiveness hit me, and I yelled, on the streets of Georgetown, "AND IM NOT A FOREIGNER, FUCK YOU" asshole.

It doesn't matter whether one's an American or a foreigner...the generalizations this man made were insensitive and uncalled for. These men need to learn to not get an attitude because someone (usually a woman) doesn't respond back with the "perfect hi" for them. Men, it's not the end of your world...just move on.

Fighting Back

Reader Kate tells her story where the good guys almost won the battle:

Last night a big group of us were in Recessions, a hotel bar on L St. between 18th and 19th NW. We were sitting at a table against a wall, and there was this older guy standing really close to our table, all alone, and he kept giving us looks. You know those looks. It was making all of us extremely uncomfortable. My instinct was to move to another chair and ignore it, but one of the girls with us did something I was really impressed by, and was not something I (or most women) would ever even think of doing: she told a bouncer. Those guys took it seriously, and 3 big guys came and kicked the leering jerk out. Awesome. The irony, though is one of the guys who kicked him out had made a creepy advance on another one of my friends earlier in the night...

It would've been the perfect victory had one of the bouncers not tried to make moves on one of the friends. Negative aside, I'm glad Kate's friend took action and that that old coot was kicked out of the place. Well done.

Homeless "Holla"

Note: Homelessness is a huge issue in DC, one which I don't take lightly. Please realize that not all homeless people act like the fool I'm about to profile.



The above-pictured man was sitting on a Georgetown street bumming money from men who walked by, but catcalled at women who walked by. If a woman didn't respond to his catcalling in kind, he would call them a "monkey." He may have mental issues, but he knew good and damn well what he was doing when he was bothering women on the streets. There's no excuse for that behavior.

Once again, please realize that not all homeless people are like this. Don't let this loser ruin your view towards them.

Taking Back the Streets

Reader Si didn't remain silent in dealing with catcalling men. Here's her story:

Yesterday I was walking with my husband along the 600 block of M street past the 20 or so guys who always hang out on the south side of the block. as I go past I hear "Jugs of Joy!" I had to turn around and yell at the guy that he was rude & shouldn't be saying $hit like that to me...

That block gets really bad in the warm weather, my neighbors have complained a lot about that bunch. (I'm with the neighborhood association MVSNA) I sent an email to the property manager - the block is mostly owned by United House of Prayer.

Good job in not taking that mess and taking action. I hope they do get those losers off the street.

Don't Be Silent E-mail Address Change

Please note:

The new e-mail address to submit your stories, notes, comments, etc. to is dont_be_silent@hotmail.com. Yahoo has been giving me grief and Hotmail is easier to use.

Once again, please make a note of it!

EJ Takes On...

...some asshole that grabbed her ass in Adams Morgan. These fools make me sick!