Forgive me if I forgot to say "thank you," as I was busy fearing for my life.

I just saw this take place -- sadly it happened too quickly for me to snap a pic.

I was walking on 11th between 1st and A, when I saw in front of me what appeared to be the start of a street brawl. These two massive dudes were screaming fighting words down the street at someone or something I couldn't make out, whom I assumed to be another group of equally fired-up guys. "WHO THE F**K DO YOU THINK YOU ARE" and "HOLD ME BACK" and "F**K YOU" came from this one guy as his equally giant/terrifying friend sort of half-assedly tried to "hold him back." I walked around them, trying to keep my distance but also keep an eye on the seemingly epic street fight that was about to take place. It was at exactly that moment that this guy, now red-faced and sweaty, shouted "IT WAS A F**KING COMPLIMENT!"

Something clicked. I finally see who he's yelling at. It's a young woman who cannot be more than 5'2", who now has her head down and is clearly terrified. She was gone around the corner before I could fully fathom what I was seeing -- a grown man screaming at a woman, who had clearly just responded negatively to his street-advances, as though he were in a bar fight in Jersey City. The very slim silver lining was that he was being theatrical (read: horrifying) enough that it attracted a lot of attention on the street. Men and women alike seemed really shocked by what was happening, so maybe, maybe someone who didn't realize the abusive nature of street harassment which lies just under the thin veil of charm/banter learned something today. Who knows.

To that young woman, red-haired, I believe with dreadlocks, I'm sorry that happened to you, and that dude deserves to be castrated.

Submitted by Arianna