MetaChat - Cool heads prevail

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09 November 2008

Cool heads prevail A guy decided to masturbate while watching me work in the yard today.→[More:]He drove up on my side of the street and parked one house up at first. Then he drove away, turned around somewhere, and parked across the street from me, window open. It took me a minute to figure out what he was doing, but then once I did my first reaction was to walk to the back of the car and get his plate number. He peeled off, but not in time. NC# /NUMBER REDACTED/, baby.

Cops came immediately, got my report and went to go find him.

Interestingly, I wasn't scared or bothered when it happened, nor am I now. I feel really strong and awesome, actually.

Three cheers for ME!

post by: Stewriffic at: 16:02 | 27 comments

Hip hip hooray!

Seriously, good job. I always end up feeling so grossed out and violated when that sort of shit happens that it takes all my energy just to keep my shit together.

posted by occhiblu 09 November | 16:18

Right on. i hate those guys.

posted by ethylene 09 November | 16:31

And....now I just had to call the cops again. This time it was a man who walked by my house, asked me for a favor (which I turned down), and then weaved his way down the road calling me a motherfucker.

posted by Stewriffic 09 November | 16:50

Good for you for not freaking right the hell out!

Right on. i hate those guys.

What the hell? Is this sort of thing common?

posted by rhapsodie 09 November | 16:57

What the hell? Is this sort of thing common?

When I was 15, a guy pulled over to me (at 10am on a major thoroughfare) and offered me money to blow him. The world is full of pervs.

posted by jonmc 09 November | 17:00

Egad, Stewriffic, I'm locking you up. Seriously, good for you to calmly get the first guy's license number. Hee, I hope the cops find him and if nothing else scare the crap out of him.

I just don't get it. In these days of surveilance cameras, camera phones, caller id, return call...how do people think they can get away with things like this and obscene phone calls?

posted by redvixen 09 November | 17:01

I think he figured I'd be too bothered and freaked out (which would have been entirely warranted!) to do anything. I'm also proud that I didn't react in any perceptible way; I suspect he'd have found that, ahem, gratifying.

posted by Stewriffic 09 November | 17:05

Gad, what a night!

Good on you for keeping your cool and getting that guy's tags.

posted by jason's_planet 09 November | 17:33

Oh ew.

posted by sperose 09 November | 17:35

Could someone please delete the tag number I included?

posted by Stewriffic 09 November | 17:38

What the hell? Is this sort of thing common?

There's a park in my hometown just south of Missouri State campus called Phelps Grove where this sort of thing happens all the time. I've also been followed three times driving through that park at night by men looking for anonymous gay sex. The first time I admit being scared to death (I was a kid, and Springfield is about as far removed from diversity as a town can possibly be), but by the third time it was just annoying.

posted by middleclasstool 09 November | 17:40

I live near two parks separated by a bridge you can walk under. One day I was walking my friend's dog and right there, plain as day, not behind a buch but RIGHT IN FRONT OF IT, one guy was giving an other a bj. I saw this walking by. I took a few steps back, looked at them and shook my head.

Another time walking the dog, it was Autumn, I walked by a large bush with no leaves on it, and there was a little troll of a guy crouched over staring at me. It was the middle of the day so I stopped turned to look at the guy and said, "You know, I can SEE you". He still seemed to want to have at it with me. Frikin' clueless!

And I thought it was just my fellow gays but from what I've seen, nope! So yea, this sort of thing happens ALL the time. Once you begin to see it, you see it everywhere and the only thing we can do is report it. Great work and thank you Stew!

posted by MonkeyButter 09 November | 17:41

tag number = license plate number.

Who should I contact here on site to get that deleted?

posted by Stewriffic 09 November | 17:50

One of the admins. So: seanyboy, taz, iconomy, dg, arse_hat...

posted by mullacc 09 November | 17:53

Done.

posted by chrismear 09 November | 17:55

K, thanks. I've emailed everyone.

On preview. THANK YOU, chrismear. I had a neighbor email me to say that he found me here via googling the plate number from the message I sent to the neighborhood listserv. Phew.

posted by Stewriffic 09 November | 17:56

In the time i commented to now, sirens came and went.
i closed my eyes to take a nap with the Bees and then she got up to the slamming and commotion.
Apparently, one of my nice neighbors who is spitting distance from me just had a heart attack.
i just saw her yesterday morning or something. Guess she has a long history of heart problems, but i hate the idea of the bullshit commotion around my place being part of the cause, and i had this weird sense of silence and calm before i nodded off.
Fuck.

posted by ethylene 09 November | 18:08

Good for YOU stew!!

posted by chewatadistance 09 November | 18:32

What the hell? Is this sort of thing common?

Unfortunately, yes.

I've had it happen to me
1. At my apartment community pool.
2. At a highway rest stop.
3. On the Red Line of the Chicago El.

Each was during the middle of the day. Fun!

Stewriffic, I'm very impressed at your wherewithal to be able to get his plate #! Each time it's happened to me I've pretty much just run away. (Although we did call the cops when it happened at the pool, but they didn't find the guy.)

posted by misskaz 09 November | 18:57

I was also part of the "is this sort of thing common?" group. I knew there were guys that stared, leered, and cat-called, but I wasn't aware that it was common enough for an "I hate those guys" comment. I guess I'd like to think of the world as less creepy.

posted by Slack-a-gogo 09 November | 20:06

yech. Good on you for getting his tag!

posted by casarkos 09 November | 20:42

Lucky you, those who haven't had to walk to school with some guy driving next to you while jacking off.
The world is a lovely place, for some people.

posted by ethylene 09 November | 21:03

eth, I want to give you a hug.

(((ethylene)))

posted by rhapsodie 10 November | 01:25

And....now I just had to call the cops again. This time it was a man who walked by my house, asked me for a favor (which I turned down), and then weaved his way down the road calling me a motherfucker.

Yeah, I had some guy come down the sidewalk asking for a handout Saturday while I was cooking out on the porch, then muttering about my mother when I shot him down. For some reason, mrs. t didn't like my bellowing "Fuck you!" at the top of my lungs. Go figure.

posted by trondant 10 November | 02:28

Yes, hugs to ethylene. And whuffles. ((((eth)))

posted by Stewriffic 10 November | 06:45

Damn, ethylene, you are not having an awesome time of it right now, huh? Sorry.

I work and used to live in a part of town where there are lots of young male quasi-homeless hustlers. The first time it happened it went like:

Perv in car driving slowly next to me: "Hey, where you going?"
Me, walking: "Home."
Perv: "Need a ride?"
Me: "Nah, thanks."
Perv: "C'mon, get in."
Me: "I'm cool."
Perv: "Aw, just jump in, do you have far to go?"
Me: "Not at all, I'm almost there, don't sweat it."
Perv: "I'll pay you $20 to suck your dick."
Me: "No, thanks."
Perv: Vrooom.

Since then I've learned to just shake my head when cars pull up next to me and that seems to do the trick (no pun intended).

Once when my band was on tour we were chased through Chicago rush hour traffic by a dude jacking off, smiling maniacally and nodding frantically at us.

posted by 2or3whiskeysodas 10 November | 07:49

What the hell? Is this sort of thing common?

In my experience it's rare but not totally out of left field. Especially if you work in a library.

posted by jessamyn 10 November | 12:00

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