hearing how my coworker gets harassed breaks my heart…

little rant, heads up, tw// >!sexual harrassment, unwanted remarks and advances, catcalling, slurs, threats of battery!<, for context both of us work in ogp

i have had a really good friend at work, the only really good friend at work maybe… ever. she’s a lovely person to talk to, we’ve only known each other since may but i treat her like family, she’s in a gc with my boyfriend. i’m getting off track.

this person, we’ll call her K. the disparity between me and K of unwanted advances is pretty remarkable. me being masculine presenting, i’ve only been physically harassed by a customer once. K however has been harassed by customers at least once a week.

i will say, K is an attractive woman, and she knows that. but unfortunately, male shoppers will often follow her around the store, some would say >!“hey princess”, “hey cinderella” (???)!< to get her attention. normally they would see her blue vest first to ask for help reaching, they’ll realize she’s tiny and say “oh i think you need a man to help you actually”

when K worked at a store in indiana, she was shopping for a customer’s order and was on 97 packaged meat, and was bending over, customer walked past her and >!cupped her ass and squeezed!<, i’m unsure if they even needed help but i wasn’t gonna pry any further by asking.

some customers have offered K to “take her home with them” in their car out front. some customers have even made >!disgusting remarks about her body, i’m not sure of what but again, i didn’t care to ask!<

little context, K is pueto rican, but she does not look puerto rican because she has heat related seizures that prevents her from going outside for most occasions. brain dead customer was asking her for help on finding this certain sugar and she had to explain to him that it was online only, but if he wanted to find something similar it would be in this certain aisle. “well what do you expect me to do, i’m already here, and it’s on your website, and now i have to buy this online? amazon would never do this”

K explained again that we do not have it, and it would be here, but if we don’t have it, then yeah buy it on amazon. this customer told her “>!you smell like shit!<” in spanish thinking she didn’t speak spanish and it just ruined her day.

today was no different, she was walking to receiving to see if she could find an item before she had to nil pick it and she found me and told me a guy followed her from the store, to the doors of receiving, through receiving and K said he couldn’t be back there. he asked if she could find something for her and she offered to help once he goes back to the floor. he made a whole hullabaloo about it and said “you’re acting like >!i’m following you trying to kill you or something!<“ trying to make it a woman thing

which…. no? wasn’t even thinking that but now i’m wondering why that was the first thing that came to mind. i don’t know. there’s only so much i can do. i’m there to comfort her, gossip with her. sometimes when i have a break and she doesn’t i help her bag or bag with her on runs to make sure she’s not being harassed. i’m normally the one out in public she’s with because im a pretty intimidating 6’ burly guy. i wish there was more i could do.

i don’t know, if you have any stories you’re comfortable with sharing i’ll be happy to hear them.