From an email I just sent:
I've never thought lads who shout out the windows of moving cars to startle ladies were that swift, but the lad who shrieked at me from the passenger side of one of your vans on his way to X today at 14:10 struck me as particularly stupid.
I just thought I'd let you know what the public face of your business looks like today.
Sincerely, &c.
Update: Justice rolled. Two apologetic emails from the company, and then a phone call from a supervisor to say that he had carried out the investigation and impressed upon the lads, including the malefactor, how unacceptable such behaviour is.
And, also in the spirit of justice, I informed my husband of this excellent phone call because, as a matter of fact, that business does business with the Historical House.
The moral of the story is that it is worth calling thoughtless young men--or the people who employ them--to account, and if you do, women's lives might become a little better and the young men a little less...er...thoughtless.
5 comments:
Ah, one of my pet peeves! Do boys REALLY think that is going to make a good impression on the ladies?!? Talk about annoying and sometimes alarming.
For instance, when the passenger male climbs halfway out of the window of a red truck that is slowing down and speeding up and switching lanes in front of you, in order to get you to notice how totally awesome he is, and almost falls out of the vehicle which is moving at 50mph!!!
Ugh. Such behavior and related behavior does little more than make me feel like a chunk of tasty-looking meat in front of a slavering dog.
Good for you for writing in Seraphic!
Alas, in my case, I don't think there is ever any intent at making a good impression. I am too old to be of much sexual interest to the local yahoos zipping down the road in their cars. The whole point of the exercise is for them to scare me so much that I jump. Endless entertainment for the cultural descendants of Sir Walter Scott.
A few weeks ago, I was driving at night to pick up my teenage sister from a party, and a carload of young men (probably about 18 or 19 years old) decided it would be cool to match my speed and drive exactly alongside me while yelling stuff at me from out of the passenger window. Couldn't understand what they were yelling, but it annoyed me. I think they were just young men who spotted a young woman driving alone in a small car and thought it'd be fully sick to see if they could freak her out. I doubt they were trying to impress me.
I have experienced this two times and both times, the men were in old pickup trucks. The first instance thoroughly freaked me out as I was in a fairly deserted parking lot, the group of young men were yelling at me as I was walking to my car. They also felt the need to so kindly inform me that I left my drink on top of the car (I was so nervous and just wanted to get out of there, wasn't thinking straight).
The second instance was recent. My mother and I were walking into Macy's. We nearly jumped out of our skin when some guy driving a nasty old truck drove by and honked his horn, which sounded like a dying whale.
Stupid. Stupid indeed.
These stories remind me of school boys who don't know how to show a girl they like her, so they pull her pigtails.
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