I’m 18 y.o, I was waiting for the bus after an exhausting day at school, sadly, the one I take to go home usually takes its time to arrive.
I had to spend around 15 minutes waiting, that was never a problem since the street is usually crowded with other students. Issue was that yesterday I decided to wear a miniskirt.
When I choose the outfit it didn’t seem like a big deal, the skirt is pleated so it wasn’t too tight and I wore safety shorts underneath, plus I’ve always been comfortable wearing dresses.
And then all my confidence came tumbling down because, by the time the bus arrived, a girl in a school uniform approached me and touched my shoulder, she told me that a man has been standing behind me and was constantly lifting my skirt, when I turned to look back I only got to see his silhouette quickly running away and hiding behind the crowd.
I felt so stupid. I had so many things in my head and I kept asking myself why I didn’t even notice.
I awkwardly thanked the girl, but I kept hearing two old ladies whispering about the whole situation from behind, they kept talking about how they wouldn’t let their daughters leave the house without wearing shorts underneath their skirts, I know they weren’t “judging” me but I felt even more embarrassed than before.
I know that as a woman I should be paying more attention to my surroundings since this situation could repeat anytime and that I shouldn’t be spacing out in public spaces either, but I’m genuinely upset and angry, I didn’t even notice that I was crying until my mom asked about it when I came home and then I started to have some sort of weird panic attack.
I quickly realized I was overreacting and that I should be glad nothing else happened to me, but then my mother told me something that made me even more upset, she asked why I was wearing skirts if I already know that streets are dangerous and that it was obvious that stuff like this would happen. I got even angrier.
I don’t blame my mother, she’s been dealing with this kind of stuff since she was young and she learned the hard way not to trust anybody. But yeah, guess I’m mad at the fact that I felt judged by everybody, even myself, I kept asking why I decided to wear that outfit, I really wish I could take that decision back.