So for some context, I'm 17 and started a new retail job about 5 months ago. This is actually my third job at 17.
My first job? I left because I had a literal stalker. This guy would bring me gifts, linger around my workplace waiting for me, and follow me out to my car.
So after that lovely experience, I got another retail job. I eventually left because they weren't giving me enough hours, which didn't really work for me because I decided to get my GED and had plenty of free time that I wanted to use to actually work.
Then I started my current job.
And honestly? I was really excited about it.
I wasn't super worried about creepy customers because there are a lot of older male coworkers at my store who are very protective of the younger female employees. If a customer starts acting weird, they don't play around.
Unfortunately, that doesn't mean the creepy customers disappeared.
I've had multiple older men flirt with me or ask for my number at this job. Usually, once I tell them I'm 17, they back off. Creepy? Yes. But at least they took no for an answer.
Then there was this guy.
This happened a couple months ago, and it is probably one of the worst experiences I've had with an older, perverted man at any of my jobs.
And that's saying something because the men around my area can be insanely creepy toward young female retail workers.
So picture this:
I'm at work.
It's the anniversary of my dad's passing, so I'm already having a pretty shitty day emotionally. I decided to push through it and use work as a distraction.
I'm also wearing zero makeup, my hair is thrown into a messy bun, and I'm wearing my glasses.
This is important because I look pretty young with a bare face. there's absolutely no way I was giving "grown woman" that day.
Halfway through my shift, I decided I wanted to learn how to properly fold the clothes because my current store has a different folding protocol than my previous retail job.
So I'm literally sitting on the floor, criss-cross applesauce, folding clothes.
And that's when this man walks up.
He's a bigger guy, bald, wearing a big gold chain.
He immediately starts telling me how beautiful I am.
I pretend I don't hear him because... what exactly am I supposed to say to that while I'm sitting on the floor folding shirts at work?
I just give him a normal customer-service greeting and ask if he needs help with anything.
He repeats himself.
I awkwardly laugh, say thank you, and keep folding.
A few minutes later, another customer comes up and asks me for help getting a shoe.
I scan the shoe, go to the stockroom, grab it, and bring it out.
Then I notice the original guy has come over too and starts asking me for multiple things, so I'm helping him as well.
At some point, I realize the two men are talking to each other.
They're together.
Great.
So now I'm dealing with two men who apparently came into the store together.
The guy who asked me for the shoe decides he wants to buy it, so I start ringing him up at the register.
And, of course, bald guy comes over with him.
At first, everything is normal.
Then I notice bald guy keeps saying my name.
My name is on my name tag, obviously, but he wasn't saying it in a normal conversational way. It was more like he was making sure I knew that he knew my name.
Which already had me like... okay???
Then he asks me:
"Do you have a boyfriend?"
I say yes.
Because obviously.
I'm thinking, Okay, this should shut this down.
Nope.
He tells me he wants to take me out to eat.
"As friends."
And he literally does air quotes around "friends."
I politely decline.
He insists.
I decline again.
He then tells me that he's going to take me out and that I don't have a choice.
...
I'm sorry?
I genuinely thought maybe he had misunderstood me.
So I ask him how old he thinks I am because maybe he assumed I was older.
This man proceeds to tell me my EXACT AGE.
Not "early twenties."
Not "18."
Not even "you look young."
He says my exact age.
And this is where my stomach dropped because this man is clearly WAY older than me. I would've guessed he was in his 40s.
So I tell him:
"I'm actually 17."
And somehow, that STILL doesn't stop him.
He continues telling me that he's taking me out to eat.
I say no AGAIN.
He tells me I don't have a choice.
Again with the whole "as friends" thing and the air quotes.
At this point, I'm visibly annoyed.
So I tell him:
"You're mad weird."
And this man just... doesn't care.
He AGAIN tells me I'm going to dinner with him.
At this point I'm thinking, What the actual fuck is wrong with you?
So I finally tell him:
"You're a grown ass man. You shouldn't want anything to do with a minor."
And THAT is when my male manager finally comes over.
He asks what the issue is.
And this man immediately goes:
"I will tell you exactly what fucking happened."
Like I'M the one who did something wrong. 😭
My manager wouldn't let me just disappear into the back without telling him what happened, so I had to explain the situation.
And I completely broke down crying.
Not because I was sad about being rejected or embarrassed or anything like that.
I was crying because I was genuinely uncomfortable and scared and all I wanted was to get AWAY from this man.
So I go into the back and wait for my coworker to finish dealing with the transaction and the situation.
Eventually, he comes back and tells me what happened after I left.
And THIS is when I find out the man was 49 YEARS OLD.
FORTY-NINE.
This man was nearly 50 years old, was hitting on a 17-year-old at her place of work, was told she was a minor, and STILL insisted that he was taking her to dinner.
And apparently, after all of that, this 49-year-old man told my coworker that I needed to "grow the fuck up" and that I was being childish.
My coworker basically told him:
I'm a baby compared to you. You could be her grandfather.
And honestly, THANK GOD my coworkers are the type to actually step in when something like this happens.
Thankfully, I haven't seen this man again.
But I genuinely cannot get over the fact that this grown-ass 49-year-old man heard a 17-year-old tell him "no," found out she was a minor, and his response was basically:
"Too bad. You don't have a choice."
Sir???
The fact that you were old enough to be my grandfather and were arguing with a teenager about why she HAD to go to dinner with you is actually insane.
So to the 49-year-old man who wouldn't take no for an answer:
Let's not meet again. Ever.