No Means No Means No Means No Means…
Bad Behavior, Georgia, Harassment, Hotel, USA | Romantic | January 29, 2019
(I’m the front desk clerk for one of many hotels around the Atlanta Football Stadium. This happened last year during football season.)
Guest’s Friend: “Um, my friend wanted me to ask for a pen and paper.”
(I find both his behavior and his mention of his friend asking him to do this a bit odd. He looks like he feels extremely awkward about having to talk to me, and what happens shortly after explains why. He walks off after awkwardly thanking me and goes around the corner out of sight. I can hear two to four guys whispering, one of them chuckling and sounding a bit excited. The guy comes back.)
Guest’s Friend: *even more awkwardly before* “Umm, uh… just… Here, he wanted me to give you this.”
(He attempts to hand me a folded piece of paper and I realize it must be a phone number. I’m slightly shocked, because I don’t think of myself as that attractive, and I don’t expect such events like this to happen. Not wanting to put his friend in any more awkwardness, and wanting to just let him be on his way, I accept the paper from him and simply say, “Thanks,” also feeling a bit awkward, and let him return to his friends. I can hear them all whispering again, and the one voice from before sounds even more excited now. Soon after, the group of them comes out from around the corner to head out, and the guy in the back turns around and walks backward among the group, looking at me. They all look to be in their late teens; I’m 30.)
Creepy Guy: “I’ll hear from you later, right?”
(He does a double finger-gun motion and winks at me.)
Me: “Um…”
Creepy Guy: “Night, my sweet thang.”
(Just before the automatic doors close I hear him tell his friends in a slightly raised, happy voice
Creepy Guy: “I hope she calls me tonight! Ah, man!”
(I think nothing of it at first until they return after a couple of hours.)
Creepy Guy: “I’ll be up for a few more hours, cutie. Don’t worry about waking me when you call.” *winks again before going to their room*
(I feel bad for the guy because I can tell he’s all excited by the simple fact that I blindly took his phone number without having any clue who the number was from other than the guy’s “friend.” Not wanting this guy to get overly excited for nothing, or stay up waiting for my call, I decide to wait a few minutes before texting the number given to me to give him the bad news.)
Me: “Hey. It’s the lady from the front desk. I’m sorry, but I’m dating someone. I didn’t mean to get you all excited before; I just didn’t want to embarrass you in front of your friends earlier. I’m really sorry. I was just trying to be polite during that situation.”
Creepy Guy: “Aww, really? That’s too bad. I’d love to get with you sometime. Can’t you ask?”
Me: “Ask? Umm, what do you mean?”
Creepy Guy: “Ask him if I can take you on a date!”
Me: “I’m sorry, that’s not going to happen. We’ve been dating for four years and have been living together for two. We are pretty happy with each other and don’t have any interest in sharing each other with others.”
Creepy Guy: “Aww, come on now. I can keep a secret; I won’t tell if you won’t tell!”
Me: “Um, sorry. No, I have to pass on that. Besides, I’m probably out of your age group for dating.”
Creepy Guy: “We can make it work. I don’t even live in the area, but I come out here for all the games in town, so we can go on dates often and see where things can go after. If the distance is an issue, I live just inside Alabama, so it’s not that bad of a drive if you want me over. I promise you’ll like me.”
Me: “No, I’m sorry, but I’m happy with my boyfriend. I’m sorry if I’ve ruined your night, but I really was just trying to be nice in front of your friends.”
(I’m thinking to myself, “Not like I could just leave if they did return; I have to act nice and polite to all guests as part of my job,” and I’m mentally kicking myself in the head for getting into this new situation.)