OK, what an ***hole.... but he keeps moving to the edge of the purse department. Only then, a minute later he circles back and walks up next to me. "This is nice," he says, gesturing toward a purse. "Yes, it is," says in my best I'm-not-really-interested-in-talking-to-you tones. Family shopping nearby looks up. Creepy Guy walks off. But a minute or two later he comes up again behind me and mumbles something that I assume he thinks is going to make me hot and wet. (Something to effect of how much he'd like to do me -- but again he's mumbling) This time I just ignore him.
I go look at a display in the aisle just outside the purse section and I find something that I like. Creepy Guy walks up and mumbles something again. "Go away," I tell him bluntly. "Are you a man?" he demands. "More than you'll ever be," I think, but I figure now is not the time for a snappy comeback. Instead I give him my best I'm-gonna-****-you-up stare and say: "Go. Away. Now." Creepy Guy finally gets the message and scurries off before I tell him that I'm sure his friends would be amused if he got his *** kicked by a guy in dress.
Fortunately, the check-out counter was 10 feet away, so if things had really escalated I could've yelled for store security. As it was, I just went over there bought the purse (in part figuring Creepy Guy wasn't about to confront me while I was in line) and did make sure on the way out to
check that he wasn't waiting for me.
All-in-all, definitely an eye-opening experience. I was about the same size as Creepy Guy if it ended up getting physical, but I can only imagine what it's like if you know the guy harassing you is bigger and stronger.
FYI, there was some useful advice given in another forum I posted to:
One other lesson to keep in mind is don't be afraid to make a scene -- which in fact was the next step I had in mind. I'm sure he probably assumed I didn't want to call attention to myself. But if I'd said loudly "Quit bothering me" -- or better yet, "No I don't want to sleep with you, you creep!" (particularly dropping my voice into its deep resonate mode)never hesitate to let someone know what's going on - esp if you think there's some risk of someone following you out of the store/bar/wherever, because then at the very least, you can say, "look, i already told the clerk some jerk was following me, & she's getting security."
you can say that even if she isn't, too - but he might call your bluff, too. better you make a nuisance of yourself for safety's sake.
-- I'm sure that would've have sent him running.The main thing is to refuse to act like a victim and do unexpected things that will throw them off their stride. For example, I realized that one other thing I did unconsciously was to step toward him, which is asserting dominance through body language (just like you'd do with a dog).
Carol Ann