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Within the last week or so at Job #2, some of the girls have been harassed by older male guests roaming in groups of three or four. One particularly horrible experience happened to one girl who was put in a location that was fairly far removed from her supervisors. She was attending her station, when an older man (in a group) cornered her and demanded that she give him a kiss. She would back away, and he would keep invading her space. I don't know how this resolved, but it didn't end with her giving into his demands.
Another girl was complimented in a way that made her feel very uncomfortable. She was dumping trashcans and accidentally knocked one over. When she went to pull it back up, an older male guest told her that she was "the prettiest thing here in [Job #2]" and leered at her until she left in a hurry.
I didn't think this would happen to me. I realize this is very naive of me, because sex crimes can happen to all women, all shapes, sizes, and degrees of attractiveness. For the life of me, I can't think WHY I would assume that I was safe. Perhaps my self-confidence and personality have drawn me into a false sense of security. But lo and behold! The other day, I'm minding my own business, sweeping as I wait for customers (the position I have at Job #2 involves me doing very artistic, awesome things for guests), when behind me, I hear a guy say to me, "Nice pair of legs."
I look up. I glare. It's an older man. Either he didn't like what he saw (my appearance) or he didn't like what he saw (my expression), because he quickly back-pedaled and said, "I meant my legs."
My response was a very icy, "I would hope so," before I went back to sweeping, keeping one eye on him to make sure he didn't do anything funny.
The experience left me creeped out, and for the rest of the day, I kept a look out for this guy and his group. However, I'm happy that I was able to stand up and respond in a way that discouraged him and told him that there was no way in hell I'd let him get away with objectifying me, even only slightly. In all fairness, I should have called unwanted attention to him just has he had tried to apply unwanted attention to me. I should have yelled, "Stranger Danger!"
Guys like this attending family places like Job #2 and harassing the female staff? It's not cool.
Another girl was complimented in a way that made her feel very uncomfortable. She was dumping trashcans and accidentally knocked one over. When she went to pull it back up, an older male guest told her that she was "the prettiest thing here in [Job #2]" and leered at her until she left in a hurry.
I didn't think this would happen to me. I realize this is very naive of me, because sex crimes can happen to all women, all shapes, sizes, and degrees of attractiveness. For the life of me, I can't think WHY I would assume that I was safe. Perhaps my self-confidence and personality have drawn me into a false sense of security. But lo and behold! The other day, I'm minding my own business, sweeping as I wait for customers (the position I have at Job #2 involves me doing very artistic, awesome things for guests), when behind me, I hear a guy say to me, "Nice pair of legs."
I look up. I glare. It's an older man. Either he didn't like what he saw (my appearance) or he didn't like what he saw (my expression), because he quickly back-pedaled and said, "I meant my legs."
My response was a very icy, "I would hope so," before I went back to sweeping, keeping one eye on him to make sure he didn't do anything funny.
The experience left me creeped out, and for the rest of the day, I kept a look out for this guy and his group. However, I'm happy that I was able to stand up and respond in a way that discouraged him and told him that there was no way in hell I'd let him get away with objectifying me, even only slightly. In all fairness, I should have called unwanted attention to him just has he had tried to apply unwanted attention to me. I should have yelled, "Stranger Danger!"
Guys like this attending family places like Job #2 and harassing the female staff? It's not cool.
