Stop Looking at My Mom!

For real.

H/T to Hollaback! Ottawa fan Nicole.


P.S Have you added us to Twitter yet? You totally should. @HollabackOttawa

Street Harassment and the Cold Weather

HollabackOttawa has officially joined Twitter. Oh how exciting! In doing so, we've connected with iHollaback feministas around the world, including chilly Berlin.

Yesterday we did a Twitter exchange over how the winter can bring a certain level of relief to many women/womyn, because we're all so bundled up that street harassment happens a lot less.

But don't be fooled, it's not exactly a moratorium.

Trust.

Homophobic Cashier @ Loblaws - December, 2010

"So I don't know if this really constitutes street harassment but I thought I'd send it anyway.

I was at the Loblaws at South Keys back in December doing some holiday shopping. I was in line and overheard this really offensive conversation between the cashier and a couple male customers. The cashier was going off to the men (who appeared to be strangers and not his friends) about how another customer (who was a man) had winked at him. He went on and on about how disgusting this was, which was a red flag for me. Thankfully the men who were in line with me sort of called the cashier on it, telling him that it was better for customers to be complimentary than outright rude, but the cashier maintained that a man hitting on him is disgusting. 

I suppose he has a right to not want to be flirted with at work; I certainly validate that. But he was so rude and insistant that it was because it was a MAN flirting with another MAN that he was disgusted. He was also just incredibly rude in general, refusing to bag people's stuff if they had their own bags and freaking out on this one woman who was asking for a price check. 

I ended up changing lines because I couldn't deal with him, but I snapped his picture as I walked by. I think his name was Jamie".

Hollaback! Ottawa says: Avoid this guy at the check-out line! Also know that you can report bad customer service to management, usually without having to give your name either.