I know I've featured the "Catcalling is Harassment" sticker before but I have to admit, I picked tonight's photo because I just had one of my weirder experiences walking around the city this evening. If you haven't seen my previous post I did a semi-interview with the man behind it and I highly suggest checking it out. In this interview, Cornelius said that a big reason he created this statement sticker was to try and start a conversation about this ever present issue. It was an idea that stuck with him after talking with his friends about their personal experiences with catcalling. I know this certainly is an issue that I've dealt with over the years, like most women around the world. Typically it just involves a guy stopping me to ask why I'm not smiling or to say that I should smile more because I'm such a beauty. My response generally ends up being an awkward smile as I quickly walk away in an attempt to avoid making this situation even more uncomfortable than it already is. I know this doesn't actually help things, since it gives him what he wants and I just feel weird, but I generally don't know how else to handle these random interactions. Tonight though leaves me fairly baffled.
I was walking down Ellsworth with my headphones in, all bundled up against the cold, when a man walking in the opposite direction happened to catch my attention. Normally I do my best to avoid getting stopped by people, since only about half of these conversations actually end up not being terribly uncomfortable, but tonight didn't work out for me. He got me to pause in my walk and quickly did that "fake" apology for inconveniencing me. I was a little skeptical about stopping to talk but you never know, he might have just been looking for directions (not that I'm very good at that either). I don't recall if he told me his name but he asked for mine and definitely shook my hand. Then he said that he just wanted to tell me that he "happened" to notice how beautiful I was. Well I ended up thanking him cause what else does one say to something like that. I know don't know if he really felt like he was following up on an advantage of some kind but he proceeded to ask, "Would you like to make 200 bucks?" He actually even reached for his wallet. I was absolutely floored, who seriously says things like that. I raised my eyebrow, said no, and started walking in my original direction. He called out asking if I wanted to know what I'd have to do and I just shook my head. There is the possibility that he was reaching for a business card but quite honestly I don't even want to know. I just don't get why anyone would think this was ok or why this is type of interaction is becoming more of a common thing in my life. Like I said earlier I'm just baffled. To end on a happier note I wanted to quickly share what the other big sticker on the pole is. Even though it's pretty worn away, it's clear to see that it's for Artisan Tattoo. Located on Penn in the Garfield/ Friendship area, Artisan is an interesting mix of shops. They are a tattoo parlor, a small art gallery, a boutique that sells a variety of local artist's pieces, and a cafe. A couple of years ago they even had a piercing gallery, it's actually where I got my cartilage done. The artists in the shop have quite a variety of styles and seem to be a popular place to get ink done. They are also very involved in the local community, always participating in the Unblurred gallery crawl that happens on the first Friday every month. I'm terribly intrigued by the overall style of the shop and will definitely have to reach out to them the next time I find this sticker.
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Maggie Ondrey
An amateur photographer and writer capturing a small portion of the city. Archives
August 2017
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