I walk to BART every morning and have to pass the corner of 24th Street and Bartlett. There's a middle-aged man who stands there, at the liquor store on the corner. He started out simply by saying "good morning," to which, of course, I initially replied "good morning," but it quickly escalated to a mumbled "tu eres muy bonita" and whatever else I couldn't make out. In and of itself the statement didn't feel like harassment except for his using the "tu familiar" form--he couldn't possibly have known that I understand Spanish (when I stopped responding to him altogether he said something about being sorry he didn't speak English) but that made me know that he was being inappropriate and overly friendly. Day in day out of this EVERY DAY and soon enough I came to dread passing this corner. I'm a 41-year old woman and am furious that this man has made me feel so uncomfortable walking in my own neighborhood. I saw him coming up the BART stairs early one morning--does he really take the train from somewhere else to come stand in my neighborhood and harass women? I don't have a camera phone, but if I'm ever carrying a camera when I'm on the street I'm taking his picture and sending it in. Thanks for starting Holla Back-SF!!
Submitted by Carla in San Francisco
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