LeannL
01-29-2012, 08:23 AM
I had the day to myself and, being only 15 miles north of New York City, I decided that it would be fun to revisit the Museum of Modern Art. My landlord interrupted my preparations because I needed to move my car. So off came the dress and on came a pair of pants and a shirt. I didn’t take the finger nail polish off but I didn’t flash my fingers at him either. After getting dressed, I hit the road, got gas and arrived at Secaucus Junction to take the train into the city.
The train ride was not an issue although it was crowded. Secaucus is the last stop on the line before Penn Station so the ride is short. I found my way out of the station to 7th Avenue and headed to MoMA. I decided after my Blackberry said that it was a mile walk that I should take the subway (I wasn't sure how my feet would hold up in the boots I was wearing.) I got on the B train uptown and was quickly on 53rd St and walking to the museum. The crowd was not as large as it was the last time I went and with hardly any wait, I purchased my ticket and was off to enjoy the artwork. I spent the next several hours looking at the likes of Picasso, Dali, and a number of other artists whose names I can’t spell (never been my strong point.) Through all of this, I didn’t detect anyone reading me or if they did, they hid it well.
I decided that it was time to leave even though I was having fun. I left MoMA and picked up the E train which brought me directly into Penn Station. All was fine until I got off of the train.
Just after I got off of the subway, a man came up beside me and in a low voice said something like “You look pretty today”. I don’t know if he read me or if he was just looking for an older woman. I can’t say that my clothing was anything but conservative- dark gray dress, black scarf, camel colored knee length jacket and black heeled boots. The man continued to walk beside me and he may have said something else to me. We reached a stairwell and I stopped and let him go down first.
At the bottom of the stair, the tunnels forked and I saw that he was going to the right and I, luckily, quickly realized that Penn Station was to the left. So I let him think I was following him and then quickly ducked left and headed to Penn Station. I walked quickly in hopes that I would get lost in the crowd but to my dismay, he was soon beside me again speaking softly to me about looking pretty but nothing explicit.
Through all of this, although I was uncomfortable, I realized that I was in a public place with thousands of people around me so I still felt reasonably safe. What I was trying to avoid was a scene. So I continued to walk to my destination and actually picked up the pace. He continued to walk next to me for a short while until I essentially did a basketball pick. I walked past a group of people in front of me without giving him enough space to get around them. So he was eventually discouraged and left. I did not look back to see where he went but since he had started down another tunnel when I first encountered him, I suspect he eventually decided to get on with finding his train.
Through all of this, I did not speak. I did this for several reasons. First, I didn’t want to acknowledge him. This would encourage someone like him and I didn’t want that. Second, if my voice cracked and I was read, I felt it could get worse. If he had thought that I was a GG, we all know what sometimes happens when a man realizes he has been fooled by a guy and I wanted to avoid that. Also, I didn’t need the crowd around me to read me as you never know where that could also lead.
I tell this story for a number of reasons. I am someone who has gone out whenever I wanted to and have never felt endangered until now. While I believe that I handled it well, other things could have happened that I may not have been able to control. While I felt slightly endangered, I did keep a cool head and realizing that I was in a relatively safe place (police are all around) I just kept with the crowd and tried not to provoke the guy. So for me, a lesson learned: be it that I was seen as a GG or a TG, there is always the chance that some guy could hit upon you when you are not interested and we all need to be prepared.
Like my sig line says, Stay Safe
Leann
The train ride was not an issue although it was crowded. Secaucus is the last stop on the line before Penn Station so the ride is short. I found my way out of the station to 7th Avenue and headed to MoMA. I decided after my Blackberry said that it was a mile walk that I should take the subway (I wasn't sure how my feet would hold up in the boots I was wearing.) I got on the B train uptown and was quickly on 53rd St and walking to the museum. The crowd was not as large as it was the last time I went and with hardly any wait, I purchased my ticket and was off to enjoy the artwork. I spent the next several hours looking at the likes of Picasso, Dali, and a number of other artists whose names I can’t spell (never been my strong point.) Through all of this, I didn’t detect anyone reading me or if they did, they hid it well.
I decided that it was time to leave even though I was having fun. I left MoMA and picked up the E train which brought me directly into Penn Station. All was fine until I got off of the train.
Just after I got off of the subway, a man came up beside me and in a low voice said something like “You look pretty today”. I don’t know if he read me or if he was just looking for an older woman. I can’t say that my clothing was anything but conservative- dark gray dress, black scarf, camel colored knee length jacket and black heeled boots. The man continued to walk beside me and he may have said something else to me. We reached a stairwell and I stopped and let him go down first.
At the bottom of the stair, the tunnels forked and I saw that he was going to the right and I, luckily, quickly realized that Penn Station was to the left. So I let him think I was following him and then quickly ducked left and headed to Penn Station. I walked quickly in hopes that I would get lost in the crowd but to my dismay, he was soon beside me again speaking softly to me about looking pretty but nothing explicit.
Through all of this, although I was uncomfortable, I realized that I was in a public place with thousands of people around me so I still felt reasonably safe. What I was trying to avoid was a scene. So I continued to walk to my destination and actually picked up the pace. He continued to walk next to me for a short while until I essentially did a basketball pick. I walked past a group of people in front of me without giving him enough space to get around them. So he was eventually discouraged and left. I did not look back to see where he went but since he had started down another tunnel when I first encountered him, I suspect he eventually decided to get on with finding his train.
Through all of this, I did not speak. I did this for several reasons. First, I didn’t want to acknowledge him. This would encourage someone like him and I didn’t want that. Second, if my voice cracked and I was read, I felt it could get worse. If he had thought that I was a GG, we all know what sometimes happens when a man realizes he has been fooled by a guy and I wanted to avoid that. Also, I didn’t need the crowd around me to read me as you never know where that could also lead.
I tell this story for a number of reasons. I am someone who has gone out whenever I wanted to and have never felt endangered until now. While I believe that I handled it well, other things could have happened that I may not have been able to control. While I felt slightly endangered, I did keep a cool head and realizing that I was in a relatively safe place (police are all around) I just kept with the crowd and tried not to provoke the guy. So for me, a lesson learned: be it that I was seen as a GG or a TG, there is always the chance that some guy could hit upon you when you are not interested and we all need to be prepared.
Like my sig line says, Stay Safe
Leann